LAWRENCE — Some classrooms in the Lawrence Public Schools system could be all-boy or all-girl when a new school year begins next fall.
Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy acknowledged that possibility last night while briefing School Committee members on his plans to assemble a special task force on the subject.
"Over the past two years, we have been watching the research and discussing the possibility of creating an option for single sex classrooms at our middle schools," Laboy wrote in a cover letter to a package he submitted. "Based on the current research and a grass-roots interest in moving in this direction, I would like to create a task force to review the research and bring forward recommendations for a possible implementation of this model for the 2009-2010 school year."
Laboy said at least one city middle school he would not name has already requested single-sex classrooms.
Laboy stressed that the task force will only be "an open discussion" and not automatically lead to all-boy and all-girl classes.
He plans to include two School Committee members on a panel of eight to 12, people which would begin its study early next year.
The single-sex class would be aimed at grades five to eight, focusing on boys within that grade level.
"There's been some concerns about adolescent male boys being left behind academically," Laboy said after the meeting. "A lot of it has to do with distractions they have at that age level. ... My hope is that we can have an honest conversation about this issue."
Laboy told committee members he would like to create a small learning lab that would use an eighth-grade class as a case study. He noted concerns about the drop-out rate of male students which he believes can be traced back to a loss of interest in class work at that grade level.
School Committee member James Vittorioso told the committee that he recommended to school administrators to consider classes for just boys several years ago after noticing a disinterest among boys he taught in a math class.
But Vittorioso expressed dismay that nobody in the Lawrence public schools administration took his recommendation seriously.
"I find it incredulous that a School Committee member brought this up three years (ago) and now it's being acted upon," Vittorioso said.
Laboy confirmed that Vittorioso had made the recommendation several years ago, but said others had also called for it. Laboy said he would be glad to include Vittorioso on the task force.
Laboy provided each member with a package of literature on the topic.
The findings of some studies show evidence of higher academic achievements, classrooms that are more conducive to learning and decreased discipline problems.
