OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Members of the Dunkirk Board of Education take an oath of office at the board’s annual reorganization meeting. From left are Betsy Ramos, Kenneth Kozlowski and Claudia Szcerbacki. Superintendent Brian Swatland, who was sworn in separately for the upcoming 2026-27 school year, sits next to them.

The Dunkirk Board of Education both looked back and moved forward at its July meeting.

The board heard a rather positive report summarizing 2025-26 from Superintendent Brian Swatland, and also held a reorganization session to appoint officers for the upcoming 2026-27 school year.

Swatland said the district is mostly meeting its educational goals, offering several promising statistics. For example, the percentage of students who are considered “high growth” in reading has risen six points, from 36% to 42%. The median level of reading — basically the proficiency of the average city student — also went up six percentage points.

The graduation rate went up seven points, from 77% to 84%. There was also a 15% decrease in absenteeism, Swatland said.

The superintendent credited “the hard work of teachers, our clerical staff, our administration, at the building level and at the district level” for helping the students improve. “They did a phenomenal amount of work and it shows in our data,” Swatland said.

He flashed a series of charts that suggested overall gains across almost all grade levels in not only reading, but math and early literacy.

“It’s a districtwide effort to see this type of growth in our scores,” Swatland reiterated.

The goal moving forward is to “refine what we did this year, and deepen the learning and understanding by all parties.”

The board named its officers for the upcoming year prior to Swatland’s report. That session began with an amusing moment: District Clerk Tara Jakse swore in Swatland as superintendent, then they quickly switched places as Swatland administered Jakse’s oath for her clerk’s office.

Lucas Catalano, Kenneth Kozlowski and Betsy Ramos, who were all re-elected, were sworn in as board members for 2026-27.

Kozlowski will remain president of the board, Claudia Szcerbacki is still vice president, and Ramos will be clerk of the board again. All were nominated and approved by their fellow board members without opposition.