March 26, 2025
Dear Catskill Community,
At Catskill Central School District, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity and ensuring that all students graduate fully prepared for their futures. It is in this spirit of transparency and accountability that we wish to share an important update with you.
Through our internal review, we identified discrepancies in our past practices at Catskill High School that resulted in several students being improperly graduated. It is important to note that we found no evidence to suggest that staff deliberately graduated students who were ineligible to graduate. Upon discovering this issue, we immediately self-reported our findings to the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and we took proactive steps to address the situation.
Our audit identified several key issues, including a lack of systemic checks and balances at the building level that led to improper awarding of English as a New Language (ENL) credits, the granting of high school credit to ineligible students, and students graduating with an insufficient number of English credits. Other concerns included discrepancies in transfer credits, Academic Intervention Services (AIS) courses, course substitutions for graduation mandates, and the structure of our Physical Education (PE) program. This resulted in some students being awarded course credits that did not align with state standards over an unknown number of years.
In summary, we found that the District had improperly graduated several students. However, this does not affect the graduation status of any of our past graduates. All diplomas we have issued in the past remain in good standing according to the NYSED.
Working closely with Questar III BOCES, the NYSED Office of Standards and Instruction, and the Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network (RBERN), we have developed a comprehensive corrective action plan. As part of this process, we identified any current students who required schedule adjustments to align with state graduation requirements and have made those adjustments so that these students can graduate with the proper credits on time. This plan includes a thorough audit of our High School Course Catalogue to ensure full compliance with state regulations and guidelines.
Additionally, a key component of our corrective action plan is providing training for our staff, facilitated by the BOCES Office of School Improvement, to ensure that staff and administrators fully understands and implements state requirements moving forward.
Furthermore, we are updating our policies and procedures to establish stronger checks and balances, ensuring that all students meet the necessary criteria before earning their diplomas. Our goal is not only to correct past errors, but to put systems in place that ensure that this never happens again.
We recognize the trust that families place in us to provide a high-quality education, and we remain dedicated to upholding that trust. I would like to commend our current administrators and staff for their assistance in identifying and correcting these issues. They have my full confidence in their commitment to our goal of excellence through continuous improvement at Catskill Central School District.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out. We appreciate your support as we continue to strengthen our district and provide the best possible educational experience for our students.
Sincerely,
Dr. Dan Wilson