Franklyn S Barry Primary School, Cortland NY

Original Research by School Decision on Franklyn S Barry Primary School

Franklyn S Barry Primary School is the kindergarten through second-grade building in Cortland City School District, serving the youngest elementary students in the district. The school enrolls students across pre-K through grade two, with the bulk of enrollment in the full-day and half-day kindergarten and first- and second-grade classes. The student body is predominantly white, with modest representation of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. More than half of enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a community with substantial economic need.

The school sits within a district facing significant financial pressure. Cortland City School District has been losing state Foundation Aid while enrollment declines and costs rise, resulting in a budget crisis. For the 2026-27 school year, the district approved a budget that eliminates roughly fifty positions through layoffs and attrition, affecting class sizes and support services across all schools including Barry. Property taxes in the district have risen sharply; the 2026-27 budget proposes a tax levy increase above the state cap that, if passed, would add roughly fifty dollars per month to the average homeowner's property tax bill. The 2025-26 budget initially failed at the ballot before passing in a revote, signaling community resistance to tax increases that affects the affordability of the district overall.

On the positive side, voters in 2025 approved a multi-million-dollar capital project that funded district-wide security camera replacement, public address system upgrades in every building, an elevator at Randall Middle School, and renovation of the Jr./Sr. High School gymnasium. These facility investments began to address safety and accessibility needs across the district's schools.

State testing data is available for grades three through six only, since Barry serves pre-K through second grade and New York does not assess students below grade three. This means there are no proficiency results for the grades Barry actually teaches, so a parent cannot judge the school's reading and math instruction from test data while students are at Barry. One science result from fourth grade shows strong performance in that subject.

The city of Cortland itself is a small mixed-use downtown anchored by SUNY Cortland, a public college that is among the largest employers. The downtown has walkable streets, restaurants, shops, and a historic character, with recent two-way traffic conversion and streetscape improvements on Main Street. Public transit runs through Centro bus service. The broader Cortland County housing market is modest in price relative to state and national benchmarks, though recent year-over-year appreciation has been steady. Rents are significantly lower than mortgage payments, making rental housing a viable option for some families.

A family enrolling a young child at Barry Primary is entering a district with constrained resources, recent staffing cuts, and community tension over property taxes. The school itself serves a diverse, economically mixed student body in a historic small city with a college presence. The lack of available state test results for the primary grades means a parent would want to visit the school and speak directly with teachers about literacy and numeracy instruction in the early grades.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 28 pts below state median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 46% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 25% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 35% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 19% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 21 pts below state median

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 33% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 22%

▼ 33 pts below state median

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 42% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median

Science

Grade 479%

School 79% · district not reported

▼ 7 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 594%

School 94% · district not reported

▲ 2 pts above state median

This schoolCORTLAND CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income22%Higher-income46%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income23%Higher-income60%37 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income17%Higher-income29%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income40%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income18%Higher-income50%32 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income9%Higher-income60%51 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income48%18 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income21%Higher-income63%43 pp gap