Roxbury sets 2025–26 goals, reports lower ACCESS proficiency as district enrolls more English learners

Roxbury Township School District Superintendent Frank Santoro on Aug. 18 presented five district goals for the 2025–26 school year and reported that overall ACCESS (WIDA ACCESS) scores for English‑language learners declined as the district tested a larger number of students who are new to U.S. schools.

Santoro told the board the goals — focused on a districtwide multi‑tiered system of supports (MTSS), sustainability, operational efficacy, health and wellness, and parent engagement — were drawn from administrators, staff, board members and students. “When we looked at our student data, we determined that these district goals … represent not only our wants and our needs, but also our hopes,” Santoro said.

In a separate presentation he reviewed ACCESS testing, a state‑administered measure of English‑language proficiency. Santoro said the district is administering the assessment to more students than in prior years and that “our proficiency rates have decreased. That tells us that we’re testing more students who are at the entry level.” He said an increase in newly enrolled students — including children attending school in the United States for the first time — helps explain the lower proficiency percentages.

Nut graf: The presentations tied district strategy and immediate classroom practice to measurable test results. Santoro described changes to scheduling and instruction the district will pursue — including smaller ESL groupings at the middle school, expanded sheltered‑instruction training (SEI) for general‑education teachers, and continued use of a Lincoln analytics partnership — to address the decline in ACCESS results.

Most important facts first: Santoro said the district will continue the elementary “win” (What I Need) block and refine the in‑support‑of‑learning (ISL) model, add time for vertical and horizontal teacher articulation, and pilot new explicit ELA instructional series to strengthen early literacy. At the middle school level, Santoro said staff reworked schedules so ESL students could be split into two groups to deliver more targeted instruction; he thanked “Mister Gallagher, at EMS, and Mister Argenziano at Lincoln Roosevelt” for work on that scheduling.

On assessment administration and accommodations, a parent questioned whether students who are not enrolled in ELL classes continue to be tested. The parent said her child “still took the test this year” despite not receiving ELL services and asked, “is there a process to take the students who really aren't at all taking any ELL classes?” Santoro said the initial home‑language survey often triggers testing but agreed the district needs stronger oversight to make sure only appropriate students are assessed. He noted students with IEPs or 504 plans may be entitled to testing modifications and accommodations and said building principals and ESL teachers must ensure the right supports are in place.

Board member Jamie raised the district’s COVID‑era history as context for current middle‑school scores, asking whether students who were in kindergarten and first grade during the pandemic were being considered in analyses. “That probably had a massive effect on their fundamentals,” Jamie said. Santoro agreed that reviewing longitudinal data is part of the approach and said the district pulled longitudinal NJSLA reports through its Lincoln analytics partnership to examine differences between the 2018–19 baseline and subsequent years.

Other steps Santoro described: continued SEI professional development, ongoing PLC work for ESL teachers and supervisors, and the launch of a parent advisory committee for multilingual learners (26 completed survey responses in two days, Santoro said). He also noted other measures used to evaluate student needs beyond ACCESS — teacher observation, classwork and parent input — and reiterated a broader district commitment to MTSS, safety protocols, social‑emotional learning (Zones of Regulation as a tier‑1 intervention), and fiscal sustainability.

Ending: Santoro closed by asking for questions and said the district will communicate more clearly about upcoming assessments and accommodations, noting an annual parent notification about fall assessments is required. He also mentioned the district will undergo the New Jersey quality single accountability continuum monitoring process this year and will report back as that review proceeds.