Denied a Blue Ribbon, McVey celebrates anyway

PTA surprises principal with honorary placard

Posted

A week after McVey Elementary School learned that student “opt-outs” in last April’s state exams cost the school a Blue Ribbon award, a coveted national honor given to schools that exemplify academic excellence by the U.S. Education Department, McVey’s PTA surprised Principal Kerry Dunne by presenting her with an honorary placard to recognize the school’s success.

The sign, which denotes McVey as a “National Blue Ribbon Nominee,” was given to Dunne at an Oct. 13 PTA meeting by Co-presidents Robyn Kessler and Jill Mallilo, in front of a few dozen administrators, parents, students and Board of Education trustees.

Dunne had learned in January that the school was one of 19 across the state that had been nominated for the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Education. She said she spent 60 hours preparing a 34-page application to submit to the department, only to learn that the school might be declared ineligible if it did not meet the state-mandated minimum rate of participation in April’s state assessment exams by third- through fifth-graders.

On Oct. 5, the department revealed the names of 335 Blue Ribbon-winning schools across the country, a list that excluded McVey as well as 10 other nominated elementary schools in New York, presumably for the same reason.

Dunne and the principals of those schools had submitted a letter to program director Abi Kuma in June, voicing their strong opposition to using standardized testing as a criterion for the award.

State education departments submit nominations to the U.S. Education Department. But the program’s eligibility rules require nominated public schools to meet their states’ requirements for Annual Yearly Progress. In New York, that includes 95 percent participation in the English Language Arts and math assessments for three consecutive years, including the year the school is nominated. In April, 58 of McVey’s 341 test-eligible students in grades three through five opted out of the exams, giving the school a participation rate of just 83 percent. It was the first time the school’s rate had fallen below 95 percent.

Page 1 / 3