Manchester Superintendent Addresses State School Report Card

A state report released on Tuesday showed that, while most data gathered from Manchester High School was comparable to state averages, the school had a higher suspension rate, fewer students planning to attend two-year colleges and less enrolled in advanced courses.

District Superintendent David Trethaway addressed these areas of concern and other information presented in the district's NJ Department of Education report card.

According to the report, 29 percent of Manchester's high school students were suspended last year, more than double the state average of 14 percent. Trethaway said that the high percentage is due to more students serving in in-school suspension for minor offenses rather than attending detention after school.

“I would say a large percentage, probably 90 percent of those suspensions are in-school suspensions, so the students are still in school, they’re just away from their regular classes,” he said.

Unauthorized students cell phones usage has been a problem leading to more suspensions, Trethaway said. “Over the last couple of years we’ve been hit, as a lot of districts have, with the cell phone usage, so students use cell phones and they’re not allowed to have cell phones in class.”

After a few offenses, the superintendent said students are sent to in-school suspension. “That curbs that, but it increases the suspension rate,” Trethaway said, adding that Manchester does not have the alternative of sending students to a Saturday detention because of budgetary reasons.

The in-school option is also not as disruptive to learning, Trethaway said.

“When we do in-school suspension, the students do have some education going on in there,” he said.

The report showed that 10 percent of Manchester high school students are enrolled in Advanced Placement classes, compared to the state average of 19.9 percent.

“As far as year to year, that's kind of where we've been,” he said.

Trethaway said that A.P. psychology was added this year and more offerings next year, such as music theory, may get more students interested in the classes, which can earn students college credits.

“As far as participation, we're always looking to encourage the students to take Advanced Placement. I think that numbers are going to go up over the next couple of years as we offer more advanced courses,” he said.

The report stated that 39.8 percent of Manchester's graduating seniors plan to attend a four-year college or university and 22.5 percent of graduating seniors plan to enroll in a two-year college, while 22.5 percent of students said they will seek employment post-graduation.

“Our four year college students are right up there with comparable schools,” he said. Data from neighboring Toms River's three high schools shows that the average percentage of students planning to attend a four-year school is 40.9; the average for two-year schools is 43.6.

Trethaway said he was pleased with his district's comparable four-year percentage, and said that the two-year reporting may be incomplete and the number could rise as the school year nears its end.

“If students decide late in their senior year they’re going to go to a two year school, sometimes they don’t report that,” he said. “They may report it as employment, but they may indeed be going to two-year schools. I think our two-year numbers are higher than what are showing there.”

Dropouts at the high school increased from 2.0 percent during the 2008-2009 school year to 2.3 last year, compared to the state average of 1.7 percent.

Trethaway said that the increase is “not significant,” though it is “always something we look at.”

“I know next year [the state is] going to report it differently,” he said. Trethaway said that new reporting will help schools better understand student dropouts. “Next year, every student will have what they call an NJ Smart number, so that student will be tracked even if they move from district to district. That might even be a more accurate accounting of what the dropout rate is.”

The superintendent said that the district tries to keep the per pupil cost “as low as possible” since a large percentage of funding comes from local taxes rather than state aid. The state will release its aid numbers later in February.

“The key is waiting for the state numbers to see what kind of state aid we get,” Trethaway said. Last year, it was reported that 14 percent of Manchester's revenues came from state aid, though the superintendent said that more cuts brought the current amount to under 10 percent.

Manchester's demographics means less aid, Trethaway said. “In applying the funding formula, we have a large population of senior citizens. When you put those senior citizens in the calculations, although they have property values, they have no students coming in, so our numbers are skewed,” he said.

“We're hoping the best case scenario is we get the same state aid,” Trethaway said.

But, as the superintendent and the board of education , further aid reductions would make the creation of next year's already strained budget even more difficult. “If there are any other cuts, it's going to serious hurt not only the education program but the after school activities.”