Superintendent Marylou McDermott denied the idea that the district would force students to take accelerated science at Monday's Northport-East Northport Board of Ed meeting after residents raised concerns.

Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Administration Matt Nelson said the idea of universal acceleration was just that – an idea. “This went viral when it wasn’t fully baked,” he said, adding that students who don’t get selected for accelerated science in middle school miss out on AP and IB opportunities at the high school level, which was why the idea was being discussed.

Northport Middle School science teacher Scott Shutka, who had voiced his concerns at the Dec. 5 Board-Teacher Relations meeting, took exception to Nelson’s argument. He said interested students can and do opt to take a second science class. He also disagreed with Nelson’s claim that science teachers knew about the discussions concerning acceleration last year, saying that the first time they heard about it was at a departmental meeting in September.

Nelson said the idea of acceleration was in keeping with the science sequence but agreed that a student could always double up on extra classes.

One member of the audience suggested that the district look at Kings Park, which offers a bridge class for tenth graders so that they’re ready to take on the challenges of IB or AP in the eleventh grade.