Greenport Eliminates Reading Teachers to Introduce a New Program

When the voted to accept the proposed $1,4,100,005 2011-2012 budget on Wednesday evening, it changed how reading will be taught in the school district by eliminating reading specialist positions and moving forward with a Response to Intervention (RTI) approach to reading in the classroom.

RTI is a program that will be state mandated in every district in July 2012 to determine if children in grades K-4 have a learning disability related to reading. After months of planning, Greenport has decided to fully implement the program one year early. RTI is a three-tier, in-classroom program where core classroom instruction is supplemented when a child is not meeting goals. Systematic evaluations are built into the system to determine how children are progressing.

Not everyone is pleased to see the Reading First program leave the district, especially after the school won the earlier this year.

“You have basically just eliminated the entire reading department and anyone who had worked with the Reading First program, “said retired reading teacher Joan Olszewski. “You just threw the baby out with the bath water.”

Superintendent Mike Comanda acknowledged it was a big change, but feels strongly this is the right move for the district.

“With RTI we have added 25 hours of reading instruction into the classroom each week. This is not just remedial instruction, but enrichment too,” said Comanda.

Comanda is pleased that intervention will be delivered directly by the classroom teacher and teacher assistants in the classroom. The school has identified 28 people in the building who will be working directly with students on RTI.

Board President Tina Volinski conceded the change was hard, but is pleased at the proposal Elementary Principal Joseph Tsaveras has put in place. She also felt that by starting the RTI a year early, it gives the district some “leeway” to work on any issues that may arise. Volinski added the school is already using Discovery Education programs to regularly monitor students progress and that will continue next year.

The board voted to eliminate one and a half reading positions for next year but, in a separate resolution, voted to “freeze” one reading position for the 2011-2012 school year, which would allow the superintendent to hire a reading teacher at his discretion. One of the reading teachers, Mary Oliver, will stay on at Greenport and teach an elementary class next year. The district will also hire a teaching assistant to help implement RTI in the classroom.

“I’m not saying RTI is wrong. You’re not leaving anyone on deck to step in. You haven’t left anyone here who oversaw the Reading First program,” Olszewski said.

Comanda understood Olszewski’s concerns but feels there are safeguards built into the plan.

“If the results we’re getting from the program are unsatisfactory, Mr. Tsaveras and I will meet to determine if we need bring the [Reading First] program back,” Comanda said.