Newburgh Enlarged City School District works to bring test scores up to the average of New York State when district assessment scores showed small improvements for the 2017-2018 school year.

Newburgh students showed a 31 percent proficiency rate for ELA assessments on grades 3 through 8 and a 27 percent proficiency rate for math assessment grades.

New York State had an average 45.2 percent proficiency rate across the board for ELA assesments.

“As evidenced by the results on state assessments, over the last four years, the district has made progress each year,” said Cassie Sklarz, NECSD Communications Strategist. “Just four years ago, 17.5 percent of students were on grade level for ELA. Today it’s at 31.43 percent. We have continued to make progress in math as well.”

At a presentation to the Board of Education on January 22, board members were alarmed by the proficiency of black and African American students.

Black students in Newburgh tested significantly lower than their counterparts. For ELA black students had a 22 percent proficiency, whereas white students showed a 48 percent and hispanic students had 29 percent. New York State averaged a 34.5 percent proficiency for black students taking the ELA.

Newburgh math assessments showed an even grimmer picture with 17 percent proficiency in black students compared to 25 percent for hispanic students and 44 percent for white students.

“It’s a little disturbing when I look at the African American community the numbers are very disturbing to me because its saying that a certain part of the population is not getting what they need,” said Board Member Phillip Howard. “Those numbers to me when you look at the numbers of African Americans it’s sad numbers. At some point we have to go where the kids are, a lot of decisions by this board need to be driven by data and this data shows that a certain population their needs are not met. These numbers are very disturbing to me.”

The district is bringing in new programs and policy to combat the inequality among different populations of the district.

“This is a national issue and unfortunately, has been for decades,” said Sklarz. “All across New York and the United States, students of color score significantly lower than their counterparts. Dr. Padilla, our Superintendent, is part of a statewide My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) network and a diversity and inclusivity commission in an effort to bring awareness to issues confronting boys and men of color.”