It's school budget time again!

Every year at this time the conversation around school districts turns to the school district budget. Most of you have probably read the newspaper or watched the evening news and know that schools in New York State, and around the country, are feeling the impact of this historic economic crisis.

The Watervliet City School District is not immune to this crisis but we are fortunate to be in a far better fiscal position than many of the districts in New York State and our neighboring school districts.

As I have stated many times in the past, over the last four years our district has emerged from our own fiscal crisis. In many ways, facing that crisis has prepared us for what is upon us today. Solid leadership from our Board of Education and conservative and cautious business practices adopted by this administration have placed us in a position to continue to stay true to our mission of “Every Student, Every Day!” without layoffs, elimination of programs or a substantial tax increase.

Our budget mission is always to balance the ever-expanding educational needs of our students with our community’s values and their ability to pay. This year, much like last year, our budget goals are to maintain all current academic and extra curricular programs, maintain all current faculty and staff and continue to keep our class sizes as small as possible. We plan to achieve this goal without burdening our local taxpayers with a large tax increase in these difficult economic times.

In my five years as Superintendent, we have added many new programs, implemented many initiatives and expanded our student offerings. This year, it is financially prudent to limit new initiatives to those that we deem absolutely paramount to improving academic achievement.

We greatly appreciate the support that the citizens of Watervliet have shown our district over the last few years; soundly approving four school budgets in four years and overwhelmingly approving the two, much needed capital projects that have been placed before you. This year, the district will, once again, propose a sound, responsible and balanced budget that will continue to meet the needs of the students of the Watervliet City School District.

More information on our budget process is available on the district’s website. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about our school’s budget.

Lowering standards is a slippery slope

My last blog entry was about “racing to the top” and praised our state’s high academic standards and increased accountability for schools. I think it’s ironic, and rather unfortunate, that today’s entry has to talk about the possibility of our state moving backwards in what we require of our students.

As we all know, New York State is currently experiencing the greatest economic crisis in our history. The State deficit is projected to grow to over 9 billion dollars in some experts’ estimation. Most people are aware of how this financial crisis affects individual school budgets. But sadly, the newest possible victim of the state’s dire financial straits is the high educational standards and expectations that have long been the hallmark of New York State.

The state is proposing the elimination of 13 of 17 Regents Examinations, tests given to high school students at the end of each course of study to determine their competency in the subject. The elimination of these tests will save the State in the area of 14 million dollars. This is a substantial amount of money but I’m worried… is there a greater cost to this type of move?

Is the money saved worth lowering our expectations and discarding the high rigor of education in New York State? Will this move send students out of our high schools into the “flat world” of the 21st century unprepared to be productive and successful adults? Will we doom our students to entering post secondary education without the knowledge needed to gain a degree or certificate?

These are the questions that need to be answered before we short-circuit our standards and expectations. New York State has long been a national flag bearer for high standards and academic rigor in our public schools. Our standards are arguably the most comprehensive and rigorous in the country.

Here in Watervliet, our faculty, staff and administration have dedicated ourselves to the standards put forth by the State Education Department. These standards are the basis of our curriculum development and alignment and at the root of our school improvement process; a process that has improved our students' academic achievement and removed our district from School In Need of Improvement designation.

Eliminating Regents exams is a slippery slope that will erode these standards and have a negative impact on the quality of education here in Watervliet and in the entire state.

WCSD is ready to Race to the Top

You may have heard about a new pool of money that the Obama administration has made available for education funding. “Race to the Top” funding is structured as a competitive U.S. Education Department grant that is open to State Education Departments across the country. New York State is eligible to receive up to $700 Million in funds which would allow us to accelerate our combined efforts to improve education across the state.

To qualify for Race to the Top funding, states are required to advance reforms in four specific areas:

• Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college, the workplace and the global economy;
• Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction;
• Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and
• Turning around our lowest-achieving schools.

This is great news for us here at Watervliet City Schools, as these goals are right on target with what our administrative team has been working towards during my time with the district. I am very pleased to see our new Commissioner, David M. Steiner and the State Education Department take this strong and decisive step toward fulfilling our promise to the young people of New York State.

New York is addressing the Race to the Top challenge through a cohesive plan that leverages and aligns our state resources and practices to improve education outcomes for all our students and close gaps in achievement. This application submitted to the United States Education Department is truly in line with the Mission Statement of the Watervliet City School District. High expectations are the cornerstone of our program and the Race to the Top proposal truly sets the expectations of our schools very high.

Some might think that school districts would shy away from this proposal and run from the level of accountability and the height of expectations that the Race to the Top proposal sets. We in Watervliet will not. In fact, I say “bring it on!” and I do so with the full support of the Watervliet Teachers’ Association and our Board of Education. We all fully embrace this challenge and thank Commissioner Steiner for his efforts and his confidence that we in the local school districts can win this “Race to The Top.”

Happy Holidays to all!

As we approach the holiday break and the end of another calendar year, we also approach the half way point in our school calendar. I have spent much of the time this school year discussing student achievement and academic issues, which are at the core of our district mission statement.

But another part of our mission is community support. Both of our school buildings have been doing a great deal in our community this year and this holiday season.

At WJSHS, the Character Education program has been working to feed the hungry: In the past, Character Ed. Has worked at the Equinox Shelter to assist with Thanksgiving dinners. Community service in this area has expanded to include assisting with the St. Patrick's Soup kitchen every Monday evening, the St .Patrick's Food Pantry for Thanksgiving, and one trip per month to the Regional Food Bank in Latham to prepare shipments of food to numerous local food pantries. They also expanded their work with the City of Watervliet to include assistance with the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony and the flower planting through the housing authority.

WES students and staff give back through the Giving Tree which benefits families in need. Staff and community members purchase needed items to brighten the holiday for families that are struggling. In addition, the WES food drive collected well over 1000 pounds of food which was donated to the Watervliet St. Patrick's food drive.

The WHS Student Council conducted a food drive as well, which collected over 260 items and $370 in cash contributions.

Through efforts such as these throughout the year, the students and staff of the Watervliet City School District show a spirit of giving and commitment to the people of the community in which they live.

I am very proud and quite pleased that we are able to live up to this piece of our mission.

Happy Holidays to all.

I LOVE THIS SCHOOL!

As many of you have probably seen, our new playgrounds are just about ready for our WES students. The play areas have been completely renovated and are brand new, safe and most importantly of all - full of exciting and challenging new equipment.

Earlier this week I visited our students playing on the new kindergarten playground and they were very excited to finally be able to swing on the swings and climb on the monkey bars, (even though it was a little chilly out) after several weeks of watching the construction through their classroom windows. It was great to see their smiling faces as they tried out the new equipment.

Yesterday, as I watched students using the new equipment on the other playground behind the school, I was excited by what I saw, but I was most impressed by what I heard. A student was running from one new piece of equipment to another screaming, “I LOVE THIS SCHOOL!” Normally, we educators are supposed to frown at screaming, but I think I can make an exception this one time!

I would like to thank Kate Smith and all of the members of our Playground Committee - Shannon Quinlivan, Kelly Webster, Don Stevens, Toni DeFilippo, Katrina Davis, Kelly Gilchrist, Stacey Clermont and Ben Roberts - for all of the hard work that they have done to make these new playgrounds a reality. I know our students appreciate it.

There are still a few more details and other renovations (including our new softball fields) that remain at WES, but we are in the final stretch (which I know will make Mrs. O’Brien very happy!)

The comprehensive capital improvement of our schools and facilities is ongoing and the main focus will now move to the WJSHS campus. It is the work of groups like the playground committee and our facilities task force that make these projects fully inclusive and true community endeavors.

As soon as the final touches are completed at WES we will be holding a ribbon cutting and public tours. We want everyone in the community to echo the sentiments of the excited student that I watched yesterday in saying, “WE LOVE THIS SCHOOL!”

Please watch our web site and WVLT for information about this event.

Appreciating our unsung heroes

Two separate groups of unsung heroes are being celebrated at Watervliet City Schools. This week is both Bus Driver Appreciation Week and Board of Education Appreciation Week. Both of these groups are integral to the day-to-day operations and the overall vision and mission of our school district.

Bus Driver Appreciation Week

Our school bus drivers are very important members of our team here in Watervliet. While by New York State definition, the majority of our students live within walking distance to our schools, the Board of Education chooses every year to put safety first and offer a generous transportation program to our elementary school students. This program includes our three buses and district employed bus drivers (Dave Capitula, Mike Motkowicz, Mike Carroll) and several contract buses from Star and Strand and Folmsbee Transportation Company. Every one of these drivers happily takes on the responsibility for delivering our students safely to and from school every day. They also transport our students to special programs, field trips and sporting events. These men and women provide an important service to our students and community. This is sometimes a thankless job and I would like to thank them personally for all that they do. You can read more about our celebration on the district's website.

Board of Education Appreciation Week

The Board of Education of the Watervliet City School District is made up of five elected volunteers who truly are committed to the continued success of our school district: Mark Scully, President; Christine Chartrand, Vice President; Jennifer Donovan; Frank McGrouty; and Virginia Mullaney. Many people do not realize the time and effort that is put in by these people. Many also do not realize that there is no pay or benefits provided for School Board Members. They are true volunteers. Knowing that they are serving the children of our school district and the occasional, while be it too seldom, “thank yous” are all the compensation they receive. Happily for us, that is all they need.

We are very lucky here in Watervliet to have a BOE that is as committed, interested and dedicated to our schools as these folks are As you watch our test scores rise, our graduation rate climb and our new facilities come to life, you should know that it is your neighbor, the school board member, who had the vision and fortitude to bring these initiatives to reality. I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to work with the WCSD BOE and thank them for guiding our school district to fulfillment of our mission of inspiring, educating and challenging every student, every day.

So, I ask you - next time you see your child’s bus driver or one of the members of our board of education, please remember to thank them for all they do for our students.

We're off the list!

I frequently blog about our need to raise the bar for our students and ourselves. One the ways to do this is to take a long look at our practices and determine what is working and what needs to be improved. Our School Improvement Team has spent the last two years doing this and it has definitely paid high dividends.

We have seen great results from this work.

• First and foremost, as per the most recent accountability list issued by the state education department, we have been removed from New York State’s list of "Schools Needing Improvement."

• Watervliet City School District students in grades 3-8 demonstrated significant progress on the New York state math exam this year, with 15 percent more achieving the two highest levels over previous years.

• District-wide, 86 percent achieved Level 3 or Level 4 on the test administered in March, up from 71 percent in 2007-08, according to results the State Education Department released June 1. Measured over two years, the district has seen a 33 percent increase in the number of students scoring at the top two levels.

• The most significant gains this year were in grade seven, where 41 percent more students scored Level 3 or Level 4.

• Every grade posted achievement gains and met the state benchmark, with significant gains at each grade level. Additionally, students in all subgroups made strong progress in 2009 as the district continues its efforts to eliminate the achievement gap.

• The strong gains in math followed similar results district-wide on this year’s English language arts exam. Overall, 69 percent of the district’s students in grades 3-8 achieved proficiency in ELA this year, a 9 percent gain over 2008 and a 20 percent increase over 2007.

• The most significant ELA gains this year were again seen in grade seven, where 20 percent more students scored Level 3 or Level 4.

• Every grade posted ELA achievement gains and met the state benchmark, with significant gains at each grade level. Additionally, students in all subgroups made strong progress in 2009.

Just because we have been removed from the list of school’s needing improvement, the work of our School Improvement team will not stop. It is my firm belief that all schools should be working to be better at all times. So this year we will be looking even more deeply at our academic program and our practices.

To do this, we need to ask ourselves three essential questions: What are we teaching, why are we teaching it and how will we know our students have learned and mastered the material. Asking ourselves these questions on a daily basis, along with our more formalized school improvement initiatives, will allow us to continue our forward momentum and fulfill the mission of the Watervliet City School District.