Jane is a Palo Alto High School junior and a student in American Classics Honors. Jane’s teacher recently returned an English paper that Jane had turned in several weeks ago. The paper is crammed with comments written in an unfamiliar blue handwriting. At the end of the paper, a “C” is written in the same blue ink. On the top of the paper, however, Jane recognizes a red “75%” written in her teacher’s familiar scrawl.

Jane’s paper was read by what Palo Alto High School refers to as a “reader,” or person hired by the Palo Alto Unified School District to read English or social studies papers, write comments and recommend to the teacher a grade that the paper deserves.

The English department began using readers when English teachers began working five instead of four periods per day, according to English Instructional Supervisor Trinity Klein. The teachers then negotiated that given the increased workload, the department should receive a budget for using readers.

“The original amount was $20,000 per year, but it has gone down since then,” Klein said.

Many English teachers see readers as essential to protecting the quality of the English department.

“It’s a time saving device for teachers at a highly competitive high school,” English teacher Julia Taylor said. “It’s necessary to have a second pair of eyes. We are using readers to ensure that students get the best possible feedback.”

In a recent Palo Alto Online TownSquare discussion, many parents posted angry comments attacking the practice of using readers as well as the readers’ qualifications.

“All readers are district employees, and therefore have a B.A.,” Klein said. “Most are graduate students trying to earn some extra money on the side or former teachers who want to stay involved.”

Klein feels that the negative comments posted online were the result of erroneous information circulating about the grading process. She emphasized that every paper is read by every teacher before being returned to students.

“We are fortunate to be in a community where parents care deeply about their kids’ education, but there was just a lot of bad information going around,” Klein said.

A diversity of opinions about graders is present among Paly students.

“I wish that the teacher read and graded the paper first, and then gave it to the reader so that the reader could add comments,” junior Camille Ezran said.

Some students disagree with Ezran, voicing more concern about the use of readers in English classes.

“I wouldn’t really mind [if my English teacher used readers] because I would get more feedback and teachers would return papers quicker,” freshman Drew Rider said.

“The grade from outside graders doesn’t match up with what has been taught in class, leading to a disconnect between what the teacher is asking of the students and what they are being graded on,” junior Quinn Walker said.

“I don’t like it when readers grade my papers because their comments show that they don’t know the topic as well as the teacher,” freshman Israa Beig said.

“Sometimes I feel that there is a large discrepancy between what the teacher is looking for and what the reader bases his recommended grade on,” junior Pierre Bourbonnais said.

The English department has decided to discuss the issue of readers further following the conflagration on Palo Alto Online.

“At our last department meeting we started talking about the best way to move forward without responding to overblown criticism,” Klein said.

No final decisions have yet been made.