Holley school district no longer on ‘target’ list in need of improvement

‘We’re not a target district but we still have work to do, and the Regents is one of them.’ – Holley School Superintendent Brian Bartalo

Photo by Tom Rivers: Brian Bartalo, Holley school district superintendent, said the district remains committed to continuous improvement for students.

HOLLEY – School district leaders announced Holley, after four years, is no longer considered a “target” school district in need of improvement.

The district has made solid gains academically and is off the list of target districts by the State Education Department. Holley was put on the list in January 2019 due to low scores for seventh- and eighth-graders. At that time Holley was one of 106 school districts on the list out of 733 districts in the state.

The district’s performance in state standardized tests for seventh- and eighth-graders was in the lowest 5 percent at the time, said Brendan Keiser, the district’s director of Teaching and Learning.

“We did it – we’re off the list,” Keiser told the Board of Education on Monday. “It’s been a journey. The last four years have been incredible.”

Keiser and Brian Bartalo, the district superintendent, praised students, parents, teachers, administrators and board of education members for committing to improvement.

“It felt like a burden but it gave us a path, and we will continue on that path,” Bartalo said.

Being on the list of target districts brought about $250,000 in additional state resources annually to Holley for consultants, educational materials and resources. Holley will continue to utilize consultants as it pushes for continuous improvement, Keiser said. The district can tap into its federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act for those resources.

While the district has seen strong improvement in student performance, Bartalo and Keiser said high school Regents scores continue to lag, despite Holley’s high graduation rate.

Holley will make raising Regents scores a focus in the immediate future. The district also wants to improve academic performance for students in special education. Hispanic students in the middle school also are a subgroup with low scores on standardized tests, Keiser said.

Bartalo said he will be discussing a strategic plan on April 28 with teachers that will focus on the next five years at Holley. The four years as a target school provided a blueprint for raising student achievement, Bartalo said.

“We’re not a target district but we still have work to do, and the Regents is one of them,” Bartalo said.

Robin Silvis, the board president, praised the district and community for their efforts, especially during the Covid pandemic, to boost student achievement.

“It felt yucky to be a target district,” Silvis said. “It was a gut punch and we took the tools to make it work. There has been substantial growth here.”