Business First announces annual rankings (Tribune version)

Mariska Raglow-DeFranco of Niagara-Wheatfield High School is on the first team and Haley Keeley of Starpoint High School is on the second team for Business First's 2011 All-Western New York Academic Team.

High schools throughout the eight-county region were invited to nominate their smartest and most skilled seniors for evaluation by a 10-member selection committee. A total of 410 students were submitted by 113 schools. The first team consists of the 25 students judged to have the strongest records of academic excellence, school leadership and community involvement. The 25 runners-up were placed on the second team, and the subsequent 50 were given special mention designations.

Full details will be available in Business First's 2011-12 Guide to Western New York Schools, which hits newsstands on Friday, June 10. Highlights are also available at the newspaper's website: www.bizjournals.com/buffalo.

In other rankings:

•Superintendent/teacher salary: Western New York's largest school district, Buffalo, also has the widest disparity between its superintendent's salary and a typical teacher's pay, according to Business First. The median salary for teachers in the Buffalo City School District is $50,070, based on the latest data available from the New York State Education Department. That's less than one-quarter of the $220,000 that Superintendent James Williams is paid. The resulting superintendent/teacher ratio in Buffalo is 4.39, the biggest compensation disparity in Western New York.

Starpoint ranked sixth with a 3.41 ratio. Its superintendent is paid $183,343 and the median teacher pay is $53,820. Lewiston-Porter ranked 25th with a 3.03 ratio. Superintendent's pay is $176,875 and median teacher pay is $58,397. Niagara-Wheatfield ranked 53rd with a 2.68 ratio. Superintendent's pay is S: $160,425 and median teacher salary is $59,799

•Elementary schools: Southern Tier Catholic School has successfully maintained its hold on first place in the rankings. Business First analyzed 280 elementary schools across Western New York, using four years of standardized test data for fourth graders.

Western Niagara County rankings include: 7. St. John Lutheran School (Niagara-Wheatfield) 27. St. Peter School (Lewiston-Porter); 30. St. Peter's Lutheran School (Niagara-Wheatfield); 40. Errick Road Elementary School (Niagara-Wheatfield); 43. Geraldine J. Mann School (Niagara Falls); 49. Starpoint Intermediate School; 80. Holy Ghost Lutheran School (Niagara-Wheatfield); 97. Meadow School (North Tonawanda); 100. Lewiston-Porter Intermediate Education Center.

•Middle schools: Transit Middle School of Williamsville once again holds first place in Business First's rankings of Western New York middle schools. Business First assessed 210 middle schools across Western New York, combing through four years of statewide test results for eighth graders.

Erie County dominates the upper echelon of the middle school rankings, filling 21 of the top 25 slots. The exceptions include three entries from Niagara County -- No. 7 Stella Niagara and No. 8 St. Peter School, both located in the Lewiston-Porter district, and No. 23 St. John Lutheran School in the Niagara-Wheatfield district.

Other Western Niagara County rankings include: 28. Holy Ghost Lutheran School (Niagara-Wheatfield); 50. Lewiston-Porter Middle School; 65. St. Dominic Savio Middle School (Niagara Falls); 66. Starpoint Middle School; 71. Edward Town Middle School (Niagara-Wheatfield); 76. St. Peter's Lutheran School (Niagara-Wheatfield).