WILMINGTON AREA District appeals test results

The school district believes it should only be on a warning list.
BY LAURA MILOSER
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Wilmington Area School District is formally appealing Pennsylvania State School Assessment test results.
Superintendent Dr. C. Joyce Nicksick notified the board Monday night that the administration is in the process of filing an appeal. She said all appeals must be in the mail by today.
The district was notified last week by the Pennsylvania Department of Education that it was placed on the School Improvement I list.
The education department states that districts are designated as needing improvement when they do not meet adequate yearly progress for two or three consecutive years.
Nicksick said she did not understand why Wilmington was not first placed on the "warning school" list, which means the department notifies a school district that it is deficient in meeting the state standards and should take steps to correct the problems.
A warning is usually given before the school is placed on the School Improvement I list, Nicksick added.
Conflicting answers
Nicksick and her administration began to investigate the test results. Each call to the Department of Education ended with a different answer about the district's ranking.
She said the last phone conversation Monday was with a secretary from the department of education, who stated that the department is 75 percent sure Wilmington may just be on the warning list.
The administration decided to file the appeal since the district has not been given a definite answer, and the deadline to file is today.
John Shaw, a board member and former high school principal, commented: "Over the past 20 years, state subsidy to schools has been dropped by 40 percent, but they have drastically increased the amount of money spent on testing. Now we see the validity of the testing in question."
Nicksick said the state is required to notify the districts filing appeals within 15 days of the appeal being filed.
In other business, Nicksick told the board a speech clinician position that was filled has reopened after the candidate decided not to take the job. The full-time post is part of the federal mandate, he said.