North Hills schools to teach ‘study skills’

The North Hills School District will teach “study skills” to middle-schoolers under a revised comprehensive plan.

“We have heard over and over again from business, industry and colleges … that students across Pennsylvania do not always know how to study by the time they get to college,” taking five years or more to get a degree, said Beth Williams, assistant superintendent, at the board’s Oct. 7 committee meeting.

“Quite frankly, they really, really need to start in middle school,” she said.

The district’s proposed comprehensive plan adds study skills in sixth and seventh grades.

The plan also calls for reviewing graduation requirements and course offerings as well as flexible scheduling options to meet students’ needs, and revising the grading scale.

“There are hundreds of grading scales out there for us to look at ,” said Superintendent Patrick Mannarino.

The comprehensive plan had been due in November, but districts got an additional year because of COVID-19 restrictions, he added. The plan was posted on the district’s website in September and will be voted on before being submitted to the state.

In other business, the board will consider revisions to policies governing their meetings, including some new limits on public participation, and a new policy on social media.

The policies include a 3minute time limit on speakers, prohibiting someone from speaking twice on the same topic at the same meeting and banning placards and banners in the meeting room.

“Three minutes is a common time limit,” said board member Sandra Kozera, chair of the policy committee, adding that the limit “is typically considered more than enough time” for a resident to make their point.

Resident Jake Roberts objected to the revised policy.

“During the last year or so, concerned parents have been turning out at school board meetings,” he said, expressing concerns about their “parental authority” being stripped on such matters as masking and “children being indoctrinated on critical race theory and feelings of white guilt.”

“Public schools are in a crucial time. We should be encouraging that debate. We should be encouraging that discussion to be as open and robust as possible. ... We should not be stifling that debate,” he said.

Several government entities, school boards and local government, have a time limit on speakers.

A new policy would govern social media accounts used by groups using the district’s name, such as booster groups.

Ms. Kozera said the policy would “create a unified front with respect to our districtsponsored social media.”

Groups will be asked to register their accounts with Heather Pelat, communications director, and abide by the policy about language and content.

“Most of clubs and sports that run social media do a good job,” Ms. Pelat said. “While they are not a district account, they are still representing the school.”

The policy also requires district officials and board members to set privacy settings on their personal accounts and provide clarification that the account is personal and not related to the district.

The proposed policies can be found on the district’s website.