At its Wednesday October 2, meeting the School Committee expressed concern about the results of the 2013 MCAS scores, which fell for the district as a whole.

The individual grades and the district as a whole are assigned a "level" based on the Progress and Performance Index, with a Level 1 being the highest grade, and a Level 5 being the lowest.

The Wareham school district is at Level 3, meaning it is among the lowest performing 20% of schools in Massachusetts.

The high school improved to a Level 1, up from Level 2, school. The middle school held steady at Level 3, as did Minot at Level 2, while Decas slipped form Level 2 to 3.

Brian Fitzgerald, a fifth grade English teacher at Wareham Middle School and president of the Wareham Education Association stepped up during citizen's participation to address the results.

"Clearly nobody in this room nobody associated with Wareham Public Schools is happy that we're still one of the 64 Level 3 districts in the Commonwealth," he said.

He did, however, express hope for the future.

"I have to say I'm pretty optimistic with the leadership we have now that that's going to change."

The results were presented by Director of Curriculum and Instruction Janice Rotella. She noted that the MCAS test had been tweaked for 2013 to make it a more rigorous exam. School Committee member Geoff Swett questioned why Massachusetts essentially stayed level, while scores in Wareham dropped.

"You asserted that the state as well as Wareham struggled," Swett said, addressing Rotella. "I don't see that in the state results," he said.

"Do I think the impact was greater in Wareham? Absolutely," Rotella said.

School Committee member Cliff Sylvia opined that one of the reasons for the improvement at the high school could be smaller class sizes.

"They dedicated themselves [to] teaching 20% more by reducing class sizes," Sylvia said.

Rotella noted that classes at the high school generally have 16-25 students, while at the middle school level class sizes are in the "high twenties."

Sylvia noted the importance of getting parents involved in their children's education as well.

"We need to develop home based outreach programs. We have got one of the highest rates of single parent household in Massachusetts. that is a variable that will effect academic achievement," he said.

School principals will have soon have a chance to discuss MCAS results with the School Committee at an upcoming meeting.