Roughly 160 students are expected to walk the stage in cap and gown at Poughkeepsie High School’s 153rd Commencement ceremony this evening. 
Still, the district’s four-year graduation rate is on track to remain below the district’s standards and expectations; the number each year is not finalized until those who complete requirements to graduate in August are included. And, some students learned in recent days they would not be walking during graduation tonight due to failing to pass all state testing requirements.
The district’s four-year graduation rates each year have hovered between 50-63%, with the six-year graduation rates growing into the mid-60s and 70s.
That’s a problem long-identified by district leadership, one the Board of Education revisited Thursday in a special meeting at which families could better understand the high school’s process for determining this year’s graduates and understand the existing supports and possible solutions to increase the school’s graduation rate and better serve all students.
Watch a video of the meeting above and see the presentation on the district’s BoardDocs website.
Most who spoke stressed, the point of the meeting was not to point fingers but to evaluate existing steps the district has taken and, over the coming weeks and months, form a plan to more effectively keep kids on track to graduate. “This is not an accusation, or a purpose of this meeting to say anyone’s doing anything wrong,” Martinez Santiago said.
Poughkeepsie Public School Teachers Association President Kim Popken, Poughkeepsie Public School Administrator Association President Principal Dr. David Scott and Rob Watson Jr., a 2005 Poughkeepsie graduate and co-founder of the Poughkeepsie Children’s Cabinet, echoed that sentiment and stressed the importance of a holistic approach in which all branches of the community – and the students themselves – have a role in raising graduation rates.
Watson, the EdRedesign Executive Director at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, made a point of stating EdRedesign is “willing to support the district and community members and families, the Children's Cabinet, as well, to think about how we can have a problem-solving process to tackle this very issue.
“This is a community,” he said, “Fifty percent is on all of us.”
Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education Dr. Charles Gallo and Poughkeepsie High School Principal Dr. Phee Simpson walked the board through a presentation that included graduation statistics, an overview of steps taken at the high school to guide students and historic data showing the progression of the graduating class’ state assessment scores through their years in the district.
Key topics discussed included the level and methods at which parents are kept abreast of their students’ progress through their secondary education years, the proficiency levels at which students are entering the high school, and the school’s dropout rate. While this year the rate dropped by roughly five percentage points, the rate remained above 25%.
“The dropout rate is killing the graduation rate,” Gallo said. “We have to do a better job of holding on to our kids.”
Simpson pointed out, when looking at just the 212 seniors who are attending the school, the graduation rate jumps above 71%.
“There’s a sliver of hope there,” Martinez Santiago said.
Mott, the assistant superintendent for elementary education, who will be taking the reins as superintendent after Dr. Eric Jay Rosser steps down from the post June 30, discussed the school’s curriculum.
Among his accomplishments in five years as administrator in charge of elementary education, Mott implemented a research-based K-8 ELA and math curriculum that has yielded positive outcomes for the younger students. He aims to establish the same uniform measures for the high school to better align classroom learning and evaluation with the standards needed to excel on state Regents exams and other testing.
Mott, at the meeting, committed to creating an action plan that details monitoring systems on a regular basis to provide parents and students with more clear communication, as well as more meetings like Thursday night.
“This will be the first of many, I envision, where building principals will be required to give updates on quarterly assessments and intervention strategies to aid and assist,” he said. “This isn’t about blame, for me. It is about identifying and using our resources, our best practices, our partners, to create a detailed action plan, an improvement plan, laying out how we can go about changing the graduation rate that goes back decades.”