Wayne Schools Miss State Goal, Must Submit Improvement Plan

The Wayne Public School District has been reprimanded by the state for failing to satisfy a requirement of its annual performance review.

The district failed to achieve a satisfactory score for one of its Quality Single Accountability Continuum (QSAC) requirements for the 2012-13 school year. The district only satisfied 76 percent of the “weighted indicators” for the instruction and program area. It needed to earn an 80 or more. The district received a 90 or more on the other four indicators.

The QSAC evaluation assists state officials in determining the performance of each district. Districts earn between one and 10 points for each requirement they satisfy. It is unknown what requirement the district failed to meet that caused it to fall short of a satisfactory score.

Scott Rixford, the interim executive Passaic County superintendent could not be reached for comment.

“The magic word is accountability. Overall, they came through the QSAC review very well but they need to be accountable,” said Richard Vespucci, a spokesman with the State Department of Education. “They need to address an deficiencies and figure out where they fell short on their achievement levels or any other areas they fell short in and address those areas.”

The district must approve an improvement plan detailing how it will address the area of instruction and program. The Board of Education must approve the plan. The district must submit the plan to the state before Oct. 1.

As a result of the review, Superintendent Ray Gonzalez only received 80 percent of his bonus for meeting the QSAC requirements, $3,550. He was slated to more than $4,400.

Gonzalez already received a $17,000 bonus for meeting five educational objectives for the 2012-2013 school year. The goals are personal ones of Gonzalez’s. They are not district goals and are included in his contract.

Gonzalez could not be reached for comment.

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