Ë®¹ûÅÉAV

According to recent data from the New York State Education Department, the Auburn, Cato-Meridian, Jordan-Elbridge, Moravia and Port Byron school districts recorded proficiency rates below the state average in English language arts and math for third through eighth grades for the 2023-24 academic year.

The four other Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES districts — Skaneateles, Southern Cayuga, Union Springs and Weedsport — recorded rates above the state averages of 46% for ELA and 54% for math.

Auburn had the worst rates of the nine districts, with 26% in ELA and 38% in math. The former was the same as the previous year, and the latter was up 3%.

Out of 658 school districts statewide, the rates place Auburn at 605th in ELA and 459th in math.

The district's superintendent, Dr. Misty Slavic, did not respond to requests for comment by Ë®¹ûÅÉAV.

Port Byron recorded the biggest proficiency rate increase over last year, going from 35% to 46% in ELA for a gain of 11%.

No Cayuga County districts saw decreases from last year in math proficiency rates. Skaneateles stayed at 76%, the highest of the nine Cayuga County-area school districts. The district also boasts the best ELA proficiency rate for 2023-2024, at 63%. Its superintendent, Eric Knuth, expressed happiness about the results.

"We are proud of our kids and all the hard work on the part of our teachers that make this possible, but these scores are just one data point along the way," he told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV.

"Our students mean a lot more to us than just these numbers."

Knuth noted that 2023-2024 was the district's first year of full computer-based testing, so the format was unfamiliar. That's one reason he believes Skaneateles can improve its numbers in the future.

"We focus on good teaching, building relationships with students and making connections between learning and the student experience," he said.

"It is certainly about more than just the test results. We plan to have our students more familiar with the computer-based testing format moving forward."

Skaneateles students also scored above the state average in all 10 listed 2023-2024 Regents exam categories, as did Weedsport students. 

Every Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES district scored above the average in the majority of categories. Some recorded scores of 100% in particular subjects, such as Southern Cayuga in physics. Union Springs achieved perfect scores in algebra II and geometry, while Weedsport did the same thing in U.S. history and government, and algebra I and II.

Knuth said he was proud of his Skaneateles students' Regents performances.

"Our kids are amazing, they work very hard and genuinely want to do well," he said.

"This is the culture here. It starts at home and is reinforced by our teachers every day where they create experiences that inspire curiosity and a desire to learn, not just to do well on a test."