NORWICH – With the start of school only a month and a half away, Norwich is in flux regarding its high school schedule.
“It’s not worth the paper it’s printed on,” Norwich Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan told the district’s school board earlier this month. He reiterated that sentiment Monday night, calling the schedule a work in progress as he updated the board on the possible elimination of January Regents exams. It is a topic which is causing consternation not only for Norwich, but for all New York state schools who use semestered schedules.
Without the January exam, students enrolled in a Regents-level course during the fall semester would have to wait until June to take the corresponding exam, hence the scheduling concerns. According to O’Sullivan, Secondary Principal Lisa Schuchman and High School Assistant Principal Scott Ryan have already begun working with guidance counselors and department chairs to explore alternative scheduling options.
“By early August, I expect we will be able to evaluate different models and be able to decide that if we have to switch to become a non-semestered school, which model we will use,” the superintendent said. The intention, he explained, is to be prepared to move as soon as the state makes a decision regarding the fate of the January tests.
Uncertainty regarding the mid-year Regents exam began on June 22, when the state’s Board of Regents announced it would eliminate 5th and 8th grade social studies assessments, and make other reductions in order to reduce costs by $4.25 million. In a press release issued on that date, the board, which is responsible for setting New York’s overall education policy, also warned that an additional $6.1 million in cuts would be necessary if the department did not receive additional funding it had requested from the state, or if a final state budget was not in place by Aug. 1.
Items identified for this second round of cuts included elimination of eighth grade foreign language proficiency exams; August administration of certain math and science exams; all Foreign Language Regents, with the exception of French and Spanish; translation of assessment exams, with the exception of Spanish; and, last but not least, the January Regents exams.
Norwich isn’t the only local district re-evaluating its high school scheduling as a result of the possible elimination of the exams. Oxford Superintendent Randall Squier reported that he and his administrative team are also having “conceptual conversations” about shifting to a full-year schedule from their current semestered structure. They will wait, however, for the Board of Regents to take official action before taking any of their own, he said.
“If January exams are eliminated, it would be my recommendation that Oxford Academy move away from semestering,” he reported. “We would then create a new schedule for September 2010.”
Squier expressed his ongoing frustration with Albany.
“It’s disappointing that the legislature is unable to fund the education department in its efforts to raise expectations for all students, teachers, and administrators in our state,” he said.
Regardless of whether Oxford remains semestered or not, Squier said he is confident the district’s “teachers, administrators and staff will do whatever it takes to support all our students like they have always done.”
In addition to Oxford and Norwich, the Unadilla Valley, Bainbridge-Guilford and Otselic Valley school districts also currently use semestered scheduling for their high school students.
Yesterday, Afton would also have been included on the list. Last night, however, the district’s board of education voted to abandon the semestered model in favor of a year-long schedule. A representative from OV said their district was discussing a similar change.