BOE Addresses QSAC Failures

On the same day that Millburn High School was named the top high school in the state, the Board of Education addressed another report card of sorts: the statewide Quality Single Accountability Continuum at Tuesday night's BOE meeting. This report was not nearly as welcome as the high school ranking.

According to QSAC results, the district is failing in four of the five categories the report measures. A score of 80 is necessary to be passing; Millburn received a score of 95 out of 100 for fiscal management, but the remainder of the scores are below 80. Governance had 66, Operations Management 75, Personnel 45 and Instruction and Program 60.

Across the state, nearly three-quarters of the 576 districts were deemed "high performing," earning an 80 or higher in all five areas.

The scores reflect an improvement in fiscal management and operations management. The district scores dropped in the other three categories since December.

"We got two report cards today," said BOE V.P. Jeffrey Waters, "It's fascinating. These tell a tale of two districts. We earned an A++ on achievement. On management, we earned an F in four subjects. That's not a good report card."

The report, which is required under a 2007 law, has district officials answer a series of yes and no questions based on paperwork. Each yes is awarded a certain number of points, and a no answer has no points. The Essex County school officials review the information and potentially give the district more points.

In December, former Supt. Richard Brodow said that scores would "rise dramatically." This has not happened. Waters went on to say these scores should not be taken lightly.

"If these were all petty bureaucratic nonsense I would say it. But these signify a systematic, multi-year pattern of failure. We are last in the state in personnel," said Waters.

He referenced previous comments that implied the scores were unmerited.

"We were told three or four teacher evaluations weren't done. Add a zero to those numbers. This is another systemic failure."

Supt. Dr. James Crisfield addressed the district's results, saying that he will work to improve in all categories.

"Some of the things in QSAC are major that they merit some significant attention. We had appealed the initial findings, but have recently been informed officially that our appeal has been denied."

He explained that any district that fails any one of the five criteria is required to develop a district improvement plan, which the district will do in the next several weeks. It must be submitted to the county superintendents office for approval by October.

"That is the official report," he concluded. "Stay tuned, as there will be some suggestions as to what we can do to raise our scores."

In the public comment portion, former BOE member Josh Scharf quoted the results, saying they are unacceptable.

"There is a disconnect over what we see in terms of the management of the district and what we see in terms of performance," he said.