Lancaster 8-12-13 BOE meeting

[Lee Chowaniec]

Board of Education (BOE) president Marie Mackay announced that the official tax rate set for the 2013-14 school district budget was $16.41 per thousand dollars of property assessment. For Lancaster residents this is a $.36 increase over last year’s budget year tax rate of $16.05 and $.13 less than the estimated tax rate increase of the earlier proposed estimate of $16.54.

The Cheektowaga tax rate will be $26.47 per thousand dollars of property assessment and in Elma it will be $334.87. The lowering of the tax rate in the districts from budget proposal was attributable to an increase in the total tax levy and where the final roll came in at $46,211,252.

New York State test scoring

Considering that not all the data has been received from the 2013 New York State national Common Core Learning Standards test results, analyzed, and presented as it was last year in the school district’s New York State Report Card, the writer asked whether the Lancaster Central School District (LCSD) would provide such report again in the near future.

Chowaniec: I found such report to better indicate and benchmark Lancaster’s performance to the other 97 public school districts, and to previous LCSD performance – from K-12 grades.

Superintendent Dr. Michael Vallely: Traditionally we have that presentation sometime in October when all the information and data is made available to the district. With the information put out now is just data in isolation. We know how our students did compared to last year, and we knew the test scores would be lower because of the new standard testing. As all other school districts in New York State we were not happy with the amount the students dropped. I believe that number was 31% across New York State. Our drop in numbers was not dissimilar. The stuff that was reported in the media is not as important to us as getting other data. As of yet we don’t have all the data. We will be setting a five year education improvement plan based on the coming information.

Chowaniec: Thank you because there are already a lot of incorrect perceptions and misleading assumptions being made from the basic information being provided from the data in the press.

Resident Kristin Brant later asked Superintendent Vallely what information he was waiting for to put out the school report card in October. Dr. Vallely responded that the numbers posted in the newspaper is but a snapshot of the test results. “We (district) have a long standing tradition LCSD telling that those assessments are but one little piece of information. I could go on for hours telling you of all the different assessments we use starting from Kindergarten through the high school. Our assessments are much more detailed that what was presented. I can reiterate what was presented in the newspaper, but you already have that information. What is important to us is finding where our students are ad having them improve. The district as a whole has a laser light on improving our schools; finding out where they are and getting them to a higher level. To take just one piece of information, one piece that is just one piece of the opportunities that the students have, and then give a report on it would be disingenuous.

Ms. Brant also asked the board whether as the school year progresses, as parents who choose to refuse to have their children tested under the standardized policy, will they get help from the district to help facilitate that process. Superintendent Vallely responded that as standardized testing is the policy set in place by law there will be no helping or facilitating students to not taking the exams. “That would be us breaking the law,” said Dr. Vallely. “That doesn’t exclude students or parents the right to miss taking exams. That is your right, your prerogative.”

Comment
When presenting last year’s New York State Report Card, LCSD’s performance based on both New York State test results and comparative numbers with the previous school year, led many of us to believe the district would see an improvement in Business First School District rankings. LCSD placed 9th in the Business First 2013 rankings, first time breaking the top ten in the 97 Western New York school districts considered; improving from 13th in 2012.

Petitions for assessment reductions

LCSD received correspondences concerning petitions for lowering property assessments from the following businesses: Cayuga Heights Holding Corp.., Holland Motor Express, Kohl’s, RMF Printing Technologies, North Forest Properties, Park Lane Apartments, 4893 Transit Road, LLC, VED, LLRMF Holding, Inc., Niagara Mohawk Power, Wal-Mart, Freihoffers Bakery, Tranwer and Benderson, Evans Bank, Sky Harbor, Stop and Shop, Verizon New York Inc.

The writer asked if the petitions were same notices and petitions that the town receives from businesses proceeding with an Article 7 legal pursuit to get their assessments lowered. It was answered, ‘yes’.

Chowaniec: When attending past school board meetings I found the board taking the position that it was better for the district to accept the town’s decision and not challenge the assessment reduction because of court costs. The town likewise accepts court decisions often times because of court costs that can run from $10,000 to $20,000 per petition.

Has the board ever considered working together with town to present a stronger united front to challenge cases that have no merit but are instated for the purpose of tax reduction to lower the bottom line of doing business? Some of the larger retail stores are fairly assessed, in fact lower, when you consider the one retailer is assessed at $13.5 million and building is 152,000 square feet in size. This business is assessed at less than $100 per square foot. If approved these reduced tax assessments cost the school districts hundreds of thousands of dollars; dollars that the districts are in desperate need of today.

Chowaniec; I would like to get a tax break as well. Some of us seniors, others living on fixed incomes and those living on low incomes are some of the same residents who were willing to sacrifice and support the school budget proposal last year. After establishing businesses in our district, three, four years later they look to have their assessments reduced. For residents who do sacrifice to support the Lancaster Central School District, this is indeed an example of corporate. So I ask, has the district ever thought of working with the assessment office and approaching this matter with a united front?

BOE president Marie MacKay: If you do recall, we did have the town assessor come and speak to us on the petition of the Lancaster Airport for assessment reduction. It was explained to us that if we were to challenge by ourselves that it would be costly to the district. We are hoping in the future that we can work together and look at all these assessments with the town because you are correct that money is being taken out of the district. We do have have money on the side for all these tax challenges.

Chowaniec: Even with an Article 7 appeal they don’t always get the assessment reduction they want. But the Lancaster Airport example you used from last year is an example of the process at its worse. The Airport reports it received $15 million in federal and state grant funding to improve the airport to where it is today. The airport was assessed at one time at $4.2 million. The assessment was further lowered to $3.8 million, then $3.2 million, then $2.4, and to $1.8 million by threat of legal action.This airport received $15 million in grant money to purchase land, expand a runway and put up hangars, sits on 141 acres of land and pays a grand total of $37,600 in property taxes. There has to be a time when a stake is put in the ground and where enough is enough of corporate welfare handouts.

Superintendent Vallely: Please note that our attorneys, Beach and Harris, work with the town attorneys. Collaboration does happen and we have a roll in the process, but ultimately it is the town that makes the assessment decisions.

[gorja]

Here's last year's report card -
https://reportcards.nysed.gov/files/...1901060000.pdf

[Lee Chowaniec]

Here's last year's report card -
https://reportcards.nysed.gov/files/...1901060000.pdf

What you posted was interesting in comparing Lancaster’s test results between two school years.

The NYS Report Card as presented by the Lancaster Central School District focuses on the data presented in the New York State Report Card and adds statistics on annual school performances and statistics on how LSCD compared with the other 97 public school districts in Western New York.

Example of LCSD presentation:

http://www.speakupwny.com/forums/sho...ct+report+card

http://www.speakupwny.com/forums/sho...ct+report+card

[gorja]

Looking at this thread- http://www.speakupwny.com/forums/sho...ct+report+card

Grade 3 Mathematics

Dr. Vallely chose this slide to be first because it shows the phenomena that are occurring here in NYS. In 2008-2009 LCSD had 99% proficiency and 35% mastery. In August 2010 NYS raised cut scores thus gaining more students “in need” across the state … in August 2011 they raised the bar and made it more difficult to score mastery or in other words 85% or higher. “It’s important to put this in perspective … last year we were #1 in 3rd grade math and we just went up 9% in proficiency.”
86% proficiency – 86%; 20% mastery
2012 = #1 in Western New York – 2011 = #1 in Western New York.

The numbers don't seem to jive. Lancaster's report card did show 98% passed, 86% proficiency, 20% mastery and 697 mean score. Looking at the Clarence school district for the same subject area, their report card shows 98% passed, 86% proficiency, 25% mastery and 699 mean score. Wonder, if there are other numbers also used in the comparison with other schools.

This year, it would be kind of misleading comparing year to year results

[gorja]

Aren't the numbers in the Lancaster Bee editorial misleading?

In this editorial, "State test results lead districts to seek ways to improve" the editor Julie Halm writes-

Statewide, only 31 percent of students were deemed “proficient” in standards in math and English.

The tests are rated on a 1-to-4 scale, 1 being the lowest and 4 the highest, with Level 3 meaning that a student has met proficiency. The tests are administered to children in grades three through eight in English language arts and math.

In the Lancaster School District, an average of 32.5 percent of students tested met proficiency, with 13.3 percent exceeding that. Math did not look much better, with an average of 32.6 percent of students meeting proficiency throughout the grade levels and 13.5 percent exceeding.

This is the way that I understand it. While level 3 does meet proficiency, the state's proficiency at 31.1% was the total of the numbers of Levels 3 + 4. So, Lancaster's proficiency numbers would be 46% overall, 46% English and 46% Math.

Please correct me if my understanding is incorrect.


http://www.lancasterbee.com/news/201..._ways_to_.html

[gorja]

You can view last year's report cards for individual Lancaster schools here - https://reportcards.nysed.gov/school...2089&year=2012