ELDRED, NY — At the request of the Eldred Board of Education made at its previous meeting, Superintendent Robert Dufour at the November 12 meeting announced he’ll give a presentation about Common Core and standardized testing requirements at the board’s December 17 meeting. Anticipating that questions and discussions will follow, he suggested a 5:30 p.m. start to enable the largest number of people, including teachers, to attend, to which board members agreed.

Substance abuse, another issue that’s been coming up regularly in recent meetings, will be addressed by the district through several programs designed to educate in order to prevent such abuse. Reporting on the first meeting of the Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force, Dufour said, “It included a general presentation of the available programs that the school is looking to implement.” Educational programs are going to start in grades three to six in January 2016, and in grades seven to 12 in September 2016.

He said the school is partnering with substance abuse prevention and education organizations such as Catholic Charities, Epic and others to implement educational programs and to conduct a survey to assess the school-wide culture. These organizations might also provide family counseling.

New board member Brian Siegel spent three days as the board’s representative at the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) conference in Albany in October, and he reported on his visit. “It was like a constitutional convention,” he explained, “Approvals and recommendations were put forward and adopted.” He added he didn’t know how successful the resolutions would be in NYSSBA lobbying efforts, but that the process seemed straightforward.

Siegel talked about the resolutions that he indicated were relevant to Eldred. The issues of Common Core and standardized testing have come up several times, and one of the resolutions advocated the adoption of a more accurate and fair system for testing and for conducting teacher evaluation.

Siegel has been a vocal advocate for forming a district-wide forum to assess where the district stands on Common Core, and Dufour’s presentation next month is one of the steps in the process.

Recently, New York State Education Department (SED) started to review its implementation of the Common Core and standardized testing, offering a survey at its website (www.nysed.gov/aimhighny) to evaluate each component of the current tests, which have been targeted with widespread criticism.

SED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia explains on the department’s website, “SED is conducting a review of the New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards in English language, arts/literacy and mathematics. This is not a referendum on the standards. Only comments tied to a specific standard will be considered.”

Several New York school districts and many individuals have raised questions about Common Core, with many parents refusing to allow their children to be tested. Among the Regents Board members too, dissenters recently voiced their differing opinions about the testing and standards.

The New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards explain that they were put into place to “provide a consistent set of expectations for what students should learn and be able to do,” and to provide “test results that are internationally benchmarked and evidence-based.”