JAY – Jay School Committee members voted 4-0 Thursday to adopt a student class assignment policy for kindergarten through grade eight despite objections from the Middle School principal.

Although the policy was in its third and final reading, committee members made some changes to the wording in the policy.

The policy had been reworked extensively from its initial presentation and now includes an appeal process for parents.

The initial version stated that the professional judgment of the faculty must be seen as the authoritative influence in any placement, with parents allowed to give information on learning styles. It also left the final decisions regarding class placement with the building principal or a designee.

The final version gives parents who want to provide input an opportunity to fill out a questionnaire and to submit it to the building principal.

The policy states that placements with specific teachers cannot be made simply at the request of the parents.

It also states parents may request in writing if they do not want their child placed in a specific classroom. The building principal will make every effort to oblige the parental request. In the event that the building principal cannot fulfill the request, the parents and principal will meet to negotiate class placement.

Absent a request, the decision regarding the placement is the authority of the building principal or designee.

Middle School Principal Scott Albert said he opposed the proposed policy. He said the effect of a parent’s requesting that a child not be put in one team leaves the other team as the only other option for placement.

Students at the middle school have the same team of teachers two years in a row, in fifth and sixth grades and in seventh and eighth grades.

“I don’t believe a parent should be able to pick who they want for a teacher because soon you’ll have an elitist team and a non-elitist team. It doesn’t take long to get there,” Albert said.

Committee Vice Chairwoman Mary Redmond Luce said that parents have to have a say otherwise you’re stifling the voice of the child’s advocate.

Redmond Luce and fellow committee member Gene Uhuad, who was absent Thursday, reworked the policy after a parent asked during the initial reading when the parent would have a say in the placement of their child in a classroom.

Luce said there have been minimum requests from parents who said they don’t want a child in a certain class.