Huntington Officials Explain "Focus District" Designation
Even though the vast majority of students on every grade level are doing just fine academically, the Huntington School District has been recognized as a "Focus district" by the State Education Department. The designation is a result of a single sub-group of students not meeting academic proficiency requirements.
As a focus district, Huntington was required to identify two "Focus" schools. Officials have decided those will be Huntington High School and J. Taylor Finley Middle School. A single sub-group of students in each of the buildings needs to improve its combined English language arts/math index based upon state testing.
"These identifications have essentially rolled over from the prior accountability system and are based on 2009/10 and 2010/11 performance data," Huntington Superintendent James W. Polansky said. "Our students made considerable progress during 2011/12. We will continue to incorporate instructional measures that address individual student needs so as to maintain and enhance this progress."
The Huntington High School and Finley Middle School identifications "are based on one underperforming sub-group at each building," Mr. Polansky said. "Students are performing collectively at a relatively high level. We will continue to put maximum effort toward addressing the learning needs of each and every student."
In conformance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the state divides school enrollments into a variety of sub-groups for reporting purposes. Huntington School District officials said they are well-aware of where academic performance is falling short of state expectations and professional staff members are completely committed to the ongoing effort to help all students meet and exceed proficiency levels.
The Focus classification is frustrating for Mr. Polansky. "The recently released SED growth scores identified all of our buildings as either effective or highly effective for 2011/12, which is also based on state assessment performance," he said.
A total of 70 districts statewide and 496 individual schools were designated as Focus districts/schools by SED. After two consecutive years of assessment results a district can seek to have its Focus classification revised.
"The school district may petition for the removal of Focus designation for any Focus school that meets the required performance targets and participation rates for ELA and mathematics," SED Assistant Commissioner Ira Schwartz said.