Children attending Roxbury’s four elementary schools belong to the same district. They share district leadership, a school board and curriculum expectations. Yet the available data show large differences in academic outcomes.

The district has described changes intended to help students. Now families deserve to know: Are those changes closing the gaps between schools?

The Differences Are Significant

New Jersey’s 2024–25 school accountability data show the following:

School	State accountability percentile
Jefferson Elementary	89.99
Kennedy Elementary	44.03
Franklin Elementary	25.57
Nixon Elementary	6.39

These numbers are rankings—not the percentage of children passing a test. Jefferson placed near the 90th percentile in its state comparison group, while Nixon placed near the 6th percentile.

The state calculation considers test proficiency, academic growth, attendance and progress in learning English where enough data are available. It provides a broader picture than test proficiency alone.

The 2024–25 test results show differences, too:

School	Grade 3 reading/ELA	Grade 4 reading/ELA	Grade 3 math	Grade 4 math
Jefferson	43.4%	70.5%	48.6%	55.9%
Kennedy	34.0%	58.6%	26.5%	50.0%
Nixon	38.9%	39.3%	48.6%	32.2%
Franklin	38.0%	37.3%	45.9%	25.4%

Percentages meeting proficiency standards, reported by SchoolDigger from state assessment data. ELA means English language arts.

In fourth-grade ELA, Jefferson’s proficiency rate was 70.5%, compared with 39.3% at Nixon and 37.3% at Franklin. In fourth-grade math, Jefferson reached 55.9%, compared with 32.2% at Nixon and 25.4% at Franklin.

No school leads in every area. Nixon matched Jefferson in third-grade math, while Kennedy’s third-grade math result was considerably lower. The district needs to understand these specific patterns rather than rely on one overall ranking.

Tests Do Not Define Children—but the Patterns Matter

A standardized test cannot capture everything about a child. Creativity, curiosity, effort and potential do not fit neatly into a score. Anxiety, attention difficulties, disabilities, language needs and even a difficult testing day can affect performance.

Children’s progress should be assessed through classroom work, teacher observations, family input and several measures.

Still, the same assessment gives schools a common benchmark. Comparing schools within one district can help identify differences in instruction, access to intervention and student support.

The comparison must be fair. Schools serve different populations, and results should be examined across several years, similar student groups and measures of growth.

Recognizing the limits of testing should make us more careful with the data—not willing to ignore it.

What Has Roxbury Done?

At the latest BOE meeting, Dr. Frank Santora described district efforts that include:

• Updating elementary math and reading materials.
• Using teacher meetings to review instruction and student needs.
• Monitoring progress through LinkIt, DIBELS and Aimsweb assessments.
• Providing elementary “What I Need” blocks for targeted instruction.
• Reviewing Amira and other instructional technology through the Education Committee.

These are concrete steps. They show that the administration is working on instruction and support and that the Board is receiving information about those efforts.

But districtwide programs are not automatically a plan to close gaps between individual schools.

Families still need a clear explanation of which changes address Nixon’s needs, which address Franklin’s, and how Kennedy and Jefferson are being supported in their weaker areas.

The Board should ask administrators to connect each school’s needs to specific staffing, instruction and improvement goals—and report the results publicly.

Are Children Receiving the Help They Need?

Having an intervention period on the schedule does not tell families how much help a child actually receives.

For each elementary school, the district should explain:

• How students qualify for extra help and when parents are notified.
• How often help is provided, by whom and in what size group.
• How progress is checked.
• What changes when a child is not improving.
• Whether students with similar needs receive comparable support across schools.

Families should not have to guess whether their child is receiving intervention or discover months later that the planned support was inconsistent.

Amira Should Be Part of a Clearer Conversation

The Education Committee discussed Amira, an AI-based reading tool, and the district has described plans for technology focus groups.

Parents deserve an explanation of how Amira is used, how teachers review its findings, what student information is collected and whether it is helping children become stronger readers.

The key question for this discussion is whether students across all four schools have access to effective reading instruction and appropriate help when they struggle.

Families can watch the February BOE presentation about the literacy program, including Amira, starting here.

Staffing Stability Deserves Attention, Too

The earlier review of 2026 personnel records through the September agenda identified these paraprofessional resignations:

Elementary school	Resignations identified
Nixon	10
Franklin	1
Jefferson	1
Kennedy	0

Fourteen were identified districtwide. Roxbury BOE meeting records

These are departure counts, not turnover rates. Nixon’s specialized programs and paraprofessional staffing totals must be considered before making a fair comparison.

Even so, ten departures warrant questions about continuity for students. How long were positions vacant? Were replacements trained? Did children continue receiving their required support? How does this inconsistency affect these students? How can we better retain paraprofessionals?

The Next Step Is Public Accountability for Improvement

Families need a public explanation of what is driving the disparities, how resources match student needs and what measurable improvement the district expects.

Roxbury should share successful practices across buildings, strengthen support where needs are greatest and report progress regularly.

Schools serving children with greater needs may require greater resources. Equal opportunity does not mean giving every building exactly the same thing.

Every Roxbury child deserves effective instruction, dependable support, regardless of which elementary school they attend. They also need adults willing to examine uncomfortable data—and act on what they find.

Updates on the Board Retreat

Another Roxbury BOE retreat was held on 10/15—the third scheduled this year—and residents are left playing “Guess What We Accomplished.” The agenda listed no training topics or board self-evaluation, and there’s no video or audio recording to review.

Maybe important work happened. It would be nice if the public didn’t need a crystal ball to find out. Scheduling retreats is easy. Explaining what they accomplished apparently remains a work in progress.