At last night's Board of Education meeting, my fellow Board of Education Members were met with three areas of great news. The first being that our SPECIALIZED SUMMER PROGRAMS will increase graduation rates and students remaining in school instead of dropping out. All points lead to an upswing as the critical services are provided for a large number of children at risk. One excellent point that was made is that children who stay in school for the summer do indeed maintain more knowledge and continue to progress. Also students were being identified earlier to insure proper intervention. Since drop out rates are now divised through a "new and uninproved" formula...it is imperative that we focus on early intervention.
Our New High School Principle, Chris Daley, meets with 10 High Risk Students each and every week and so do our High School Counselors. It has been proven that the individual attention given to a student that is not achieving can actually turn that student around 360 degrees and provide for continued confidence as they progress through High School.
That brings us to our second piece of Good News. I have never been one to profess great relevance in Business First's Ratings of schools. This was largely due to a veiled process and a cumbersome explanation form. Things do change however, and now there is a greater explanation of how ratings are compiled and how schools end up with the compiled number that they do. OUT OF 97 School Districts in Western New York Batavia City Schools Ranked 38th. Now I realize that is not TOP 10, but it is our highest ranking ever in the ratings history and shows that we are going in the right direction. It also proves that we are ONE OF THE TOP CITY SCHOOL DISTRICTS in NEW YORK STATE.
Business First also produced six categories and benchmarks on how the list was created. In TWO AREAS Batavia is in the TOP 10 out of 97. We tied for 7th as one of Western New Yorks Over Achieving School Districts. This means that in spite of poor socio-economic indicators and financial considerations, our students do extremely well. In fact one of our students place in the TOP 25 or Western New York and another placed in the 25 Alternates list. Economic indicators such as the free and reduced lunch percentage of students are used to determine this benchmark.
In the are of Student Access, we ranked SECOND out of all 97 Schools in Western New York. This is exciting, because it once again shows that we are going in the right direction by making our teachers and professionals more apt to work with students on a one-to-one basis. The ability to better serve our students while increasing overall success is the NUMBER ONE GOAL of the City of Batavia School District.
The THIRD PIECE OF GOOD NEWS is that YOUR SCHOOL TAX RATES are going DOWN. There is approximately a 4.4% decrease in the tax rate or on average a $1.10 per thousand reduction. As late as last night, another $47000 was found in excess and it was returned to the taxpayers to lower the current school tax rate. This is indeed good news from the standpoint of trying to control the escalating tax issues that this area has and continues to face. More work in this area has to be done but it is a start.
Comment me with any questions and I will try to answer them. Also, I am always here to answer your concerns either via this blog or privately.
Great news! This is clearly
Great news! This is clearly indicative of sound leadership throughout the district.
Thank you for informing us,
Thank you for informing us, Patrick. Sounds like a lot of good news.
Thought it was WNY not all of
Thought it was WNY not all of NYS
Missed something?
38 out of 97 isn't too much to write home about
That's like a B- or C+ of schools
..and I don't trust rankings considering how inflated EVERYTHING is
This means that in spite of poor socio-economic indicators and financial considerations, our students do extremely well.
Don't understand how this is supposed to make me feel good
We're poor but have few students while having just as many teachers
That kinda leads to better than expected grades
Student access sounds like something made up to make the report longer but wouldn't #2 create in an ideal world a #2 in overachieving schools not #7
It's not like our poor kids get lost in gangs and violence and crime and
What makes up those 5 lost spots?
What was our previous High Score? I only ask because I don't see anything in a rank going from 45th to 38th
That's like a murder rate going from 45 to 41
I doubt any real correlation
However, maybe we went from 55 to 38 which, I suppose
could be showing something
Any chance we know what Chris Daley and the others do in those meetings
Not sure we want kids facing these decisions to be going 360 degrees
I say turn em around 540 degrees or until sick
whichever comes first
Glass half empty Laz? Let us
Glass half empty Laz? Let us enjoy some good news while we have it. It seems that any good news, at any level should be embraced these days.
This means that in spite of
This means that in spite of poor socio-economic indicators and financial considerations, our students do extremely well.... Pat could you explain what this means....does it mean that if your are poor your not that smart..sounds like BS to me..Is that the reason Batavia schools aren't rated higher because there are allot of students that come from a family who's parents don't have high paying jobs..Don't get me wrong i'm glad to see progress to the up side,but lets not blame it on those reasons.Maybe there are some teachers who shouldn't be teachers..i'm sure most of them are great, but some of the blame has to be placed on the teachers and front office personal..and maybe some children have parents who just don't care..
Socio-economic indicators are
Socio-economic indicators are used nationwide to establish poorer districts (both taxability & family income) from wealthier districts. It has always been a way to level the playing field. It does not reflect that poorer familes have children that are not smart, however it does reflect what is called "home bound support". To put it simply, parents can be trying thier best but if they work two jobs to make the ends meet, can they spend as much time reading with thier kids and doing homework as a stay at home Mom or Dad that has one job can? I experienced this when my children were small.
There is no blame from our school district on any of our parents, most do work hard with the district and the teachers. In fact, our access numbers give parents and teachers HIGH MARKS here in Batavia. That is what that number is about and perhaps it is the most crucial to show that most all of our teachers and parents are working harder to work together. It also shows our employee configuration is working out well.
Changing the way education is delivered is also something that Batavia has taken to task. We do have a higher number of learning disabled children in our district, most county seats do. However, we house most all of our special needs children in house, that is something a lot of districts do not do. With that in mind, these students also reflect on our numbers overall.
Also remember, Batavia Schools do not come up with these numbers nor do we have any input into the study, that is all done by Business First. As always, thanks for your input. I hope this answers many of your questions and if you have any more, please let me know.
Glass half empty Glass half
Glass half empty
Glass half full
I'm a well-rounded guy
If you take out of the glass it's empty
If you put in it's full
These games that people play only depress me, Sherry
Why do you feel the need to put on some upbeat show?
If you're happy with mediocracy and I'm not
Which attitude is more likely to push for greater things
How is what you see as "pessimism" a negative?
I can see your optimism as a negative
I don't know who wins this game but since there
-seems-
to be less of me I guess you do
C+ is better than a D but I'm not about to celebrate it
What are "these days"
These days are here because of yesterdays and that means the people who gave birth to today are at
-very generous here-
at least as much fault for whatever problems we face
I don't believe These Days exist
There is only the replay of yesterdays
Perhaps too many people happy with the way things are to change anything
I don't know what's happening
what the heck does this mean
what the heck does this mean ?
"We do have a higher number of learning disabled children in our district, most county seats do. However, we house most all of our special needs children in house, that is something a lot of districts do not do. With that in mind, these students also reflect on our numbers overall".
I know this cant be an excuse for some stupid school rankings.
We be poor so we aint the book learnin type.
SHAME ON US !
OUR schools educate our children as best as what funding is provided then they personally kick in with extra effort.
I see some pretty smart kids in this area.
Parents arent perfect but blaming anyone let alone their "situation" is just plain wrong.
TRY being a teacher or a parent and listen to that poopy cocky.
Dont be mad at me cuz i got special needs.
So a parent or a student isnt a genius.
Quit squeezing small town educational funds and your rating in the pole will go up reguardless of our extra cost special needs folk !
We are all a product of our enviornment.
Gabor D Deutsch
I figure poor areas are poor
I figure poor areas are poor more so because there are fewer jobs than equal jobs that pay less
I don't really buy the wealthier families teach chldren morebetter thing
I figure poor areas are expected to do worse because of depression
blight
whatever you wish to call it
I also figure this is why religion is so important to small towns
You put kids in a prison/basement/junkyard schoolroom with the best teachers in the world
the only views out being of other Prisons/basements/junkyards
I very much doubt you're going to be turning them into scholars
Psychological
That said, it's all pretty well tied together
I know
My point is I don't see how anyone can be pleased with a rank higher than someone thinks they should be scoring
A BIRD scoring higher than you expected it to score is good/shocking news
A person?
If we know the reasons or many of the reasons why some students do poorly compared to others
fix them
I give you 5 years ..10 at the most
Don't fix them
NOT GOOD NOR SOUND LOCAL LEADERSHIP
Damn joke
Why is education never job 1 in this country?
It's almost always economics as though...
short-sighted
well, you got some good
well, you got some good points. you just havent mentioned them yet. I cant tell if you agree with... well anything i was saying.
are you saying that its indicitive due to socio economics in our area to... well basically...poorly educate our offspring.
un educated finacially burdend house holds raise special need kids.
The funding to help them is too much.
Our regular kids are stupider because we have to spend more money on "those" kids.
POOPY COCKY !
There are some POOR AND SMART folks in Batavia, and their children are disabled, non disabled, short, tall, etc: but well educated here.
As much as the funding will provide.
crap crap crap.
Think about it !
Happy with mediocrity? Hell,
Happy with mediocrity? Hell, No! But that's just me. The glass was just an example. You certainly have some good points, as does Dave, but sitting here trying to figure it out, analyzing it to death is not going to change anything. We should all be asking ourselves more questions as to how we can make things better.
Having a forum such as this gives us all a chance to speak our minds, and give our "2 cents" worth. Yes, a slight improvement may not be cause for a ticker tape parade, but I am a firm believer that ANY improvement is a good thing. I am hardly a full time optimist, but when I hear negativity, or whatever you choose to call it, directed toward anything involving children, thier future I cringe.
We could blame it on many, many things. Socio-Econimics, parents having to work long, hard hours, taxes, the economy...whatever. Call it the "sins of our fathers". History has always, and obviously been a key factor in where things stand. That alone should make all of us more willing to help make the world a better place for future generations.
I feel no need whatsoever to put on an "upbeat show". I simply would like to see people being more pro-active, positive when it comes to our children. ALL children.
Mr. Burk, Thank you for sharing this information.
Sherry, You are so welcome.
Sherry,
You are so welcome. As President of the City of Batavia School District Board of Education, I feel it is imperative to let the public know where we stand and what our obstacles are. Our BIGGEST obstacle is lack of knowledge by the community. This latest study does show that movement is going in the right direction and that we are treating ALL students to the best education that we can provide them at this time. Is there need for improvement??? Yes, that is why there were two special presentations at our last Board of Ed meeting explaining two programs that will aid in that improvement. Are these two new programs the be-all-and-end-all of programs that we need to make further advances? NO, they are not, but they are another step that I am proud our district has taken.
Thank you again for your interst and appreciation. I am PROUD of our schools and our students.
Patrick Burk
For the record as well, if
For the record as well, if anyone wants to get their "two cents" in, the board always has a public comments period.....they allow any person in the school district to speak their mind and will be listened to and considered....Batavia has a very open minded and fair school district.
Thanks Dan....most
Thanks Dan....most appreciated.
Pat
Pat ..Thank you for answering
Pat ..Thank you for answering all these questions.And also for your time on the school board..thank you.I'm sure everyone on here wants to see our schools be no 1..We should give praise were its due..and ask for answers when things don't seem right.That said what are special needs children.And out of 2400 students,how many are in that category .It was along time ago when i was in school but, i recall there was a class for students who were slower.Is that what special needs are..Some were just trouble makers that were isolated form others..Thanks again Pat..Keep up the good work..
Mark, In our schools and in
Mark,
In our schools and in fact in most schools there are all levels of special needs students. Most are extremely successful and work well within our system today. I am proud of how our district provides for them. Most special needs considerations are also budgeted through grants and Special Education Aid. Many are medical in nature.
Definitions are hard to come by in this day of age and when you and I were in school there may have been one class of what then was called "Trainable retarded". I HAVE TO SAY RIGHT HERE AND NOW THAT I HATE THAT TERM. That class worked well in "Tech" classes...maybe shop, home econ, even phys ed etc. They were taught how to make change, maybe read to whatever thier level was considered etc. Any other children that had special needs; wheelchair, cerebral palsy, seeing or hearing impaired, severe medical conditions, etc....again too many to list, were often kept at home, sent to other schools or institutionalized away from thier family. I had a God son that was sent to another school for example ONLY because he suffered from a form of cerebral palsy. Bright kid...but it was impossible for him to communicate. Did you know that Autism basically did not exist when we went to school? I mean it was present but they had no level of technology or medical means to treat or to educate these students. They often were considered severely retarded or discipline problems. TODAY Autism is one in 15 boys born in the US and some say the numbers are growing. I am not an expert on this, I do not pretend to be...but I do understand this issue. I work with autistic children every year through my theater program.
Now these students are provided for in our home district. They stay with thier families, in thier homes and are not "shipped" out. In many cases - in fact in a huge percentage of cases - the services are provided more cost effectively in the home education setting and the student does better with home and parents, siblings, even shorter bus rides and commutes etc.
Mark, I work daily and pray daily to help these children and students. Many never even know that they are different or special. That is my ultimate goal. In many cases, they need citizens and people like you to support them. Also, and not to pass the buck because it does make some sense, frequently the county seat or the largest school district is where most of the classified students live. That is because the services, etc are available because of medical needs, transportation, etc. These kids do need our continued help.
We do have some "bad" kids....but even with them it is found increasing structure and bringing about a greater consequence for thier actions is a better and more cost effective way to work with that population. This is the smallest group.
I hope this has answered some of your questions. Thank you for your comments. I am proud of how we deal with all of our "Special Needs" children. I know our staff does an incredible job. Without passing the buck.... to answer your question on numbers.... I have to be general because it does fluctuate...but it is usually between 12% and 15% or our population.
Thanks again and I will continue to work hard for ALL of our students.
Pat Burk
Taking a cue from Pat, the
Taking a cue from Pat, the more individuals with disabilities that receive an education means more taxpayers in the workforce, more taxpayers means the burden is spread more evenly for everyone.
Hello All, I did just have a
Hello All,
I did just have a clarification on Batavia City School's Classified students. As of the latest numbers our district was at 10.4% of student population. That is slightly lower than the statewide average. We also ONLY spend 2/3rds the state average on cost and maintain the vast majority of our students in house. We do have the highest percentage of students in Genesee County (as I mentioned before) BUT we also work actively to try to increase opportunities for ALL students with disabilities and MANY actually graduate from our district. ALMOST ALL participate in standardized testing for state and national averages.
Thanks again...
Pat Burk