With the state’s recently released school report card in hand, Joe Kavanaugh, Scotia-Glenville’s assistant superintendent and director of curriculum, discussed the results with the board of education at the Monday, June 25, meeting.
Kavanaugh said the district is meeting and exceeding state standards and working toward the goal of having all students meet those standards.
The English language arts and math results were released to school districts so they could analyze the results and look for areas of improvement. Scotia-Glenville improved its results in 2007 with 85 percent of elementary students meeting standards and 70 percent of middle school students meeting standards.
Overall, we are in great shape with meeting and exceeding expectations. That is not to say we do not need to continue to work together to keep improving our education standards. There will always be room for improvement, said Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh said the district has already put together its 2007-2008 school year initiatives, and will consider a pilot program for sixth grade English language arts, as well as implementing a new kindergarten-through-fifth-grade math series. In the upper grade levels, Kavanaugh said the district is looking at a ninth-grade honors course and technology advances at the middle school.
`We want to continue staff development in reading, mathematics, co-teaching, technology and disaffected youth,` said Kavanaugh.
The board also discussed how it uses funds from the state’s EXCEL grant. The board is looking at information from the facilities committee that outlines the district’s needs for upgrades. In addition, an architect is looking at the district’s athletic facilities and fields.
`In order to capitalize on the aid, classroom space has to be built. At this time, the board feels that with our declining student population and the space that was added with our last project, classroom space is not needed at this time,` said board president Margaret Smith.
Smith said there were items left out of the last project, such as the middle school library. Smith emphasized that the board is only in the preliminary stages of deciding exactly where the money will go.
`We do have facility needs and athletic needs as well that I think will be part of the project somehow,` said Smith.
The board approved the consolidation of an ice hockey team with Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake. Scotia-Glenville has agreed to provide medical supplies, bus transportation and funding for officials.“