The district is "well on our way" to preparing all students for "post-secondary success" in the 21st century, said South Orange-Maplewood Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Osborne during his 5th annual State of the District address on Wednesday night at Columbia High School.

The Superintendent, however, did invite residents to visit the district's website to delve into supporting data. "I encourage you to take a deeper look," said Osborne. "Hold us accountable." (The full 58-page State of the District report is attached.)

The comment was interesting in that data have been a matter of some controversy recently in the district. District administration presented data in October that Osborne said supported the finding that 7th grade de-leveling in English Language Arts, science and social studies had been a moderate success, paving the way for additional de-leving at the middle schools. Some members of the community have disagreed with his take on the data.

Early in his State of the District address, Osborne also noted that challenges remain and said there are "no silver bullets" or "soundbite solutions" to academic success.

Osborne then detailed progress in the four major goals outlined by the district:

For the first goal — student learning — Osborne said there was "evidence of progress in all areas." Osborne pointed to test score progress, saying that although test scores "are not the be-all-and-end-all" that the distict had been performing well against its District Factor Group (a set of "fairly wealthy districts across the state"), showing steady progress in closing the gap between itself and the DFG as well as the internal achievement gap between black and white students.

Osborne said that the district had also seen a large increase in the number of graduates going to college. He said that the CHS '04 class had 77% of graduates matriculating to college within two years of graduation, while the CHS '09 class saw 88% of graduates matriculating to college within two years of graduation.

The Superintendent said there were "loads of examples of excellence" in the district — from U.S. Presidential Scholar Jake Silberg to the impressive number of students being accepted into Ivy League schools.

Osborne said that some of this success could be tied to the introduction of the PSAT for 10th graders and the reworked English Language Arts curriculum. He noted that curriculum improvements were not just at the high school but throughout the district, with a strong focus on primary school reading and writing.

The Superintendent quickly ran through district accomplishments in the arts (the Suzuki program, student filmmakers, artists in residence, etc.), health and physical education (the expansion of CATCH), and the growth and success of student clubs such as robotics, math and science awards, and outstanding achievements in sports (girls track, fencing).

He noted that failure and suspension rates are lowering.

In terms of the second goal — Professional Staff — Osborne spoke of work to increase the instructional leadership of principals, the creation of professional learning communities among teachers and administrators, new teacher evaluations, new features of the teachers' contract that allow for unnannounced formal observations of teachers in classrooms, model lessons, the continued integration of technology into the classroom, and more teachers receiving National Board Certification.

Goal 3 — Engagement and Outreach to Parents/Community — still had a "long way to go," said Osborne.

On a light note, he said that the new SchoolMessenger system did have parents, for the first time ever, complaining that they were receiving too much communication from the district. With PowerSchool — an online portal on which teachers in grades 6-12 can post assignments and test scores — Osborne said that "not every teacher is quite there yet" but that "kids know everyone is looking out for them all the time."

Osborne listed other communications changes: the addition of parent/teacher conferences in the spring, an additional progress report, curriculum nights and those blue folders that come home with children providing writing benchmarks.

Finally, the Superintendent said that Goal 4 — Resource Management — presented "an incredible challenge."

"We're sensitive to the high levels of tax stress," said Osborne, noting that the district had brought in a lower level tax levy increase each year for the past several years, including an increase of less that two percent for the last budget year. He spoke of the difficulty of having unfunded mandates by the state and the necessity to cut positions — such as the decision to outsource in-classroom aids or paraprofessionals in 2010.

Osborne said that district leadership were working more closely with the Board of School Estimate — the governing body that approves the school tax levy annually. He also noted that the district had almost completed its 10-year facilities plan, finishing improvements to "seal" all the school buildings and properties, and was working on facilities planning for the next 20 years. He noted that solar panels were coming to the roofs of Clinton School and South Orange Middle School this summer.

He also addressed the difficult question of student residency, noting that the district had, for the first time, required all 10th graders to re-register with the district this year. The district would soon be starting proceedings against those who had not re-registered.

To conclude, Osborne called on the Board of Education and the teachers' union (SOMEA) to start negotiating the next contract immediately (the current contract expires June 30, 2013). He also called on "elected official to support schools."

"We must keep in mind that the community's viability relies on the quality of the schools."

This story will be updated with questions from the audience — and Osborne's answers — later.