23 Long Island schools flagged for subpar academic performance

Twenty-three schools in 16 Long Island districts have been flagged for subpar academic performance in the state's latest accountability ratings, a Newsday analysis has found.

More than half of the schools — 15 — were classified as needing targeted support and improvement, also known as TSI. Six were designated as needing additional targeted support and improvement, or ATSI.

Two schools, one in Hempstead and another in Riverhead, were marked as needing comprehensive support and improvement, known as CSI. That designation means the schools are ranked among the bottom 5% of schools statewide.

There was good news as well, though. Central Islip had no schools on the state's needs-improvement list for the first time in more than a decade, district officials said.

“It was like a black eye in the entire district,” Superintendent Sharon Dungee said. “It's a big relief.”

Brentwood, Wyandanch, William Floyd, Patchogue-Medford and Westhampton Beach also were taken off the list this year.

“It gives the whole community hope that we're progressing forward,” said Erik Wright, superintendent of Wyandanch schools. “That's crucial to any community because what it does is it begins to build trust in the school.”

A total of 375 schools statewide were classified as TSI, ATSI or CSI under the state Department of Education's 2025-26 accountability list. The designations are based primarily on data from the 2024-25 school year, except for graduation rates, which were taken from 2023-24.

The number of Island schools on the 2025-26 list dropped from 29 the year prior but was higher than the 11 identified in 2023-24.

Educators have argued that the improvement labels unfairly stigmatize schools. Officials in some of the districts identified in this year’s list criticized the designations, saying they were based on the performance of a small subgroup of students and are not indicative of the student body as a whole. Others cited outside factors, like increased immigration enforcement in their communities, as having a negative impact on their schools.

State officials said the accountability ratings offer “an opportunity” to improve academic outcomes. The data used for identification can help educators zero in on learning gaps, they argued.

Rachel Connors, a state Education Department spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement that the accountability system is not intended to "diminish the work of educators, but to highlight where additional support and resources are needed.”

“We understand and respect that educators work incredibly hard every day to support their students, and that no single designation can fully capture the full story of a school community including its culture, relationships, or the progress happening in classrooms,” she wrote.

Accountability ratings

The state is required by federal law to identify schools with the lowest academic performance. The state Education Department looks at several factors in making its designations, including test results, attendance and graduation rates. It also considers how well schools prepare students for college and careers and whether English language learners are making enough progress in attaining language proficiency.

The ratings include six categories ranging from good standing, known as local support and improvement, to receivership, which requires the highest level of state monitoring.

The state this year named more than a dozen new schools to its receivership pool. None were on Long Island.

For schools not in good standing, the lowest level of state intervention is called potential targeted support and improvement, or PTSI, which serves as an early warning that certain subgroups of students are underperforming. Subgroups could be defined by race and ethnicity or by income, or include students that have limited English skills or disabilities.

The next level after PTSI is TSI, followed by ATSI. Receiving this designation means the school has been designated as a TSI school for multiple years. A school is elevated to the CSI category when the state finds its academic issues have spread to include all student groups.

Any district with at least one school in the TSI, ATSI or CSI classification is considered a target district.

Schools identified on the annual list must submit improvement plans to the state, and teachers and principals could receive coaching. A school classified as CSI for at least three years could be put into receivership.

Peter Applebee, director of policy and program development for New York State United Teachers, said teachers can have varied experiences when their school is designated as needing improvement.

“In some cases, our members feel alienated from the process and disengaged,” Applebee said. “Other times, they feel this is an opportunity for improvement — to improve their working conditions and the conditions for the children that they teach.”

Target districts

There are 124 school districts on Long Island. The 16 identified by the state as needing improvement were: Comsewogue, Eastport-South Manor, Greenport, Half Hollow Hills, Hempstead, Hicksville, Huntington, Longwood, North Babylon, Middle Country, Riverhead, Rocky Point, Southampton, South Country, South Huntington and West Islip.

The districts vary widely, from generally well-performing or with relatively few low-income students to districts with high percentages of economically disadvantaged students.

Newsday reached out to all 16 districts. Three — West Islip, Hempstead and Middle Country — agreed to interviews. Huntington and Longwood did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Eastport-South Manor declined to comment. The rest emailed statements.

Paul Romanelli, superintendent of the West Islip schools, called the state’s rating system “flawed." The district's Oquenock Elementary School received a TSI designation, he said, for a small subgroup of English language learner students.

Romanelli said the district intentionally placed almost all of its younger English language learners at the school to save on staffing. The state designation was based on the performance of fewer than a dozen of those students, he said.

Romanelli noted that by high school, English language learners in the district saw improved academic performance.

“We feel that our program is a strong one,” he said. “By the time that they graduate our high school, they're achieving high school diplomas. They're doing well on Regents exams.”

Romanelli said his district would offer more tutoring to English language learners as he believed that extra instruction helped the district elevate another elementary school, Manetuck, back to good standing. The school had been classified as TSI due to subpar performance from students with disabilities.

Rocky Point's superintendent, Scott O’Brien, also argued that his district's designation was based on the performance of a small subgroup of students — about two dozen English language learners at Frank J. Carasiti Elementary and Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate.

“This designation does not reflect our students’ academic abilities as a whole, and we are proud of the progress made by our students in this subgroup as well as our staff and their continued dedication to making continuous strides in instruction,” his statement read in part.

The state Education Department, in its statement, defended the focus on student subgroups, which they said is meant to close equity and achievement gaps.

Connors, the spokeswoman, wrote, “Our mission is to ensure that every child has access to the highest quality educational opportunities, services, and supports so they can reach their fullest potential."

Attendance, language issues

In Hempstead, David Paterson Elementary received a CSI designation. District officials said heightened immigration enforcement in the community and talks of closing the school last year caused disruptions for students.

“Attendance really went downhill,” Superintendent Gary Rush said.

David Paterson has since made progress as the school environment stabilized and attendance increased, Rush said. “I think it will improve because students are there,” he said. “When students aren't there, they can't learn.”

Two schools were cited in the Middle Country district — New Lane Memorial Elementary received a TSI designation and Selden Middle was classified as ATSI.

Ryan Milano, director of mathematics and accountability, said the district has used grant money to give teachers more planning time to bounce ideas off one another and brought in instructional coaches to offer tips to make content more accessible.

For English language learners, for example, he said visual tools help students who may be struggling with English to comprehend a math problem.

“So they're not just relying on reading the words and trying to decipher that on top of learning English, they can use the picture and use the context clues to help them,” he said.

In statements, officials from other districts similarly noted professional development, tutoring and enhanced literacy programs among planned efforts to boost achievement.

In Riverhead, two schools — Riverhead Middle and Roanoke Avenue Elementary — were restored to good standing while a third — Phillips Avenue Elementary — was downgraded to a CSI designation.

Superintendent Robert Hagan said the district has implemented the same strategies, including improving attendance and instruction, that lifted the other two schools off the list.

Officials in three districts — Greenport, Southampton and South Huntington — said they have seen academic improvement in their impacted schools and expected to be restored to good standing.

Getting off the list

Hemlock Park Elementary School in Brentwood had spent years on the state’s accountability list. But this year, it was finally restored to good standing.

Principal Christopher Dalley said his school’s improvement did not happen overnight. He credited the success to a focus on the whole school, versus just the subgroup — students with disabilities — that was underperforming.

“It was looking at instruction across the board in all categories — special education, bilingual education, our general education, everywhere — and taking that concept that the high tide would raise all boats,” he said.

In Central Islip, educators took a more targeted approach.

Dungee, the schools chief, said educators examined data from indicators such as test results and attendance to pinpoint the gaps that needed to be addressed.

“I always liken it to like being in a doctor's office,” she said. “It's almost like blood work, like where your iron is low, you need a vitamin for that.”

To be on the state’s accountability list has cast a shadow over schools, educators said. At one point, four Central Islip schools were cited as needing improvement.

“It’s a lot of pressure,” said Jessica Iafrate, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. “You're being monitored, when you know you're working so hard every day, to have that hanging over your head.”

Cordello Avenue Elementary was the last district school to be removed from the list.

Michelle Corcione, a longtime literacy teacher there, spoke of the optimism she would feel at the beginning of a school year, only to have it extinguished when the latest ratings came out.

“There was a level of frustration, you know? [Feeling] defeated sometimes,” she said in a recent interview.

But this year was different.

Districts were notified of their ratings earlier this year before the list was released publicly, and Central Islip's staff celebrated their elevation to good standing with cake. Some staffers, including Tammy Walsh, a librarian who has worked at the school since 1997, teared up.

“It is something we've been striving for for years,” Walsh said. “Everybody has a role in making this work. So showing that teamwork [has] paid off has just been amazing.”

Corcione said she’s glad for the children: “We want them to be accountable for their learning and for setting goals. It's an accomplishment for them as well. It's about their success.”

The milestone marked a new chapter but also continued work. As Dungee reminded the educators during the celebration: “You can sleep tonight," she said she told them. "Because tomorrow, we start back up again."