P’ville School Board Takes Stand Against APPR in Resolutions

May 9, 2015 Examiner Media Pleasantville

The Pleasantville School District took a stand against the Annual Professional Performance Reviews (APPR) by unanimously approving two resolutions Tuesday night that oppose the state mandated practice.

One resolution, authored by board President Shane McGaffey, states that the current APPR model relies too heavily on unproven state tests and calls for a system that can be validated and able to deliver higher standards and teacher accountability.

A separate resolution from the Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association that was also adopted by Pleasantville school trustees asks the state to convene a task force to evaluate state tests. It also requests that the Board of Regents and state legislators perform detailed review of the system using expert input.

The Board of Regents, which has been seeking public input, has been asked to develop a new APPR model, the third in the last four years. Pleasantville trustees are taking issue with the evaluations that will be largely tied to state test scores and three snapshot observations to be conducted by an independent evaluator.

Teachers are rated as ineffective, developing, effective or highly effective. Board members fear that two evaluations of “developing” could cost a teacher his or her job and make them potentially unemployable.

Currently, the Board of Regents has been given a June 30 deadline to create the new teacher evaluation model to be implemented in schools by Nov. 15. But the Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association has asked that the deadline be extended to Sept. 1, 2016.

McGaffey, however, said he would like to see the deadline removed completely so that the Board of Regents can take as long as necessary to develop an effective model.

“I’m all for taking the time to implement something and negotiate it with the teachers…if it’s something that’s effective,” said McGaffey. “But the first thing we have to do is come up with a model that there’s some belief in.”

On Thursday, the Board of Regents held a session with experts to discuss education issues, but Pleasantville Trustee Lou Conte took issue with the way the session was handled. It was limited to 200 citizens who were allowed admittance only if they had obtained tickets in advance, which Conte believes violates the state’s open meetings law. He compared the practice to the show trials of the former Soviet Union, implying that the Board of Regents has already made a decision and will not take public comment into consideration.

“Are we now having ‘show democracy’ so we can push something like this through?” Conte asked. “It’s offensive.”