Outlook for the rest of the Newfield school year

The Newfield Central School District (CSD) has entered the second half of its 2024-25 school year.

The district will soon go into the first of three sessions for STAR testing. Newfield CSD superintendent Eric Hartz said STAR is an assessment “utilized to test students’ reading levels.”

The districtwide assessment is also a tool that is used for math, Hartz said. The first session is Jan. 6-17, followed by a session in late May and another in early June.

Hartz noted that the elementary school is in its third year of STAR assessment, while middle and high school students will enter the second year of testing. Hartz added that STAR testing has also been used during the summer for the district’s early learning program.

“This is one of the most important assessments we have,” Hartz said. “It gives students and teachers a starting point and end-of-year growth measure, seeing if they are on grade level or what gains they have made. This also assists teachers with reading groups and which areas are most needed for each student. You have to have a good assessment and measure to ensure solid reading programs for students.”

Christina Ward, Newfield CSD’s board of education (BOE) president, sees STAR testing as “extremely beneficial” for the district.

“Prior to establishing the benchmark testing, I feel the district lacked the ability to measure areas of need and progress in order to improve student literacy, mathematical computation and graduation rates,” Ward said. “The testing maps a series of data points for individual students, as well as whole grade levels, which provides feedback to educators on where more remedial or enrichment attention is needed. Knowledge of the data also helps to align curriculum districtwide from grade to grade and to district goals.”

Aside from testing, the district will begin some project construction. As part of its capital outlay project, there will soon be several new doors at the elementary school. Hartz said the current doors have aged out and “served their purpose.”

The capital outlay project will segue into the district’s larger $21 million capital improvements project. This project will include upgrades to the elementary school, the bus garage and more.

The capital improvements project construction will begin in late May at the bus garage, Hartz said, followed by various locations of site work throughout the district grounds.

Hartz added that updates will be provided this month and in February, as Newfield CSD awaits approval from the New York State Education Department for a majority of the work.

“The new doors in the elementary school coming soon and the upcoming capital project are primarily safety and security upgrades. Along with these upgrades are some much needed infrastructure improvements,” said Tim Payne, Newfield CSD’s BOE vice president. “Some of the improvements are to the aging bus garage, facility stormwater control, parking lots and driveways. In my opinion, these upgrades/renovations are highly necessary in regard to safety, security and the successful operation of our district.”

The second half of the 2024-25 school year is also a time when the Newfield BOE will get down to the wire in its search for a new superintendent. Last summer, Hartz announced his retirement after the current school year.

Since then, the BOE has been on the hunt for a replacement. The deadline to apply for the position was Jan. 3, and the anticipated appointment of a new superintendent will be in April.

Newfield CSD’s new superintendent is slated to begin on July 1 of this year.

With the school year almost halfway finished and Hartz’s last year as superintendent reaching the final handful of months, Ward spoke about how constructive it’s been working with Hartz over the years.

“[Hartz] has been an agent of positive change here at NCSD,” Ward said. “Being the superintendent is not an easy job, so I am glad for him that he will retire while he still has life to live and love to give. I think that no matter where he goes in life, he will continue to contribute to a future of more equitable public education.”

Preparation for the 2025-26 school budget is also underway, Hartz said. Newfield CSD will hold budget discussions through its financial committee meetings on Feb. 11, March 11 and April 8.

The district will also schedule open budget forums in March and April. More details on the budget timeline will be provided soon.

Newfield Notes appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com.

In brief:

Newfield CSD Board of Education meeting schedule for 2025

Newfield Central School District’s board of education meeting schedule for the second half of the 2024-25 school year is as follows:

• Jan. 16
• Feb. 6 and 27
• March 6 and 20
• April 3 and 23
• May 1, 6 and 22
• June 5 and 19

For more information, go to newfieldschools.org.

Newfield Public Library to host cookbook club

The Newfield Public Library will host its monthly cookbook club on Jan. 13 at 6 p.m.

The theme for this month’s meeting is vegetables. The dish does not have to be a vegetarian meal, but vegetables are the highlight.

The club encourages members to bring an optional dish to pass, a favorite cookbook or recipe.

For more information, go to newfieldpubliclibrary.org.