Briarcliff Discusses Pathways Program Realignment

A proposal to eliminate the ELA portion of the Pathways program in the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District would free up staff to take on a sixth grade Pathways math class, according to Acting Superintendent James Kaishian.

During a Board of Education-led work session discussion, Kaishian explained Pathways "was eliminated" when the district was forced to submit a second budget proposal to the public from May to June.

"During the budget discussions in what led up to the second adopted and approved budget, Pathways was eliminated," he said, "and what was returned was something akin to the way we had done to Pathways, but certainly was different in nature."

Moving forward, Kaishian said he is looking to "return Pathways to the greatest degree possible" and took the budget discussions as an opportunity to discuss "some of the issues" associated with the program with administrators.

The resulting plan, he said, is to eliminate ELA and instead add a Pathways math program into sixth grade, which previously did not exist.

The accelerated program currently ended at grade five, but additional accelerated math courses don't start up again until seventh grade, he told the board.

"We felt that by having a teacher in both buildings, we could monitor some of that higher level engagement" across Todd Elementary School students as they transition to middle school.

Two parents spoke in the July 29 meeting's first public comments portion in support of Pathways, with one noting, "This is a program that is really, really vital for kids who are performing beyond their grade level."

Board President Jennifer Rosen asked what will happen to the students who may have previously qualified for the Pathways ELA program.

Dr. Kusum Sinha, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction, assessment and human resources, assured Rosen teachers are "equipped" to differentiate students and separate them during classroom lessons accordingly.

Board Trustee Michael Haberman asked why administrators leaned toward math support versus ELA.

Kaishian explained that in math, revisiting mastered skills proves to be more difficult "from a developmental perspective," whereas in English, teachers can offer more challenging questions to students based on the same novel, for example.

He added administrators are "doing an investigation" into a different ELA approach.

"We need to explore this a little bit further," agreed Sinha.