With two Schenectady City School District elementary schools entering state receivership, school officials are urging parents not to worry.
Pleasant Valley and Lincoln elementary schools were identified by the state's education department as needing extra support. But officials say the schools are already on the upswing.
Tia Corniel is the district’s chief academic officer. She says being placed in receivership doesn’t mean that either school is poor quality.
“I think I would characterize it as additional support and collaboration between a state education department, our school district and school community with layers of support that are targeted on specific areas of focus that we need to engage and pay attention to,” Corniel said. “The word that comes to mind is truly collaboration and the opportunity to continually improve.”
The schools had both been in the comprehensive support and improvement category. But now, the schools will receive extra support through grant funding opportunities in the upcoming school year.
Schools are placed under receivership if they are identified as academically under-performing by the New York State Department of Education.
Schenectady school officials say a recent performance data report indicates the schools need to improve on student achievement in ELA, math, and science and in overall attendance.
The schools have seen improvement in some testing areas in recent years, but they will need an additional two years of improvement to be eligible to exit receivership.
Leaders say in recent years more than half of the schools’ students were chronically absent, missing more than 18 days per school year.
About a dozen parents and families connected to the schools showed up for two separate public hearings Wednesday. Two of Jana Boettner’s kids attend Pleasant Valley. Boettner, who is involved in the school’s Parent Teacher Organization, says the move to receivership doesn’t come as a surprise.
“I know the school does their best to try to make sure needs are met,” Boettner said. “Community, meeting them where they're at, as far as you know, how to get the kids in school every single day, and doing their homework and trying to improve grades and all that fun stuff. So, I'm just super aware of that, trying to be part of the solution.”
District and school leaders called on parents to be part of the solution by ensuring their students are in class every day. Reading to students at home and talking about school can also help. Superintendent Carlos Cotto, Jr. spoke with reporters after the hearing at Lincoln elementary.
“Community engagement is a key piece. I mean, it could be [the] community engagement team that we put we're putting together, brings in the families and brings in that particular voice, you know,” Cotto said. “I think it was mentioned, the interim principal shared, being here is extremely important. So, I mean, we really want to emphasize that we have things that we've been sharing as a district, Project B here. So, it is just extremely important that we know that when our babies are in the building and we're providing that support, that they get the information that in the get the information that they need in order to be successful.”
Mom Sarah Ashton has a first grader at Lincoln. She says her son has been at Lincoln since pre-K and has had no problems getting her child the support he needs. Ashton says the school has been transparent about its struggles, and parents bear a responsibility, too.
“I think any school has those issues. So, I don't necessarily think it makes them a bad school. Personally, we've never had any issues, but we've always been very hands on with all teachers as much as we could. Does it come down to different parents? Yes, but every different family is different,” Ashton said. “So, you know, you can't, you don't know what their life is like at home that doesn't get through. I think all the teachers that we have been aware of have been very open to communication, and I think that that's the big thing is, you know, communication on all fronts.”
Receivership requires superintendents to create and implement improvement plans. It also makes the school eligible for grants meant to turn academic performance around.
The District’s W.C. Keane Elementary School was placed under state receivership in 2018.
Corniel says W.C. Keane is also showing signs of improvement.
“They consistently meet their demonstrable improvement indicators, which are those state-set targets I talked about in the presentation, and their momentum has been really significant over time, and we see it most notably in the last few years,” Corniel said. “I think what makes Lincoln and pleasant valley elementary a little different is they're just entering that process, so they've been in status a little bit less there. And every school is unique and different.”
The district will distribute a needs assessment to parents, students, and staff next week. School officials add a community engagement team will be established and a continuation plan written.
