PITTSFIELD – While cautioning that state assessment tests are just one of many tools used to appraise students’ progress, SAD 53 administrator Faye Anderson said she is “concerned and disappointed” at the fourth-grade results in mathematics.

Anderson, who oversees prekindergarten through grade four, said last year’s fourth-graders scored eight points lower on the math portion of the Maine Educational Assessment tests.

“I am pretty disheartened, and the staff is concerned,” Anderson told SAD 53 board members Monday night.

She said that the class of 69 pupils included 12 with disabilities, and 49 percent are considered economically disadvantaged. In addition to class makeup as a possible reason for low scores, Anderson said, “We have hired a consultant to look at our math curriculum, and we are mapping the curriculum.”

She said the staff will look at student data to determine any trends in the areas SAD 53 students are not faring well.

Warsaw Middle School Principal Scott White said the eighth-grade assessments were on par with state averages.

Superintendent Michael Gallagher noted that Warsaw did not make “adequate yearly progress” last year so this year’s scores were an improvement.

In other business, the board granted a leave of absence to special education director Debra Hannigan so she can accept a Maine Department of Education position for 18 months, beginning in January.

Stacey Shorey, assistant elementary principal, will fill in for Hannigan, and the district will hire a replacement for Shorey.