WEST MILFORD The district responded to parents’ demands to change a grading policy they felt was detrimental by keeping the policy, but changing what the students see. At issue was a spelling program on the elementary level that had what amounts to nearly zero tolerance for mistakes. In accordance with the program, students have number of spelling words which are posted on the walls and desks of the classroom. When any of these words show up in any subject, students must spell (or copy) them correctly. If the child has a writing assignment in social studies, he will receive two grades one for the social studies content and one for the spelling words. The grade for the spelling words will drop from an A to a D for the first mistake and down to an F for any additional mistakes. Several parents expressed grave concern over the emotional and psychological toll of such a stringent policy. Some children, they said, have lost their confidence and/or their desire to learn because they see Ds or Fs on their papers and feel defeated by them. Superintentent Glenn Kamp said that the administration and teachers discussed the issue and looked at the results of spelling on standardized tests. What they discovered, he said, was that the program has brought steady improvement in spelling ability. But in deference to parents’ concerns they decided to leave the program in place but replace the A, D, F that the student sees on their paper with a check-plus, check and check-minus. Starting in January, this new system will still be calculated the same way but students won’t see a big red D or F on their work. In other business: The high school brass ensemble performed at the Board of Education meeting Tuesday night and began their performance 15 minutes prior to the regular 8 p.m. start of the meeting. Only three of the nine board members were present for entire performance, with four more members filtering in during the music. Nine high school students have been selected for the all-area bands. Last year three West Milford students were selected. The West Milford Education Foundation presented 13 mini-grants to support a range of programs. The foundation, which is largely supported by two fundraisers, gave out a total of $7,000. Anyone interested in donating to the mini-grant program can mail it to The West Milford Education Foundation, PO Box 153, West Milford, NJ. 07480