ELDRED, NY — Earlier in the school year, nearly every seat was taken at the monthly Eldred School Board meetings as parents and other concerned citizens asked questions that seemed to go unanswered. In January, fewer than 20 seats were occupied in the gallery as the board conducted business. Those in attendance were almost exclusively teachers, staff and students fulfilling class requirements by sitting in on the meeting.

It seems that interim superintendent Dr. John Morgano and interim high school principal Jean Maxson have calmed the waters. These individuals replaced former superintendent Robert Dufour and principal Scott Krebs. Dufour took a position with BOCES and Krebs has been reassigned.

The meeting took on an air of an in-service session as Maxson methodically answered a question that arose months ago about the seemingly poor graduation rate of the Class of 2017.

Maxson explained that the state determines the size of a graduating class, defined as a cohort, during the cohort’s freshman year. This number is permanently assigned to that class; for the class of 2017, that number was 61. In each of the subsequent three years, the number in the cohort decreased by four students due to transfers out of the district, court placements, or dropping out of school, which a student can do at the age of 17. Of the remaining students, 36 graduated in June, two have been in a five-year program since grade 10, six are obtaining or have obtained a GED, and five have or will complete coursework and New York State Board of Regents requirements after the regular June graduation date.

Under New York State law, GEDs earned prior to the June graduation date or any subsequent graduations that occur after that date are excluded from the cohort’s graduation statistics.

Maxson stated that one of the students who had dropped out has reconsidered his action and re-enrolled, which is possible because he is under age 21.

She noted further that at the other end of the spectrum are students who graduate with significantly more than the number of credits needed as well as a number of college credits, and that these are accomplishments worthy of acknowledgement.

Kim Gonzalez, student body president, asked whether there could be further intervention earlier in the process to explain graduation pathways. She said that a lot of students don’t understand the graduation requirements until it is too late, which results in their missing their June graduation. Acknowledging Gonzalez’s insight, Maxson responded that Gonzalez needed to be put on the guidance staff. Morgano reminded the audience that not everyone learns at the same rate and that, thankfully, other options are available to students. He added that it is unfortunate that these alternative successes are not captured in the statistics.

This led to a discussion about state assessment tests. Board president Carol Bliefernich stated that the reliability of state assessments has always been in question, but it is the framework within which they must work.

Another speaker asked if there was a way to get rid of “opting out” because grade nine students who opt out of such standardized testing in grades three through eight can be ill-prepared without that experience for the rigors of Regents Exams. It was agreed that the opting-out option is “here to stay.”

Morgano reviewed a revision to the school attendance policy, which was unanimously approved by the board. The former policy punished students by immediately assigning them detention upon their return to school. Morgano said that such punitive measures were counter-intuitive to getting students to return to the classroom. He also reported that the Bullying Task Force has meetings scheduled for January 22 and February 5.

The board will meet again on February 8 at the Mackenzie Elementary School.