How long ago was this? Where was it? This is the sort of thing that would have me calling the school and standing on someone's desk till I got an answer. I can be obnoxious without even trying. When I put my mind to it, well, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of it.

I'm not sure this is "tracking." I was tracked myself and it was a great experience for me. My understanding is that tracking is done by some semi-objective basis, like test scores. What you're describing just sounds like laziness and robotic beaurocracy. "See, I checked this box and did this thing, so I've done my job." Correcly or not, I always think of tracking as opposed to "mainstreaming" where they just lump everybody together in a classroom and teach to the lowest common denominator. (Actually, a really good teacher can do this well, but I don't think it's a pure skill so much as an art, and the one's who really are good at it are pretty rare.)

k