Long Island schools: 11 schools, 11 districts cited by state as needing improvement

Fewer Long Island school districts and individual schools were flagged for subpar academic performance in the state's latest round of accountability ratings, with the number decreasing from 29 to 22, a Newsday analysis found.

A total of 13 districts and 16 schools in the Nassau-Suffolk region were posted on the state Department of Education's needs-improvement list for the 2022-23 school year. Those numbers dropped to 11 districts and 11 schools for the 2023-24 school year.

Moreover, four districts and eight schools on the Island have been removed from the state’s low-performance lists and reclassified in good academic standing.

“Long Island schools continue to show progress post-COVID with regards to academic growth,” said Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association. “We also know there is work that still needs to be done, but this data shows our districts are moving in the right direction.”

Vecchio sent his comments to Newsday via email.

Annual classifications of districts and schools are part of a federal and state accountability system that was suspended at the height of the pandemic, but then revived in 2022-23. Ratings are based on multiple factors, including student attendance, test achievement and graduation rates. 

Under longstanding U.S. rules, ratings identify schools and districts falling in the bottom 5% statewide either for poor performance among large groups of students or among smaller sub-groups including students with disabilities and those in racial or ethnic minorities. Identified schools and districts failing to improve sufficiently over three years face potential penalties, such as being placed under the supervision of a state-appointed monitor.

Some progress, but struggles remain

To determine the impact of the latest ratings in Nassau and Suffolk counties, Newsday examined state records covering more than 5,300 school systems and individual schools throughout the state. Newsday found signs of progress in some of the Island's districts, along with continued struggles in others.

The great majority of the Island’s 125 districts and their schools remain in good academic standing, which the state calls “Local Support and Achievement."

Districts showing improvement include Hempstead and Valley Stream 24 in Nassau County, together with Amityville and West Islip in Suffolk County.

In Valley Stream 24, the district's Brooklyn Avenue School has been upgraded to good standing. The same is true for Manetuck Elementary School in West Islip. 

Superintendent Paul Romanelli of West Islip said his district boosted test scores for a group of 23 students at Manetuck Elementary through intensive virtual tutoring in English, math or both subjects. The tutoring was supported by state grant money.

“The district remains focused on academic growth and success," Romanelli said in a prepared statement.

But two Island districts, Patchogue-Medford and Westhampton Beach, have been added to the state’s latest listings. Three individual schools also have been added: South Ocean Middle School in Patchogue-Medford, Westhampton Beach Middle School in the district of the same name and Phillips Avenue School in Riverhead.

Carolyn Probst, the superintendent in Westhampton Beach, said in a prepared statement that the middle school’s rating was due to test scores registered by fewer than 20 students who were English language learners.

“State assessments are disproportionately difficult for students who are acquiring English language skills, but the district is proud of the hard work and progress of this student population and looks forward to continued growth and achievement,” Probst stated. 

In Riverhead, the interim superintendent, Cheryl Pedisich, expressed pride in the restoration of one local school, Pulaski Street Intermediate, to good academic standing. Pedisich added that her district's comprehensive improvement plan is aimed at upgrading three other buildings: Riverhead Middle School, Phillips Avenue School and Roanoke Avenue School. That 21-page plan, on file with the state, lists reducing chronic absenteeism among its priorities.

'Not indicative of who we are'

Nine of the Island’s districts and eight of its schools remain on the state’s list for 2023-24, after having first been posted the prior year. They include Brentwood, Central Islip, Greenport, Longwood, Middle Country, Riverhead, South Country, William Floyd and Wyandanch.

Brentwood’s superintendent, Wanda Ortiz-Rivera, stated that a group of students with disabilities at the district’s Hemlock Park Elementary School had made significant progress in 2023-24 testing. As a result, the schools chief said she was confident that the school would be removed from accountability status after the next round of testing this spring.

In South Country, Superintendent Antonio Santana stated that the district’s Bellport Middle School had been cited by the state and that the district was auditing instructional practices in an effort to improve performance. 

“This designation is not indicative of who we are as a building,” Santana said.

Officials in several districts also noted that accountability classifications often hinge on the underperformance of relatively small groups of students.

Jessica Iafrate, an assistant superintendent in Central Islip, stated that a state designation of the district’s Cordello Elementary School was based on the performance of a student subgroup representing only 9% of enrollment. Iafrate added that the subgroup could not be identified, due to confidentiality rules. 

In the William Floyd district, spokesman James Montalto said that the state’s rating of a local learning center was based on a comparison of test scores for about 24 students with disabilities there with scores for students in other schools.

“We wholeheartedly believe, despite this designation, that the William Floyd Learning Center should be held up as a model school across the state for successfully integrating students with disabilities into mainstream classes,” Montalto said in an email to Newsday.