Weatherly Area School District officials and teachers are concerned about high school students' performance on standardized tests.

Union President Barbara Sipler spoke to the board at a workshop meeting Wednesday night.Sipler acknowledged past concerns raised by some on the board regarding student achievement on the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System and Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams."Let me assure you that our teachers take their professional responsibilities very seriously, and we have a great deal of pride in our students and in their (student) achievement," Sipler said.Aided by a PowerPoint presentation, John McGee, a computer science teacher in the Weatherly Area School District, presented data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education's website.McGee's research showed that grades 3 through 8 reading and math scores,along with 11thgrade Keystone exams are above scores from Hazleton, Jim Thorpe, Tamaqua, Lehighton, Palmerton and Panther Valley over a three-year period from 2012-14.The assessments address proficiency in the subject areas of Algebra I, Algebra II, geometry, literature, English composition, biology, chemistry, U.S. history, world history and civics and government."If youput them side-by-side and compare them, in every category overthe last three years among eachschool, Weatherly is in the lead," McGee noted."We're here because we are concerned about the misconceptions (of our district) and we want the board and the public to know that we are giving 110 percent every single day. We work incredibly hard to get our students here and our students have given it back."When we're perceived by the public as being less than the great school we are, I don't think it's fair to anybody. I thought it was only right to stand up and show the success we've had."The School Performance Profile, a gauge of how school's perform in Pennsylvania, matches what McGee contends.When compared to L.B. Morris in Jim Thorpe, Panther Valley and Shull-David in Lehighton, Weatherly's elementary school ranks second with an academic score of 73.4.The trend continues when looking at Lehighton, Panther Valley and Jim Thorpe's Penn-Kidder Campus, with Weatherly's Middle School scoring highest at 84.2.Weatherly's standing among those schools changes dramatically when it comes to performance at the secondary education level.Jim Thorpe Area High Schoolscored the highest at 88.2, while Weatherly ranked last at 56.7.The sudden drop-off is one of school board President Girard Fewins' biggest concerns."I am impressed," Fewins said. "But the same children that come through here go to the high school, so where is the disconnect? Why do we drop like a rock?"Citing results from the most recent winter Keystone exams, high school Principal Stuart Tripler said results were higher than the state average and that he would have the information from those January tests at next week's meeting, which will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the middle school large group instruction room.The budget and finance meeting will take place immediately afterward.High school comparisonsAcademic PSSA/Keystone data for Jim Thorpe (JT),Lehighton(L), Panther Valley (PV),Weatherly (W)High Schools from 2013-14:Mathematics/Algebra I:JT, 76.15; L, 68.24; PV, 54.26; W, 58.33.Reading/Literature:JT. 88.29; L, 75.82; PV, 76.14; W, 54.25.Science/Biology:JT, 71.30; L, 66.24; PV, 45.05; W, 41.67.More information:http://paschoolperformance.org/