The Board expresses its appreciation to each of the members of the Task Force for their labors and efforts. We also commend other community and school groups and individuals that have taken the time to express their views on the recommendations of the task force. We have taken all input seriously and have attempted to incorporate all of that input in this response. The board and administration recognize that achievement gaps exist and have publicly stated that we want all of our children to achieve at a higher level. The Regents mandate, which requires students in the class of 2003 to pass 5 Regents exams in English, Math, Science, Global History and US History and Government has also directed our efforts. It is our stated goal that 100"/b of the class of 2003 meet this challenge and receive a Regents diploma. Since only 58% of the class of 1999 received a Regents diploma, we have much work to do to get all of our students to this mandated goal.

The budget includes numerous programs that will assist all of our students in meeting the new higher standards. The budget is an integral part of our vision for the success of all our students and reflects our instructional plans. The Task force recommendations have affirmed other work groups within the district in recommending initiatives to assist all our students in meeting the higher standards and in reaching their highest potential. Some of these programs include:

Academically and developmentally appropriate per recommendation

Average in grades K.-5: 20.5, in grades 6-12: 24

Focusing on reading, reading in the content area, Math 6-8 and homework support.

Reach for the Stars mentoring program to motivate and support students (7-12) to take more challenging courses

Voices of Love and Freedom literacy based program has been selected for K-5 next year with possible expansion of the program to 6-8 based on feedback.

Consultant-teacher model for pre-referral intervention and expansion of collaborative teaching model into elementary school.

The board sets goals and establishes policy. We are charged with the approval of all the district's benchmarks of accountability. The goal to challenge all of our students to their highest potential and insure that all students receive a Regents Diploma by 2003 are clear. Our success or failure will be equally apparent. The COGNOS data warehouse will provide the district staff and board with the ability to disaggregate all student test data, according to a variety of demographic criteria, allowing us to effectively measure whether achievement gaps are closing or widening. It is the intent of this board to receive this disaggregated data throughout the school year. It is also our intent to track our progress and set clear benchmarks for achievement that are made available to the entire community.

The board encourages the 2002 Board of Education to reconvene the Task Force in December, 2002 to continue the process of analyzing our progress. However, we believe that the most effective accountability measures include the setting of clear benchmarks and then publicly reporting our progress. These efforts should be ongoing and continuous. It is our belief that the data regularly and easily obtained from the COGNOS data warehouse will be an effective accountability measure.

The board has adopted new policies regarding all staffing efforts. (9240-9240E) The board desires to increase the diversity of the staff so that it better mirrors the diversity of our student body. At the same time, the board also desires to hire only the best qualified candidates for each position. One of the keys in hiring more staff of color is to increase the pool of candidates of color. We are attempting to accomplish that task through more aggressive recruitment efforts, increased notice time from current teachers that plan to retire and more community assistance. The recently negotiated retirement incentive will give the district up to 3 years lead time before a teacher actually retires. This increased time will help us to find a larger pool of candidates, will assist and inform our recruitment efforts, and will give us better opportunities to reach out to candidates of color. These efforts and the progress at every level will be reported each year with the school report card.

The board received a number of suggestions on this topic from the task force, the student leadership, the Site Based Teams and other community groups and individuals. It is the responsibility of the board to annually review its policies and procedures in this entire area. This years review will include a request to the Nyack High School community including Campus Congress, Student Government, the Site Based team, and faculty to offer educationally sound alternatives to the In School Supervision model. Effective discipline that is equally administered is our policy and goal.