Education

Opt-out rate increases at Greenport; down at Mattituck-Cutchogue

Tuesday marked the first day of the controversial state-mandated testing at public schools across New York and the percentage of students who refused to sit for the exams in the Mattituck-Cutchogue school district slightly decreased compared to last year’s total opt-out numbers.

District officials said Wednesday 225 out of 510 students — or 44 percent — declined to take the English Language Arts (ELA) assessment Tuesday. Last year, 49 percent of students refused to take ELA assessments.

Over in Greenport, only 58 out of 293 students took the ELA exam Tuesday, which totals an 80 percent opt-out rate. About 68 percent of students declined to sit for the ELA assessments last year.

The Oysterponds School District, which runs a pre-K through sixth-grade program in Orient, recorded 25 out of 40 students — or 62.5 percent — declining to sit for Tuesday’s exam. Last year, 13 out of 38 students — or 34.2 percent — refused to take ELA assessments.

“We communicate very well with parents regarding the state testing program,” principal Jennifer Wissemann said. “We follow their wishes when it comes to decisions about participation.”

In Southold, 220 out of 385 students — or 57.1 percent — refused to take the ELA exam Tuesday. Last year, 58 percent of students opted out of ELA.

ELA testing continues through Thursday. Math assessments are scheduled for May 2-4.

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Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4 p.m. to reflect Greenport and Southold’s stats.

GREENPORT SCHOOL DISTRICT

Grade Total Students Eligible Number of Refusals Percent of Refusals
3 51 48 94.10%
4 48 37 77.10%
5 34 23 67.60%
6 40 27 67.50%
7 70 58 82.90%
8 50 42 84%
Total 293 235 80.20%

MATTITUCK-CUTCHOGUE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Grade

2017 Eligible

2017 Refusals (day 1)

2017  Absent (day 1-not refused)

Percent Refusal

3

73

31

 

42.5%

4

84

36

 

42.9%

5

87

27

2

31.0%

6

92

47

1

51.1%

7

88

40

 

45.5%

8

86

44

1

51.2%

Total

510

225

 

44.1%

OYSTERPONDS SCHOOL DISTRICT

N/A

SOUTHOLD SCHOOL DISTRICT

Grade Total Students Eligible Number of Refusals Percent of Refusals
3 51 24 47.10%
4 62 31 50.00%
5 70 36 51.40%
6 63 40 63.50%
7 70 44 62.90%
8 69 45 65.20%
Total 385 220 57.10%