South Middle School Receivership 2026

Receivership is a New York State school-improvement structure for schools requiring intensive support. It does not mean that South Middle School is closing. It means the school must implement an approved improvement plan, meet specific performance targets, report progress regularly, and meaningfully engage families, students, staff, and community members.

South Middle School was identified for Superintendent Receivership because NYSED had identified the school as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school for more than three consecutive years. NECSD reported in February 2026 that South Middle School had been designated as CSI for more than 15 years. Under NYSED regulations, a school that remains identified as CSI for at least three consecutive school years may become eligible for Superintendent Receivership. Therefore, South Middle School’s Receivership status was not the result of one test score or one year of performance; rather, it resulted from the school’s continued CSI identification over an extended period without meeting the conditions necessary to exit CSI. Receivership provides an increased level of oversight, support, and improvement planning focused on improving student outcomes and addressing the underlying conditions contributing to the school’s continued CSI status. 

South Middle School has a long history of low performance on New York State assessments. In the 2015–16 school year, the NYSED Diagnostic Tool for School and District Effectiveness report identified 15% of students as proficient in ELA and 10% as proficient in mathematics. At that time, South Middle School enrolled approximately 615 students, with 74% identified as Title I and a 91% attendance rate. 

By 2018–19, the school continued to demonstrate significant academic need. NYSED's 2018–19 on-site needs assessment identified South Middle School as requiring attention in leadership and systems, curriculum, instruction, social-emotional learning, and family engagement. 

South Middle School: verified ELA and Math proficiency trend

 

The most important finding is the duration of the performance issue. South's 2015–16 ELA and Math proficiency rates were already 15% and 10%, respectively. More than eight years later, the 2024–25 results were 23% ELA and 18.3% Math. ELA increased from 15% in 2015–16 to 23% in 2024–25, an 8-percentage-point increase. The 2024–25 grade-level results also move from 19% in Grade 6 to 26% in Grade 8. 

The 2024–25 NYSED-based data show 18.3% of students proficient in Math, with Grade 6 at 10%, Grade 7 at 21%, and Grade 8 at 24%. 

2015–16: ELA proficiency = 15%

2015–16: Math proficiency = 10%

2023–24: ELA proficiency = 19%

2024–25: ELA proficiency = 23%

2024–25: Math proficiency = 18.3%

2024–25: ELA proficiency by grade = 19% → 23% → 26%

2024–25: Math proficiency by grade = 10% → 21% → 24%

CSI history: South Middle School has been identified as CSI for more than 15 years

South Middle School’s assessment history reflects a longstanding pattern of academic need rather than a recent decline in performance. In 2015–16, only 15% of students were proficient in ELA and 10% were proficient in mathematics. These results established a low academic baseline well before the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the available data show some improvement over time, overall achievement has remained low. In 2023–24, ELA proficiency was approximately 19%, increasing to 23% in 2024–25. During the 2024–25 school year, mathematics proficiency was approximately 18%. Grade-level results also demonstrate that the challenge extends across the middle school: ELA proficiency increased from 19% in Grade 6 to 23% in Grade 7 and 26% in Grade 8, while mathematics increased from 10% in Grade 6 to 21% in Grade 7 and 24% in Grade 8. These results suggest that there are signs of student growth as students progress through the school, but overall proficiency remains low.

The assessment data should be viewed within the broader accountability history of South Middle School. The school has remained identified as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school for an extended period, with NECSD reporting that the school had been identified as CSI for more than 15 years. The Receivership designation therefore reflects a persistent pattern of performance across multiple accountability measures rather than a single test result or one year of low achievement. While ELA and mathematics assessments provide important evidence of student performance, NYSED’s accountability system also considers measures such as student growth, core subject performance, English language proficiency, and attendance.

The data point to a need for South Middle School to focus not only on increasing assessment proficiency but also on understanding the instructional and organizational conditions contributing to the long-term results. This includes examining the consistency of Tier 1 instruction, curriculum and vertical alignment, the rigor of classroom tasks and student work, intervention systems, attendance, and the use of data to identify and respond to student learning needs. The central question for the Receivership work should therefore move beyond whether scores are increasing and focus on whether the school is developing the systems, instructional practices, and data-driven cycles necessary to produce sustained improvement in student achievement. The available evidence shows that South Middle School has made some movement in achievement, particularly in ELA, but the level of performance remains low enough to require a sustained and coordinated school improvement effort.

To implement a school intervention plan or a Department-approved intervention model or comprehensive education plan, as applicable, a School Receiver may take the following actions consistent with the provisions of Education Law section 211-f and, with respect to issues related to such actions for which collective bargaining is required, consistent with any applicable collective bargaining agreement(s) and provisions of Article 14 of the Civil Service Law: 

• Review and if necessary, expand, alter, or replace the curriculum and program offerings of the school, including the implementation of research-based early literacy programs, early interventions for struggling readers and the teaching of advanced placement courses or other rigorous nationally or internationally recognized courses, if the school does not already have such programs or courses. 
•  Replace teachers and administrators, including school leadership, who are not appropriately certified or licensed. 
• Increase salaries of current or prospective teachers and administrators to attract and retain high-performing teachers and administrators. 
• Establish steps to improve hiring, induction, teacher evaluation, professional development, teacher advancement, school culture and organizational structure (e.g., instructional coaches or research-based instructional plans). • 
• Reallocate the uses of the existing budget of the school.
• Expand the school day or school year or both, which may include establishing partnerships with community-based organizations and youth development programs that offer appropriate programs and services in expanded learning time settings. 
• For a school that offers first grade, add pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten classes if the school does not already have such classes.
• Include a provision of a job-embedded professional development for teachers at the school with an emphasis on strategies that involve teacher input and feedback.
• Establish a plan for professional development for administrators at the school, with an emphasis on strategies that develop leadership skills and use the principles of distributive leadership
• Order the conversion of a School under Receivership that has been designated pursuant to this section into a charter school; provided that such conversion shall be subject to Article 56 of the Education Law (including the requirement of a vote by parents of students attending the school) and that such conversion charter school shall operate pursuant to such article, and shall operate consistent with a Community Schools Model, and shall be subject to the provisions of subdivisions (3), (4), (5), (6), (9), (10), (11), (12) and (13) of Education Law section 211-f. 

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Under current NYSED rules, there is no fixed maximum number of years that a school can remain in Receivership. A school may enter Receivership after being identified as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school for at least three consecutive school years. Once in Receivership, the school remains in that status as long as it continues to meet the criteria for CSI identification. A school exits Receivership at the end of the school year in which it is no longer identified as CSI. Demonstrable Improvement (DI) does not automatically determine whether a school exits Receivership; rather, it affects whether the school remains under Superintendent Receivership or moves to Independent Receivership. Therefore, a school can remain in Receivership for many years if it continues to meet the applicable criteria. 

A school exits Receivership by first exiting the Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) support model. Demonstrable Improvement (DI) by itself does not remove a school from Receivership; rather, it demonstrates progress toward improvement. For a school under Superintendent Receivership, the school must no longer meet the CSI identification criteria and must exceed the Weighted Average Achievement Index (WAAI) or Core Subject Performance Index (CSPI) from the year the school entered Receivership. This must occur in the second school year following identification for Receivership or in any year thereafter. Once the school meets the applicable CSI exit requirements, NYSED removes the Receivership designation by June 30 of that school year. Therefore, a school may demonstrate improvement for multiple years and still remain in Receivership if it continues to meet the CSI criteria or has not met the required achievement-index measure. 

For students and families, Receivership does not mean that students are being removed from their school or that the school is being closed. It means the school is receiving an increased level of state oversight, support, and intervention because NYSED has determined that the school has experienced persistent challenges with student outcomes. The goal is to improve the educational experience and outcomes for students by strengthening instruction, attendance, student engagement, school climate, and family partnerships. 

email wmorgan@necsd.net with your question.