The Sweet Home Central School District has set the tax levy for the coming school year at $34,306,103.

The tax rate is $13.26 per $1,000 of assessed value for a residential property in Amherst and $27.26 per $1,000 of assessed value for a residential property in Tonawanda. Taxes on a home assessed at $100,000 with STAR exemptions will rise from an $810 bill to $928 in Amherst and from a $784 bill to $925 in Tonawanda.

The rise is attributed in part to a decline in assessments and to a high number of successful challenges to assessments of commercial property in both communities.

At the Aug. 24 meeting, the Sweet Home School Board also heard a presentation on standardized test scores from the principals of the elementary schools. New York State has recently toughened the standards for the English Language Arts and math exams that all pupils in grades three through eight take.

Because of that change, there has been a sharp drop in the number of students considered proficient. The principals estimate that 350 children in the district who were once considered proficient no longer are under the new standard.

“The proficiency rate has gone down, and it has gone down across the state,” said Scott Wolf, Heritage Heights Elementary School principal. Wolf emphasized that had the students been judged by the old standards, proficiency would have increased slightly this year.

“There was progress made under the old standard. We need to look at the new standard and grow from there,” he said, adding that it would probably take the district approximately three years to return to 80 percent proficiency.

The standards were adjusted in part to address the high college dropout rate. Only half of the students who enter college will graduate, the state estimates.

“There are more kids going to college than ever, but they’re not staying there,” Wolf said.

The next board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, in the district offices, 1901 Sweet Home Road, Amherst. Because of the primary election, the meeting will be moved from its normal room to the Academic Resource Area nearby.