Seaford To Receive Little Money from Race to the Top

The Seaford school district will be receiving only a miniscule portion of the nearly $700 million New York State was awarded last week in the second round of the federal Race to the Top competition.

Seaford superintendent Brian Conboy stated during an administrative report delivered at the Sept. 2 school board meeting that the district is expected to receive about $28,000 from the $696.7 million the Empire State has been awarded by the federal government. Conboy said the money could be spent entirely this year, or saved for next year and district officials will decide soon how best to allocate the funds. Seaford along with other districts in the state will be receiving guidance soon from the New York State Department of Education (NYSDE).

"[The $28,000] doesn't go very far but we will use it," said Conboy during the Sept. 2 school board meeting held at the Seaford Manor School.

Part of the criteria for states to receive funding in the Race To the Top program administered by the U.S Department of Education is providing a plan to boost student achievement on assessment exams. This summer NYSDE officials decided to change the cut scores of its assessment scoring system, resulting in many districts like Seaford seeing a drop in the percentage of students meeting state standards. Conboy said during his presentation that improving student performance to conform to these new state standards will be a major focus of his administrative team during the 2010/2011 school year.

"It is a competitive, comparative world in schools today," said Conboy of the increased focus of standardized tests being brought on by federal and state governments. "We're going to do our best to get our students prepared to compete this spring on these exams."