State monitor outlines academic plan, deadlines as Mount Vernon prepares for school reconfiguration

Dr. Kimberly Young Wilkins, the New York State monitor for the Mount Vernon City School District, told a July 29 public hearing that she was charged with overseeing academic and fiscal policies for the district and will develop an academic improvement plan with deadlines over the coming months.

The monitor said the draft academic improvement plan is due to the state by Nov. 1, anticipated for the local board by Dec. 1 and expected to be offered to the public by Jan. 1, and warned that once the Commissioner approves the plan its recommendations become binding on the district. "The public hearing we're conducting today is required by state law that establishes the position of the monitor," Wilkins said. "Once the plan is approved by the commissioner, the recommendations in the plan become binding upon the school district."

Wilkins reviewed statewide test results for the 2023–24 school year and said Mount Vernon "underperformed the state on key academic indicators" including 3–8 ELA and math proficiency, four-year graduation rates, Regents diploma attainment with advanced designation and elementary/middle chronic absenteeism. She noted that Mount Vernon’s high school chronic absenteeism rate was better than the state average and flagged a 14 percentage-point gap in 3–8 math proficiency as especially noteworthy. "Math instruction is typically happens mostly in a school," she said, and therefore can be a clearer…