ST. JOHNSVILLE — The St. Johnsville Central School District is among the first districts in the area to receive state approval for the newly-mandated teacher and principal evaluation plans.

On Oct. 22, the New York State Education Department informed the district that its Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) plan had been approved. Currently, St. Johnsville is one of just three school districts in the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery area — and one of 175 statewide — to have its APPR plan approved by the state.

In 2010, New York was awarded $700 million in federal Race to the Top education funding, which required the implementation of new teacher and principal evaluations. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has threatened to withhold state aid increases from districts that fail to implement new, approved evaluations by January 2013.

“The teachers, administrators and the Board of Education will work together collaboratively to implement this plan to ensure our students are college and career ready,” St. Johnsville Superintendent Laura Campione Lawrence said. “These evaluations will help make our good teachers great and our great teachers excellent, with our students benefiting the most.”

Under the APPR plan, teachers will be evaluated, in part, on the percentage of students achieving proficiency and growth on state tests and local assessments. Teachers will also continue to undergo classroom observations, some unannounced, as part of the new evaluations.

The district first submitted its evaluation plan to the state for approval in July.