EDUCATION: Newfane's lower ELA scores discussed

By Joe Olenick/olenickj@gnnewspaper.com
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

October 24, 2007 01:28 pm

— The Newfane Central School District is battling low test scores in English language arts.
The Low ELA scores were discussed at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting. Board member Carl Stieffenhofer said the board was upset about the scores but could not understand Superintendent Gary Pogorzelski’s plan to improve the scores. Pogorzelski said the old program did not “meet the needs and standards.” The answer, he said, is literacy.
“Our philosophy has to be literacy; without it nothing else matters,” he said. “Literacy is needed to be able to read.”
Literacy was left out before, but Pogorzelski’s plan will make it a priority. The plan calls for more communication between teachers at the pre-kindergarten level through fourth grade.
“This is a comprehensive plan,” he said. “It is not just a fourth-grade issue, it is a pre-K through fourth-grade issue. My plan outlines a literacy approach to get us going. It is a concentrated effort to bring up the fourth-grade test scores.”
The plan has already been implemented because, according to Pogorzelski, there’s no time to waste.
“I didn’t want to wait,” he said. “This time is too valuable. We’re going to save money and they’ll be learning how to read.”
A suggestion was raised: Longer days for teachers. Other districts have school days that go past 3 p.m., while Newfane doesn’t. Pogorzelski said there would be a lot to consider in order to make that change — including the costs.
“It’s a complicated contractual issue,” he said. “It would cost a lot of money, but we will look at again.” The bulk of the costs would be the coverage for teachers when they are on a break or in their planning period of the day.
The board discussed joining other school districts for the New York State School Boards Association training program. The membership would have high costs, and Stieffenhofer questioned whether or not the district could afford it. Stieffenhofer said the program shouldn’t be discussed until there was “adequate” funding. Board member Lorie Kauffmann said the training would be important.
“The training we get is what we need to educate ourselves,” she said. The training would help the members do their jobs better she said.
Board President Donna Pieszala said the board would speak with the Royalton-Hartland School District and to the association to find out if a district has to be a member in order to attend the training program.
The board also decided to have a fall work session meeting. The meeting would have no official business conducted, but just have discussion about smaller issues. A tentative date is set for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 10 at the Newfane Middle School auditorium.
Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.