Pomperaug High School's Class of 2006 verbal and math scores on the SAT are down significantly from the 2005 scores, but school officials warned against reading too much into the drop.

"We're only dealing with 281 people," Ken Varotta, Pomperaug's director of guidance, said Tuesday. "You don't have to have many in the class who are weak to drop the average. We're not panicking here."

Pomperaug's verbal score, renamed "critical reasoning," went from an average of 544 in 2005 to 522 in 2006, while the math score went from an average of 548 in 2005 to 528 in 2006. A perfect score is 800 in each category.

Varotta said the drop in scores didn't come as a complete surprise because the 2006 class had lower testing scores in the admission process than both the previous and current classes.

The 2006 SAT, unlike previous tests, included a third section on writing. The new version of the test drove scores lower across the nation. Average reading and math scores fell a total of seven points - the sharpest decline in 31 years.

Varotta said the expanded test might explain the lower scores, as students became fatigued or ran out of time.

"We don't have an immediate answer," said Varotta.

"It might be something as simple as a unique aspect of this class."

Despite the lower test scores, the 2006 class did well in college admissions, with seven of the top 10 graduates attending Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Cornell and Columbia universities, according to Varotta.

Over the past five years, Varotta said Pomperaug's scores on the SAT have gone up or down less than 10 points from year to year, with the exception of the 2006 class.

He said the 2007 class appears to be returning to that norm. "We already know the class of 2007 has done better (than the class of 2006) on the PSATs as juniors," said Varotta. "They went back up to where we normally would expect them to be."

In the Watertown district, average scores were nearly the same as last year. Some 154 students were tested, or an estimated 70 percent of the graduates at Watertown High School. The total score for critical reasoning, mathematics and writing was an average 1523, according to the published results. The average mean score for math in 2006 of 494 was a decrease of two points from the 496 mean score in 2005. In reading, however, the mean score went up one point, from 514 to 515.

The school had 15.6 percent scoring an average 600 or better in math, compared to 15.5 percent in 2005. In reading, the percentage averaging 600 or better dipped from 23 percent in 2005 to 22.7 percent in 2006.

School Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi Jr. and Assistant Superintendent Philip Pelosi could not be reached for comment.

In Region 14, 170 students, or about 82 percent of the graduating class, took the SAT. About 80 percent of the previous year's graduating class took the test. The total score for critical reasoning, math and writing was an average of 1552.

The mean score for critical reasoning was 520, or 18 points lower than the previous year's 538. The mean math score was 518, up from the previous year's 514.

John D. Vecchitto, principal of Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury, had not looked at the scores as of Tuesday because he has been preparing for the new school year, which begins today.

However, he downplayed the significance of comparing this year's scores to last year's, which were much higher than in 2004.

"We encourage everybody to take SATs. It's really their right to do them," he said.

"We know that we're going to have kids who do great. We know there are going to be kids who struggle with high stakes testing."