SCHENECTADY — Schenectady City School District Superintendent Anibal Soler, Jr. on Monday praised the district’s progress in recently released state test results, while acknowledging the district has considerable room for growth.
The district recorded 6.93% in growth year-over-year for students in grades 3-8 passing the state math exam in 2022-2023, with 16.72% of students scoring a level three or four mark on the test to prove their proficiency.
The district saw a 3.96% rise in proficiency among grades 3-8 for state English Language Arts (ELA) scores, with 24% of pupils earning passing grades.
All 14 district buildings that participated in the math testing saw year-over-year growth from the 2021-2022 test score, with Central Park Middle School increasing from 5.98% proficiency to 15.97% proficiency in 2022-2023.
“There are things we can be proud about that there’s growth and some of our schools showed double-digit gains and some were 3 or 4%, but they all showed growth,” Soler said on Monday. “That, to me, is a really positive thing for our 3-8 testing. People forget the context that for over 18 months the district was closed for in-person learning.”
Zoller Elementary had the highest math proficiency rate in the district with 40.76% of students passing the assessment, which Soler added was still below the regional average of 47%.
Soler noted that, despite the gains, 75% of Schenectady students were not proficient in the state ELA exams and more than 80% were not proficient in math, leaving room for growth.
“That’s the area we have to focus on,” he said.
During a presentation on the test results to the school board on Nov. 1, Soler noted that the growth in ELA scores was “not great, but definitely growth.”
The district has been labeled a target district by the New York State Education Department after 11 of 15 district buildings received designations for needed academic improvement for the 2022-2023 test results.
Soler noted that it only requires one school to receive a designation for a district to be deemed a target district.
“We don’t have to like the rules of engagement, but the rules of engagement are real,” Soler told the board. “They’re how we’re held accountable here as a school system, and they’re how the conversation gets formed about ‘Are we a good school system or not?’ I believe we’re an amazing school system, but sometimes the outcomes and the designations don’t always match that.”
Schenectady High School was upgraded from a Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) designation in 2021-2022 to a Local Support and Improvement (LSI) designation in 2022-2023, with the school considered in good academic standing.
Central Park and Oneida middle schools were deemed in good standing by the state in 2021-2022 but are now listed as requiring Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) under the state criteria.
Keane Elementary is under the state’s CSI/Receivership category, with Soler telling the board he was concerned if the school continues to struggle academically that the state could appoint a monitor to the district as the state has previously done in districts in Rochester and East Ramapo in Rockland County.
“We don’t want to get there and I’m confident that we won’t,” Soler told the board, “but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Soler said the district has not been provided a criteria from the state on removing the CSI/Receivership designation from Keane Elementary besides improving state test scores.
Keane recorded a 15.08% proficiency rate in ELA and a 12.6% proficiency rate in math scores in 2022-2023.
“I just wanted to bring that to their attention because that does change our governance a little bit if there is a monitor assigned to the school system,” Soler said on Monday. “My hope with communicating that would be for us to have a higher sense of urgency and making sure there is a fierce urgency of now to making sure our kids can read and do math.”
In 2021-2022, zero eighth grade math students passed the state’s math test, with 11% passing the exam in the 2022-2023 school year, which Soler credited in part to a change made by the district.
“We, in the past, did not test our eighth graders who were taking the high school course and last year we made a correction to that,” he told the board. “I was personally tired of saying that 0% of our kids were proficient in math, when I knew that wasn’t the case. So, part of the growth is that we tested kids who are taking high school math in eighth grade.”
Soler noted that those eighth grade students took two state math exams in the last school year, sitting for a state assessment test in the spring and a Regents test in June.
“We know that testing creates anxiety and we try to think about that with kids, but sometimes we have to counter what’s best for kids with what’s best for making sure we can meet the metrics and accountability systems,” he told the board.
Soler said on Monday that district parents had the choice to opt out of either math exam, with the district recommending that eighth graders taking high school math courses take both tests.
Soler noted that 162 district eighth graders participated in the Algebra Regents exam with a 67.9% passing rate.
In April, Republican mayoral candidate Matt Nelligan released a proposal for the city to run the school district in a move that he contends would increase public accountability for the district.
Nelligan said on Monday that, after the improved test results, he believes the district would still benefit from city overview.
“When you’re starting from the basement, it’s easy to come up one step,” Nelligan said. “I think they’ve got a long way to go. When you’re at the bottom, any progress is progress, but considering the amount of money that taxpayers pay and how much money we voted to give them in the budget in May, they’ve got a long way to go before they can show me that they’ve turned the corner as a school district.”
In the spring, district voters approved the district’s proposed $300 million capital project for districtwide infrastructure upgrades and the district’s $265 million 2023-2024 school budget.
Nelligan, who will face incumbent Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy in Tuesday’s election, said if elected he will appoint a city liaison to the school district.