HAVERHILL — The School Committee voted last night to write a new policy on promoting students from one grade to the next.
The issue was brought to a head recently when the mother of a Nettle Middle School eighth-grader told The Eagle-Tribune her son was "assigned" to ninth grade even though he had received F's in most of his subjects. Demita Pendleton said Renata Bateman, the principal of Nettle, told her that although her son, Damasae, was not being held back, he would not be permitted to walk across the stage at the middle school graduation ceremony.
School Committee members intervened, however, and Damasae, who attended last night's meeting, was allowed to take part in the ceremony.
School Committee President Scott Wood expressed his outrage about the situation last night.
Letting the young man move on to high school, but not allowing him to walk across the stage, was "despicable," Wood said. He also railed against "social promotions" and expressed regret that Demita Pendleton had not been informed of her son's school difficulties much sooner.
"There's a way to treat parents with decency and respect," said Wood. He also criticized the notion of an "unwritten policy" that allows some social promotions. "If a policy is unwritten, it doesn't exist. There's no such thing as an 'unwritten policy,'" Wood said.
Superintendent Raleigh Buchanan said he has been following the policy on promotion of students "as written."
There are times, the superintendent said, when it might be in the student's best interest to promote him or her.
Buchanan was quoted in The Sunday Eagle-Tribune saying that because of Damasae's size — at 14 he stands 6-feet-5 and is said to weigh 250 pounds — it would be best if he did not remain in middle school.
Damasae's great-grandmother, Kalister Green-Byrd, a well-known community activist, addressed the School Committee last night and said the superintendent's "comments were inappropriate."
"My great-grandson has had a target on his back," said Green-Byrd, a retired education specialist with the state Department of Education and recipient of the Unsung Heroine Award from the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. "The School Committee has failed him. Not all students learn the same way."
"I apologize for those comments," Wood said.
"I had no idea it would get in the paper," Buchanan said. "I deeply apologize."
Buchanan said he has spoken with Damasae seven times, including in his office, and that they had actually joked about their respective sizes. Buchanan is 6-foot-4 1/2 inches.
He described Damasae as gifted in art and technology.
"The thing I'm worried about is how we can provide a program for him," Buchanan said.
Demita Pendleton and Damasae met with the committee in executive session last night. Demita politely declined to offer any comment before meeting with Buchanan and board members.
High school Principal Bernard Nangle reminded the committee that social promotions are a nationwide problem.
The School Committee's Policy Subcommittee, which includes Wood and Kerry Fitzgerald, will work on developing the new policy on promotion of students.
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