MARYSVILLE – They say their kids are highly capable, but the Marysville School District isn’t – at least anymore.

A number of parents spoke at the school board meeting Monday night, complaining that the district’s Highly Capable program was being cut.

Superintendent Becky Berg said Wednesday that isn’t true. “We have to have by law” some type of HiCap program, she said. Some changes are being considered, including a name change to “Advanced. But we’re not wedded to that.”

Berg admitted the district did a poor job of communicating with parents on the subject. A meeting is being planned for Wednesday to discuss the topic with them.

The superintendent said the goal of any changes is to improve the system.

“It should be based on skills, not some type of favoritism,” Berg said.

Parents certainly were hot about the issue April 17, but Berg said later many comments were misinformed.

Trisha Johnson said she always used to stick up for the district. “It’s no longer off the charts,” Johnson said, adding she’s disappointed in the lack of input parents had regarding Hi-Cap.

Lia Blanchard said people are getting different answers as to why Hi-Cap is ending. Some are told it’s because of scheduling and staffing needs. Others were told it’s a diversity issue.

“Highly capable is not a diversity issue,” she said. “It’s already diverse.”

Blanchard said the different answers people are getting shows a lack of communication. “It’s disturbing.” She said she already has a plan in place if the change is made. “I’ll pull my kids out of the Marysville School District,” she said, adding this administration too often tries to “fix things that are not broken, but are actually thriving.”

Beth Ha said education here used to rally the community but now there is dwindling enrollment and lack of choices for kids.

Sherry Leonard said she will volunteer to help the district. “It’s obvious to me you need help,” she said.

Berg said Wednesday the system works. She appreciates the passion the parents showed for their child’s education. They sought answers from their public officials. As a result, there will be a meeting that is more inclusive.

“Hopefully we’ll come up with a better solution for the kids,” she said.

Those parents weren’t the only ones upset with the MSD administration Monday.

More parents and a student spoke up against possible changes at Marysville Getchell High School, which has been an ongoing issue this year.

Kona Farry said it’s the same pattern as HiCap.

“There’s no solid information on the net benefit,” he said of the possible change away from Small Learning Communities. He said lack of trust and communication are key issues there, too.

A consultant is expected to have a decision next month on that topic.

Halleh and Connor Stickels also spoke strongly against the administration.

“The lack of respect is astounding. Have you even visited MG?” Halleh asked.

She said the district is blindly making a decision without even checking out the learning culture there. By not involving parents and students, the district has created a “hostile environment” and is leading local education on a “road to mediocrity.”

She and her son talked about an Open House at the school for incoming freshman, where students – in the past – have bragged about their school and its culture. This year, students were banned from attending.

“Students showed what we loved about the school,” Connor said. “We were invested in our own learning.”

This year, MG students feel stepped on and brushed aside, he added.

“We’ve never been less engaged,” he said. “Voices are silenced.”

Berg on Wednesday emphasized that no decision has been made yet on if MG will lose its SLCs. However, the state’s CORE 24 credits required for graduation does mean district schools need to be more uniform.

“There are equity issues,” she said, adding class offerings need to be more similar at every school.

The consultant studying the SLCs also is looking at their cost and return on investment, Berg added.

As for the Open House comments, assistant superintendent Ray Houser said that event is tweaked every year to try to level the playing field. It’s supposed to be an opportunity to visit the campus for parents, but the past process has led to some recruiting as well.

Meanwhile, 10th Street Middle School first-year Principal Sonja Machovina and 17-year English-Language Arts teacher James DeLazzari admitted they may be a little too forthcoming with students. DeLazzari said he has a positive outlook about failing. It is a first attempt at learning. “If they don’t fail in high school we’ve done our job” in preparing them, he said.

Machovina said the knowledge of that “last free ride” could be hurting their scores, which dropped 20 percent this year.

“We need them to value those grades more” in middle school, she said.

As for math, those scores are all up. In fact, math teachers found 300 errors in the new curriculum.

“Hats off to the math teachers,” DeLazzari said.

Also, Human Resources director Jason Thompson asked the school board to approve a reduction in the educational system if need be, which it did because of legal time constraints.

“We hope we don’t have to reduce staff,” Thompson said. “But we don’t know what will happen in Olympia,” with the legislature working on more money for schools.