State Report Card Grades New Milford's Performance

The New Jersey Department of Education released report cards for the performance of every school in the state during the 2010-11 year Thursday.

Students at  generally had a greater percentage of proficient scores than their peers in the state and the District Factor Group (DFG) — which measures schools from socio-economically similar areas — on both the language arts and math sections of the HSPA test.

However, the average SAT score from New Milford High School was slightly lower than the state and the DFG average in the verbal and essay portions, more so in math.

The high school far surpassed the state average in Grades 11 and 12 participation in Advanced Placement programs. New Milford High School averaged 47.7 percent while the state average is 39.9 percent.

The report also seems to strengthen 's (Stop Over Development) argument that the proposed residential portion of the will burden an already overburdened school system. The state's report shows that New Milford High School has an average classroom size of 22.4 percent versus the state average of 19.1 percent. 

At the May 17 special meeting of the Zoning Board, John DeSantis questioned Hekemian's expert on affordable housing, Dr. David Kinsey, regarding . Kinsey replied that he did not take that into account when determining the inherently beneficial use of the property. 

Lori Barton, SOD's Communications Chair, cited overcrowded classrooms as negative criteria as defined under a D-1 variance. 

The school had a 92.90 percent graduation rate.

Keep following this story on Patch. We will follow up with more detailed information and a look at local elementary and middle schools. We will also be talking with school officials to gather more specific information regarding the results.

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