Concerned parents push to keep daughter in 4th grade

HIXSON, Tennessee(WDEF) – Parents of a McConnell Elementary School student are so worried about their child’s future that they requested school administrators to keep their daughter in the fourth grade.

It’s less than 24-hour before a new school season starts at McConnell Elementary and Heather Palmer and Michael Frizzell are finally able to register their 9-year old daughter in school. For two days they say they fought the school district to keep their daughter from entering the fifth grade.

"She’s not academically at the level of a fifth grader and we don’t feel that she needs to be in fifth grade," Palmer said.

"We don’t want her to get discouraged later in school and be a high school drop out later on in life," Frizzell said.

In fact, they believe their daughter is reading closer to a second grade level so they kept asking the school to at least keep her in the fourth grade so she can get the help she needs to catch up.

Both parents told News 12 they can relate to their daughters struggle to read because they were both wrongly promoted through school until they eventually dropped out. They also said they sat down with their daughter to explain why it was important for her to remain in the fourth grade this year.

"It’s not to punish you. It’s to help you get a good education," Palmer said when talking to her daughter.

The parents told News 12, their request was finally granted by school administrators Wednesday morning. But they fear there may be other children who might also be placed into grades they’re not ready for.

"If they’re parents don’t push then what happens to those kids. Do they get pushed forward and left behind," Frizzell asked.

News 12 asked school administrators if they would go on the record and talk about the process of promotion and retention but the request was denied.

News 12 was then told to refer to the Hamilton County School district website where there was a section on promotion and retention.

According to that website, teachers are responsible for recommending a child’s promotion or retention. But in all cases, parent preference must be taken into account. Parents can appeal a decision to the principal who makes the final decision on promotion or retention.