State: SWR teacher evaluation plan approved

The Shoreham-Wading River school district’s state-mandated performance review plan has been approved by the state education department Thursday evening, alleviating concerns that the plan would not be okayed by Thursday’s deadline and the district would lose half a million dollars in state aid.

The SWR plan, called an APPR, was listed on a state education department website as approved, hours before the Thursday night deadline for approval. The APPR was in jeopardy after a negotiations breakdown between the district and the administrator’s union

The plan was submitted in July without the signature of the administrators association president, school officials said. The plan was returned to the district at the end of December with orders to have the proper signatures or face losing state aid.

Had the plan not been approved, the district would have lost $457,000 in state aid for this school year, meaning the district would have had to make cuts or increase revenues to make up the difference.

Steven Donohue, president of the administrators association, had said the union didn’t get enough time to negotiate the plan, but eventually signed off on the document Friday afternoon. The state sent the APPR back over the weekend and requested the district make several changes.

The district sent the APPR plan up Tuesday after an emergency board meeting authorized board president William McGrath to sign the fixed plan.

Mr. McGrath said the different parties involved “came together [and] worked really hard to get agreements that would work.”

Below is the complete report:

Shoreham-Wading River state approved APPR plan by