By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — Noting that “it has taken a long time to get to this point,” Schools Superintendent Hans Dellith told the School Committee on Tuesday that in the latest analysis, Pawtucket schools showed significant improvement over previous years in meeting the state-mandated education benchmarks.

Dellith noted that since 1998, when the Department of Education first established the statewide testing and school classification system, those benchmarks have continuously been raised. The Pawtucket School District, which once had the majority of its schools ranked as “low performing” in the state test scores now has none in this category. “I’m proud of this district and very proud of this staff,” he stated, of the 2009 School Classification Multi-Year Analysis Report.
Assistant Supt. Kimberly Mercer said that, among the highlights of the 2009 analysis is that all three of the city’s junior high schools and the William E. Tolman and Jacqueline M. Walsh high schools have met all of the established indicators for this year to receive “met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) classification. While the city’s other high school, Shea, was classified in 2009 under “insufficient progress,” it had met 22 out or 24 of its target indicators.
A majority of the city’s elementary schools, seven in total, were also given “Met AYP” classification. Those that didn’t, including Fallon Memorial and M. Virginia Cunningham which were deemed as “insufficient progress,” and Elizabeth Baldwin, which was given a “caution” grade, had only missed the target by one or two indicators, Mercer pointed out.
“A majority of our elementary schools have made significant progress” said Mercer. She added that only seven indicators in the analysis were missed among the
See ANALYSIS, Page A-2entire Pawtucket school district, calling this “phenomenal.”
In other matters, the School Committee voted 6 to 0 to approve the recall eight school social workers who had been laid off due to budget cuts. Dellith said that their salaries, which total approximately $700,000, would be paid for by federal stimulus funds that can only be used for special education purposes.
The School Committee also approved a recommendation made by Mercer to recall eight teachers at the junior high school level at a cost of $692,840. This funding would also be paid for out of federal stimulus money earmarked for Title I purposes.
This plan, Mercer said, would involve restructuring of the scheduling at the junior high schools to provide additional academic support three times a week for students who have been identified as needing extra help.
Mercer noted that the federal stimulus funding provided to the school district can be used over a two-year period, so this plan will bring the projected fiscal year 2010 budget down by $692,840, and by the same amount again in fiscal year 2011.
Mercer had presented an alternative plan that would have involved not recalling the eight teachers and moving away from the “team” teaching approach currently in place at the junior high schools. This plan would have reduced the amount of money needed in the local school department budget by $680,000, but would have required a waiver from the Department of Education.
Or, Mercer said, the scheduling at the junior high schools could have been left alone, but the eight teachers involved would have to have been recalled and there would have been no savings to the school district.
Dellith noted that these two actions by school officials reflect an estimated $1.5 million in savings to the fiscal year 2010 school budget. This brings the projected deficit of $8 million down to about $6.5 million for next year, he said.
In wrapping up what is likely the last regular School Committee meeting prior to the fall, two committee members said they wanted to address the many negative comments that have been made about the school budget process by members of the City Council.
Committeeman James Chellel said he wanted to thank the local teachers union and Council 94 for their willingness to discuss the current budget crisis. He said that both bargaining units have been cooperative “and have not put any road blocks up.”
Committeewoman Amy Breault-Zolt stated that she is “tired of the City Council blaming the School Department for the tax increase.” She added, “They do this every year and I’m tired of it. It’s not our fault.”