Board leans toward removing Regents scale scores from course averages, sends recommendation to policy committee

The Plainview‑Old Bethpage Board of Education began a focused policy discussion Sept. 30 on whether Regents exam scale scores should be included in students' final course averages. Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction (introduced in the presentation) presented a multi‑page analysis arguing Regents scale scores can misrepresent student performance because state scale construction sometimes provides unequal "opportunities" for mastery on different exams.

"We're using, I'm gonna say, fabricated scores to put into our students' final averages," the assistant superintendent said, summarizing the department's review of scale‑score composition across Regents subjects. He showed comparisons in which quarter/term mastery rates and local course averages exceeded Regents mastery rates and argued that the current 11% weight given to Regents in final averages is inconsistent with classroom data.

Board members questioned the implications. Some members said removing Regents from averages would be fairer when the test design itself lacks parity; others warned that a "do no harm" or removal policy could change competitive class rankings and valedictorian calculations. Members discussed protections already in place for special education students (e.g., low‑pass rules and superintendent determinations) and whether SUNY or other admissions offices would penalize students if districts stopped counting Regents in averages; administration said SUNY admissions would not use that against applicants and that the scores must still appear on transcripts and remain a graduation requirement unless statewide rules change.

After extended discussion, the board indicated a consensus to send the recommendation to the newly created policy department to draft a prospective policy that would remove Regents scale scores from final averages going forward (any change would not be retroactive). Several board members said they supported the recommendation with the caveat that the policy be revisited after monitoring for unintended effects.

"If a test isn't reliable enough to count against the student, why would we ever consider it reliable enough to count for them?" the board chair said in the discussion. Other board members urged a communication plan for students and families and closer consultation with teachers; the Columbia Congress of Teachers (PCT) later asked for more comprehensive teacher engagement before any final vote.

The board did not adopt a final policy at the meeting but voted by consensus to have the policy committee draft required language and return it for consideration. Administrators and committee chairs said they would supply the underlying data and a communication timeline to the policy committee.

Votes at the meeting included approval of a consultant agreement with Paul Ventura and approval of a slate of nonlocal field trips; the board also voted to enter executive session to obtain legal counsel advice later in the meeting.