No Child Left Behind

Linda Rudnick, Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education
Academy Park
Albany, NY 12207
Phone: 475-6060

What does NCLB mean for Albany parents?
In January 2002, President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, which took effect September 1, 2002. NCLB is designed to ensure all schools provide parents with a higher level of accountability, choice and information.

School Choice Options
One of the provisions of NCLB is that schools designated with In Need of Improvement or Corrective Action status provide parents a school choice option. In the City School District of Albany, Philip Livingston Magnet Academy and William S. Hackett Middle School are so designated. 

For years now, the district has been offering ALL parents a choice option through the Open Enrollment Policy. This policy allows parents to choose another school outside of their designated neighborhood-zoned school to send their children to if space is available.

If you are the parent of a grade 6 student attending either Hackett or Livingston you have the option of school choice. Although the district will have two elementary schools serving students through grade 6 in 2009-10, only Giffen Memorial Elementary School is available for open enrollment. Parents can enroll students in Giffen, per seat availability, by contacting Central Registration at 462-7207. 

The other elementary school that will continue to serve students through grade 6, Albany School of Humanities (ASH), is a magnet school and enrolled through an annual lottery. Each of the district's other 10 elementary schools will serve students through grade 5.

Also for the 2009-10 school year, Livingston will be closed as a middle school. The district will enroll all middle school students in Hackett, Stephen and Harriet Myers Middle School and North Albany Academy. Each of these schools will serve students in grades 6-8.

Students in Hackett and Myers will be enrolled through a feeder pattern based on their elementary schools. Livingston students in grades 6-7 during the 2008-09 school year will have the option of choosing either Hackett or Myers for 2009-10 only. The Board of Education is scheduled to delineate the feeder groupings for Hackett and Myers at its Feb. 12 meeting. Students in the North Albany Academy elementary program will continue on to that school's middle-level program.

Additionally, the Board of Education has established a half-mile enrollment zone for Hackett and Myers beginning with the 2009-10 school year to allow students and families to choose the middle school that is within that distance of their home. The board also has established a half-mile zone around Livingston, allowing students and families in that designated area to choose either Hackett or Myers on an annual basis.

With the construction and the reconstruction of existing school buildings at the elementary and middle levels, creating equitable state-of-the-art facilities for all students, as well as careful planning of programmatic changes to ensure quality middle-level education for all students, students in Albany's public schools will be prepared to meet the rigor of the NYS Learning Standards at the middle level and will be readied for the challenge of high school and higher education.

Supplemental Services
For schools under corrective action, such as William S. Hackett Middle School and Philip Livingston Magnet Academy, NCLB requires that all eligible children receive the option of Supplemental Educational Services (SES), or more simply, tutoring services. If your child receives free or reduced lunch, your child may be eligible for SES tutoring.

Each year, letters are sent to all middle school parents whose children are eligible for tutoring. Click here for a letter to Livingston families, and click here for a letter to Hackett families.

To assist families in making the best choice of tutoring services available, SES fairs are held at the schools in the fall and spring, where vendors who provide services speak directly to parents and students about programs of study in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. Notices of the fairs will be sent home to families in advance.

Do you have additional questions about SES?

Follow this link to the Frequently Asked Questions page.

Professional Qualifications
Another provision of NCLB is that schools were required to hire only "highly qualified" teachers in Title I schools beginning the 2002-03 school year, and then in all schools in the 2005-06 school year.

In addition, all parents who have children attending a school receiving Title I funding are entitled to request information regarding the professional qualifications of their children's teachers. Any parent who wishes to know the qualifications of the staff providing services to their children should call their child's school directly.

Complaint Process

The first point of receiving an action on complaints will occur at the building level through the building principal. The director of pupil personnel and the Office of Central Registration also will receive and act upon any complaints from parents, in coordination with school personnel.

The Office of Instruction, which provides oversight for Supplemental Educational Services, will assist parents directly or through the guidance counselors at each building so that students eligible for SES will be enrolled immediately in a tutorial program as warranted. The Office of Instruction, which includes the offices of the assistant superintendents for elementary and secondary education, often becomes involved in pupil personnel matters. The Office of Instruction has a long-standing practice of advocating for parents and students, as well as supporting staff in resolving complaints in the spirit of NCLB.

Complaints will be addressed in a timely manner. Parents who are not satisfied with the decision rendered at the building level will be offered opportunity within the same week to meet with the assistant superintendents for education to explore alternatives or options that will both satisfy the parent and, more importantly, positively influence the education of the student.

Providing a quality education for all students so that the goal of meeting the NYS Learning Standards in all subject areas and the probability of earning a high school diploma are imminent has been, and will continue to be, the benchmark by which the district is measured as successful.

Parent Compact and Parent Involvement Policy

Military Notice
Another NCLB regulation requires high schools to provide information about senior students to the military, including names and addresses. If parents do NOT want their children contacted by the military they must "opt out" in writing. A letter is sent home at the beginning of each school year letting parents know the provisions of this law.

For information about opting out, please contact Albany High School at 454-3987.