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Board member demands explanation after district ELA, math scores fall below state averages
Summary
A board member raised concern about a year-over-year drop in New York State ELA scores across most grades and questioned the effectiveness of the district's ELA curriculum; the member requested a thorough explanation at the January board meeting.
During board discussion a member (anonymous in the transcript as S2) expressed disappointment with the district’s most recent New York State test results for ELA and mathematics, noting the scores were publicly posted Nov. 20 and that "every grade but 1 performed below the state average." The board member asked the district to make the ELA scores the first agenda item at the January meeting and requested a detailed explanation of why the district saw a decline.
In the speaker's words: "These ELA results, I feel, are unacceptable and need a thorough explanation in the next board of ed meeting as to why we've seen a drop in test results." The same speaker questioned which ELA curriculum the district is using and challenged the district’s performance given that, according to the speaker, neighboring districts of similar size did not see the same decline.
No direct response to that request is recorded in the transcript; the item was requested to be scheduled for the January meeting. The transcript records the board member's observation that the district spends the second-most per pupil among county districts but noted underperformance relative to similarly sized districts named in the record (Pro River, Nanuet and Nyack).
What happens next: The transcript records a request that the district present a thorough explanation at the next Board of Education meeting in January. The transcript does not record staff answers, data presentations or a board directive beyond the request to prioritize the topic on the January agenda.
