Schools added, taken off 'needs improvement' list

Stepped-up tutoring for students and other academic efforts paid off Thursday for five schools in Wyandanch, Farmingdale and other local communities that won restoration of their good academic standing from state education authorities.

But six other Long Island schools were added to the state's "needs improvement" list, including high schools in Lawrence, Huntington and Selden.

In some districts, officials said the drop in academic status was a temporary setback resulting from efforts to administer more difficult exams to special-education students.

In Center Moriches, on the other hand, school administrators reported success in boosting reading fluency among special-education students by providing more textbooks geared to individual skill levels. That district's 750-student Clayton Huey Elementary School was removed from the "needs improvement" list and returned to good standing.

"I'm ecstatic!" said Russell Stewart, the district's new superintendent.

In Wyandanch, reaction was more muted. The district's 500-student high school returned to good academic standing Thursday - a result, local officials said, of last year's intensified after-hours tutoring aimed at prepping students for Regents exams.

School officials add, however, that this year's tutoring sessions have been canceled because of reductions in state aid and local budget cuts. Officials warn that cutbacks may mean lower Regents exam scores this winter and spring.

"We're going to take a real hit," said Paul Sibblies, principal at Wyandanch Memorial High School.

Twenty-eight individual Island schools and three school districts now are listed as needing academic improvement. They are among 532 schools and 35 districts listed statewide - up slightly from last year, due to stiffer rules governing the measurement of achievement among students with disabilities.

Inclusion on the state's needs-improvement list is based on a complicated formula that includes results from English and math Regents exams in high schools, along with graduation rates, and results from state tests in English, math and science for elementary schools.

Two Island districts, Amityville and North Babylon, won back their good academic standing Thursday.

John Williams, who is Amityville's school chief, attributed gains largely to more careful analysis of students' test scores, to determine exactly which academic skills need strengthening. Williams added that the district also has taken steps to ensure that all teachers get the 18 hours of annual training required by their contract. "I think that's paying off as well," he said.

Among schools newly listed as needing improvement were Huntington High School and Newfield High School, which is located in Selden and is part of the Middle Country system. Officials in both districts attributed the setbacks largely to efforts to administer Regents exams to special-education students, rather than the state's easier competency tests.

Local officials predict that a resulting rise in test failures will eventually be reversed as students become more familiar with the harder exams.

"We believe all kids can learn, if provided with proper support," said Roberta Gerold, the Middle Country superintendent.

Schools added to the State Education Department’s needs-improvement list:
Lawrence Senior HS
Brentwood HS
Huntington High School
Newfield High School
Patchogue-Medford HS
Eagle Elementary School, Medford

Schools returned to good academic standing:
Saltzman E. Memorial Elementary, Farmingdale
North Elementary, Brentwood
Clayton Huey Elementary, Center Moriches
South Ocean Middle School, Patchogue
Wyandanch HS

Districts returned to good academic standing:
Amityville
North Babylon