Last years Staples High School seniors scored a combined average of 1155 on the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT), a slight improvement over the previous year but the same as two years ago, the school district said today.

Joyce Losen, assistant to the superintendent, said the Staples Class of 2003 scored 584 in math and 571 in verbal. This was 16 points better than the previous year which saw an average of 576 in math and 563 verbal for a combined score of 1139, but the same combined score as in 2001.

The scores were well above the state averages of 514 in math and 512 verbal, she said.

The highest possible combined SAT score is 1600.

The Connecticut combined verbal and math scores rose eight points to 1026—the same as the national average, according to figures released this week by the College Board, which gives the exam formerly known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

In Connecticut, the average verbal score increased three points in 2003, to 512, the highest level in 14 years. The average math score was 514, up five points from last year and the highest since class data was first collected 31 years ago.

For comparison purposes, Staples studentsҒ average scores in 2001 were 588 in math and 567 in verbal for a combined score of 1155; in 2000, 590 in math and 569 in verbal for a combined score of 1159, and in 1999, 561 in math and 552 in verbal for a combined score of 1113.

Losen told WestportNow that while Schools Supt. Elliott Landon was pleased with this years scores, he understands that yearly fluctuations in scores within a school are not uncommon and may reflect differences among particular classes or other factors unrelated to the school program.

Westports reputation for its top-notch school system is a bit tarnished today thanks to a state Department of Education list that lumps the town with failed school systems across the state.

School officials said the listing came as a complete surprise and was due to one student failing to take a test at Bedford Middle School.

TodayҒs New York Times illustrates the problem. A Hartford-datelined report in the newspapers metropolitan section headlined ғLagging Public Schools Listed began this way:

ԓThe State Education Department yesterday listed 149 public elementary, middle and high schools, some in such affluent towns as West Hartford and Westport, that do not meet federal standards for basic subjects like reading and mathematics.”

The report, while appearing on the newspaper’s Web site, did not appear, however, in editions delivered to Westport homes this morning.

An Associated Press story Thursday on the list of schools that failed to meet minimum standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind law similarly cited Westport prominently.

Neither the Times nor The AP differentiated Westports failure for a non-academic reason from those schools that failed on academics.

But reports in three of Connecticut’s largest newspapers this morning—Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven—did make the distinction. None noted, however, that Westport’s appearance was because of one student not taking a test.

Schools Supt. Elliott Landon told WestportNow, in effect, that the state list was a bum rap for Westport. The problem, he said, had everything to do with how many Westport students took a test and nothing to do with academics.

The stateҒs Web site which carried the complete list of failed schools supported Landons view. It clearly said WestportҒs appearance on the list was because of a failure in the participation-onlyӔ category.

Landon explained that Westport had a 94 percent participation rating because one of Bedford Middle Schools 48 students with disabilities had failed to take a Connecticut Mastery Test. The precise reason was not known, he said, but could have been attendance-related.

A minimum 95 percent participation rate was required under the federal law.

Landon said WestportҒs inclusion on the list for a non-academic reason demonstrates clearly only one of the many problems associated with the No Child Left Behind Act.”

He said he had no inkling Westport would be on the list released Thursday. “It was as much a surprise to us as to everyone else,” he told WestportNow today.

The Connecticut Post, printed in Bridgeport, reported today: “Bedford Middle School in Westport is on the list because less than 95 percent of the student body or any subgroup did not take the test.”

Today’s New Haven Register reported: “However, there were also some unlikely appearances (on the list). Bedford Middle School in affluent Westport made the list because too few of its students participated in the 2002 exam. “

The Hartford Courant said: ” Even Westport, one of the state’s wealthiest towns, has a school on the list because it failed to test enough of its students.”

The state Department of Education today cited Westport as having one of 149 schools in 34 districts that are not meeting the federal requirements of the No Child Left Behind law.

But Westport’s schools superintendent said the inclusion was not academic-related but resulted from one student failing to take a test.

The state’s education Web site said Bedford Middle School (BMS) failed in the “participation only” category.

Schools Supt. Elliott Landon told WestportNow that Bedford’s inclusion on the list resulted from a student with disabilities either being absent on a test day or not taking the test for some other reason.

We do know that this is about one student out of 48 students with disabilities that did not take some form of the 2002 CMT (Connecticut Mastery Test),Ӕ he said.

Landon said Westports inclusion on the list for a non-academic reason ғdemonstrates clearly only one of the many problems associated with the No Child Left Behind Act.”

He said school officials had just completed a review of the 2002 test results from Bedford and had spoken to Sarah Ellsworth at the state Department of Educations evaluation and research division.

ғAccording to Sarah, 48 students with disabilitiesђ were reported at BMS.  We calculated that 45 of the 48 took the test, or 94 percent, Landon said. 

ԓTo achieve 95 percent participation, we needed 46 out of 48 students to take the test.  Of the three who did not take the test, we know that two were absent.  We do not know the status of the third student.

Landon said the state official confirmed that 48 is the correct number of students with disabilities eligible for the CMT test at Bedford, combining sixth and eighth graders.

But he said she could not confirm the actual number of students attributed to BMS who took the test.

Landon added: ԓWhat complicates this further is that not all of the sixth graders who took the test at BMS had their scores attributed to BMS because the scores are attributed back to the school students attended for fifth grade in 2001-2002. 

Obviously some of the sixth graders at BMS were fifth graders in another school in 2001-2002.Ӕ

Landon said the district will continue to pursue the issue with the state and that Ellsworth promised to get him more data by Monday.

There are no immediate federal or state consequences for the schools on the list, The Associated Press reported.

But if they fail to meet the requirements for two consecutive years they will be deemed “in need of improvement.” They will then be required to offer students extra tutoring or the opportunity to transfer to a higher-achieving school.

State officials stressed that schools on the list are not failing, but need to better serve every group of students.

Westport firefighters responded to a call about a hydrochloric acid spill today at Coleytown Middle School on North Avenue.

Apparently a custodian was engaged in a cleaning operation in a bathroom area when the incident occurred, according to firefighters on the scene.

They evacuated the building and ventilated it to clear a smoke condition which had set off the building’s fire alarm.

No injuries were reported in the 7:29 a.m. incident.

Hydrochloric acid is commonly used in industrial cleaning solutions.

The fire department said later in a statement that the cause of the chemical cloud was probably a chemical reaction between a floor tile cleaner containing hydrochloric acid and a lavatory cleaner containing a mild phosphoric/sulfuric acid solution.

Mildew problems have been discovered in five Westport schools and the district estimates it will cost as much as $100,000 to clean up the problem, according to Schools Supt. Elliott Landon.

In a press release, Landon said custodial and maintenance workers identified mildew in limited areasӔ over the past few days in Staples High School, Bedford and Coleytown Middle Schools, and Kings Highway and Long Lots Elementary Schools.

The problem developed because of the excessive humidity caused by an unusually wet summer, combined with high temperatures, the school official said.

The mildew will be removed prior to the start of school Aug. 27 and poses no threat to the health of students, staff and teachers, he said.

Landon said the district consulted with Judy Nelson, director of the Westport-Weston Health District, on a remediation plan.

ғIt is estimated that the use of outside resources for the clean-up will require us to spend as much as $100,000. These extraordinary costs are not included in the 2003-04 school budget, the statement said.

ԓAdditionally, extensive use of overtime will necessitate additional unplanned expenditures from custodial and maintenance staffs.

Landon said mildew problems appeared to be occurring in school districts across the state.

Westport Schools Supt. Elliott Landon said today it was unfortunate that The Hour of Norwalk felt it necessary to file a Freedom of Information Act complaint against him and the Board of Education (BOE) over its request for e-mail correspondence.

The newspaper filed the complaint Monday with the state’s Freedom of Information Commission in Hartford. It said shortly after Landon received a copy, he gave the requested e-mails to its reporter, Jennifer Connic.

The correspondence was about the controversial school start times issue and the system’s insurance fund that had been sent and received by a quorum of the school board since July 1.  The Hour said it had requested the e-mails on July 25.

The board held a special meeting on the issue Aug. 4 and voted 4-3 to retain the changed start times. (See WestportNow Aug. 4, 2003)

As late as Friday morning, Aug. 8, I informed Ms. Connic that she would have all e-mails requested no later than the afternoon of Aug. 11,Ӕ Landon told WestportNow.

Ms. Connic assured me that Aug. 11 was acceptable to her, but warned that were we to delay beyond that date, she would, on behalf of The Hour, file an FOI complaint.  Unfortunately, Ms. Connic filed the FOI complaint before receiving the promised e-mails on the assigned date.Ӕ

The Hours editor, James Dean, disputed LandonҒs version. He said neither had the superintendent promised to turn over the documents to Connic on Monday nor had the reporter told him this was acceptable.

Jennifer was never promised the documents by Monday,Ӕ Dean told WestportNow. ThatӒs not our understanding. While there was a possibility of getting them Monday, we had been asking for them for two weeks.

The newspaper today carried a front-page story on its filing of a formal letter of complaint with the FOI panel. The story said belated distribution of the e-mails did not make its complaint moot.

ԓThe (Hour’s) letter to the commission also asked the commission to rule if school officials had acted promptlyђ under the law, the story said. ԓThe e-mails were not distributed until a week after the school board had discussed the school start-time issue.

The Hour made a copy of the complaint letter available to WestportNow. It was signed by Dean and Connic and copied to Landon.

“Landon distributed the information to The Hour shortly after receiving a copy of the complaint,” the newspaper’s story said. It quoted him as saying, “We regret that The Hour staff thought we weren’t acting in a prompt fashion.”

Landon said his vacation and those of some board members delayed the response. He said he also wanted to have the messages reviewed by the boardԒs attorney for items protected by attorney/client privilege and those protected because of negotiations strategies.Ӕ 

The Hour quoted Dean, its editor, as saying: It appears to us that the school board, in concert with the superintendent, is doing the publicӒs business out of the public view. We believe technology cannot be allowed to serve as a way of avoiding public debate and scrutiny.

The newspaperԒs story did not cite any of the information contained in the e-mails.

It was the second FOI complaint filed against Landon and the school system in less than two years. Seven parents filed a complaint in December 2001 over denial of access to meetings, records, and agendas of a kindergarten review committee.

The commission upheld the complaints in May 2002 and directed Landon and the school board to strictly complyӔ with provisions of the FOI Act.

Update (8/13/03):Wednesday’s The Hour carried excerpts from some of the e-mails. They included exchanges among board members stating their position on the start-time issue and seeking to win over others to their view. Members also discussed The Hour’s request for copies of the e-mails.