Skills Checklist to Replace Letter Grades : Education: New form of report card wins unanimous approval and will be tried in September for youngest students in Simi’s public schools.

The youngest students in Simi Valley public schools will have their old-fashioned, letter-graded report cards replaced with a new skills checklist, beginning in September.

The Simi Valley school board voted 5 to 0 Wednesday in favor of the new report cards for students in kindergarten, first and second grades, saying they offer parents a clearer picture of student performance.

“As a parent, I just think it’s a dream,” Trustee Debbie Sandland said.

Sandland also said she hopes the new report cards will bring an end to scenes of children emotionally crushed by bad grades on report card day.

“That’s way too much pressure,” Sandland said.

But at least one representative of a conservative parent group gave the new report cards an “F.”

“I was absolutely shocked that this was going on,” said Coleen Ary, chairwoman of the Citizens for Truth in Education.

Ary told the school board that getting rid of letter grades would make it impossible for educators and parents to compare present-day student performances with those of the past.

“When you start coming up with newfangled report cards, you are eliminating the database,” Ary said.

Even most tradition-oriented members of the school board were not convinced, however.

“I am a conservative educator, have been for a long time,” Trustee Norm Walker said. “We are not talking about dumbing down here. What we are talking about is trying to communicate real concepts to parents so they understand how Junior is doing.”

Still, trustees emphasized that the new report card is being implemented for the 1995-1996 school year strictly on a trial basis. Parents who request the old report cards will be allowed to receive them, and a parent could even ask for both report cards.

“I’m willing to try it. If it doesn’t pan out, then it’s history as far as I’m concerned,” Walker said.

The new report card is an elaborate version of the behavior-based reports most school districts have used for their youngest students for many years, officials said.

The new cards were developed by a committee of Simi Valley elementary school teachers and principals. A similar report card has already been tested at Park View elementary school.

The new report cards will tell parents whether their students “rarely,” “sometimes,” or “usually” respect authority, follow school rules and do their homework. They also record whether students “require additional support,” “show unusual strength,” or are at “developmentally appropriate” levels in reading, writing and math.

In addition, the new report card includes a checklist of about 100 desirable skills and behaviors, from “exhibits reading-like behavior” to “writes numbers 100-1000.”

“If you really look at the report card, you’ll have a pretty good sense of where your child is,” Trustee Judy Barry said. “That teacher has to know the child inside and out.”