The state Department of Education added two more Yonkers schools Tuesday to the list of eight schools in need of improvement.

Officials say Gorton High School and the Robert Dodson Elementary School ended up on the education department's watch list because students failed to make progress on math or English language achievement tests over a two-year period.

However, Marla Hurban, of the Yonkers PTA, says the list does not paint the entire picture of the public school system.

"I'm not concerned how the district is doing," she says. "I think that we have areas and pockets of need that exist in all our schools."

According to district officials, students enrolled in some of the 10 Yonkers schools that have been added to the list are showing improvement, but the schools must continue to increase test scores for two years before they can be removed from the list.

In Mount Vernon, five schools are on the list, including Columbus Elementary School. In 2007, construction delayed the opening of the school, and some parents ended up keeping their children home.

Mount Vernon City School District Superintendent Welton Sawyer says a plan of action is already in the works to revamp all his schools that are in need of improvement.