Manoa Elementary School will be allowed to keep its sixth-grade class through 2013, and all children attending the school now, including the kindergarten class, will be allowed to go all the way through the school to sixth grade.

School Superintendent Pat Hamamoto decided to allow parents the choice of keeping their children in sixth grade at Manoa or sending them to sixth grade at Stevenson Middle after parents complained they had been misled by department officials into believing the change was mandatory next year.

The class had been scheduled to move to Stevenson Middle under an enhanced Department of Education middle school philosophy begun in 2001. Since then, more than 40 percent of elementary schools statewide have moved their sixth-grade classes to middle school.

Hamamoto had been asked to investigate the Manoa Elementary situation after angry parents testified before the BOE in January, saying their children weren't ready for the move and would be joining a school whose academic scores are consistently lower than those at Manoa. As well, they told the board they felt department officials had miscommunicated the timeline for middle school compliance.

"This is pretty much giving the benefit of the doubt to the parents who said they felt some of the information was not complete or was misunderstood," said Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen.

Arlette Harada, who has two children at Manoa, said families are gratified by Hamamoto's decision.

"It gives people more options as to what they can do," said Harada, who also is the parent chairwoman of Manoa's School Community Council.

"To the extent it's possible, there should be some flexibility. I think that's a decision parents can make — whether their children are ready to move to middle school or not. And if they're ready, they can go to Stevenson if they want," Harada said.

Harada said the SCC voted last year to support moving the sixth grade to Stevenson, but reversed that decision several months later when it learned that the move was not mandatory.

"If the (first) decision was not made based on full information, then the SCC should be able to reverse its decision," said Knudsen, in explaining Hamamoto's thinking. "They had understood it was a state-level directive, but it wasn't."

Harada said as a result of the controversy, there will be a series of meetings with the school and department regarding the promotion policy from sixth grade, and what it should entail, especially in regard to science.

In making the decision in 2001 to establish middle schools, the board and department reasoned that they offered a richer curriculum, especially in the sciences, and a time of improved transition for students from elementary to high school.

In mandating creation of the middle school concept, the board did not set a timetable for completion. To date, 95 elementary schools still have sixth grade, while 72 have transitioned to a K-5 configuration.

Knudsen said Manoa might have to beef up its science curriculum so students will be able to transition smoothly into the seventh-grade curriculum at Stevenson.

"The middle school promotion policy calls for science at each level," he said. "Generally in elementary, you don't have full science in grade six."

Harada, however, said that hasn't been a problem in the past.

And she and other parents would like to see the BOE re-evaluate its commitment to the middle school philosophy, noting that recent Mainland studies say K-8 schools offer more insulation for students during critical early adolescent years, and studies show students have higher self-esteem and are less likely to be victimized by other students.

"They are concerned about the safety of the children," Harada said. "I think parents would like to leave things as open-ended as possible, thinking maybe there will be some change in thought about forcing the move for everyone else. ... I would like future parents to have the possibility to have it reopened as an issue."

Knudsen, however, said other complexes have already gone through the transition without problems.

"Other areas have been transitioning this school year," Knudsen said. "The Kaiser complex, for instance, is all K-5 in the elementary level with all of the sixth-graders going to Niu Valley."

After the upset Manoa parents testified, several board members expressed interest in reopening the issue.

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com.