April 7

Letter Head

April 7, 2011

Dear Island Trees School Community,

A number of district residents have received school assessment and graduation data, as well as school budget information from anonymous sources over the last week. From what I understand, this information has been placed under windshields at local shopping centers, as well as left at some district residences. The accuracy of the information disseminated to the community is debatable. However, rather than try to review some of the flawed methodology in the statistical rankings contained in the handouts, I have attached the New York State School Report Cards for Island Trees since the 1998-99 school year. The information published by the New York State Education Department may provide the most accurate details regarding student performance. I also share a link to the New York Times educational website - the Times has organized a very comprehensive database of school scores and demographical information which may be equally helpful to those interested in school data and performance reports. In addition, below I provide the most up-to-date and accurate information pertaining to 2011-12 Island Trees school district budget.

Admittedly, Island Trees Class of 2010, performed slightly below the county average and more importantly, this particular cohort did not meet our own Regents diploma expectations. Although the 2010 Regents diploma rate (90%) had actually improved from 2009 (88%), it did not perform as well as the Class of 2008 (96%). On the other hand, the statistics printed in Newsday do not tell the whole story because the composition of our student body varies from year to year. For example, the 2010 graduation class had 189 students, 21 classified with learning disabilities (10% of the class). The 2009 class was comprised of 190 students, 17 were classified with a learning disability (8.9%). Finally, the class of 2008 had 217 students with only 10 students with disabilities (4.6%). This does not mean that our classified students failed to graduate during these school years or were the sole cause of variations in student performance; the vast majority of our students with disabilities graduated during this time period having earned a local diploma. However, the number of youngsters with disabilities in a community as small as ours does impact our Regent diploma rates.

For this reason, schools look at trends over time and do not use one unique measure of school performance because the student body makeup changes from year to year. To use one class - whether they did well or poorly - is not appropriate way to measure schools. Is it easier? Yes. Is it accurate? No. We look at many factors, including 3-8 ELA and Mathematics assessment performance, Regent exam results, Advanced Placement information, SAT performance... Do we need to improve as a school district? Absolutely, and we are headed in this direction.

Here are a few items we are working on: In response to changes with the New York State grades 3-8 assessments, we have modified curriculum in our elementary and middle schools and these teachers are utilizing new strategies to improve student performance. Additionally, we now provide more support for at-risk students in our elementary and middle schools. At the high school, we added a program to improve SAT results in order to be more competitive with local high schools in the college admissions process. In addition, we have added a new Advanced Placement science sequence, including a new course AP Chemistry class for our high school youngsters. In fact, over the last year we have doubled the number of students taking AP courses at Island Trees High School. Also, we closed the high school campus to create a more conducive learning environment for our 9-12 students.

The Island Trees School Board will finalize our budgetary process on Wednesday, April 13, 2011. At this meeting, the Board plans to adopt a 2.99% tax levy budget. From the beginning of the process, the Board of Education was faced with one of the most challenging budgets in the history of the district. Despite a tremendous reduction in state aid and mandated increases to employee benefits, the Board was able to develop a budget that supports a quality educational program, and at the same time, addresses affordability issues expressed by our community. If examined in the context of other Long Island school districts, the tax levy is lower than most and we have capitalized on economic efficiencies rather than decimating programs to contain costs. A great feat indeed!

If you have any questions on the specifics of the statistical data presented below, the 2011-12 budget and/or our educational programs and services, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you.

Island Trees Budget Information 2011-12

http://www.islandtrees.org/BUDGET2/budget/BUDGET.HTM

New York State School Report Cards - 1998 - 2010

2009-10 School Report Card https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/District.do?year=2010&county=NASSAU&district=280226030000

2008-09 School Report Card https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/District.do?year=2009&county=NASSAU&district=280226030000

2007-08 School Report Card https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/District.do?year=2008&county=NASSAU&district=280226030000

2006-07 School Report Card https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/District.do?year=2007&county=NASSAU&district=280226030000

2005-06 School Report Card https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/District.do?year=2006&county=NASSAU&district=280226030000

2004-05 School Report Card http://www.p12.nysed.gov/repcrd2005/links/d_280226.shtml

2003-04 School Report Card http://www.p12.nysed.gov/repcrd2004/links/d_280226.shtml

2002-03 School Report Card http://www.p12.nysed.gov/repcrdfall2003/links/d_280226.html