Schools officials in Monticello say it's an uncomfortable topic that's too important to ignore. Our Lori Chung has more on what's being done to close the achievement gap between white and minority students.

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MONTICELLO, N.Y. -- "We have to talk about the community. We have to talk about families. We're going to have to talk about a lot of layers," said Monticello School Superintendent Dr. Patrick Michel, addressing the teachers of Monticello High School.

School officials say it's been the elephant in the room for too long, but the district is getting help from experts at New York University to figure out what's causing the achievement gap between white and minority students at Monticello High, and more importantly how to close it.

"Are there different sets of expectations? Are we viewing certain groups of kids behaving in particular ways differently than we do other groups? And, we have to be honest," said Dr. Edward Fergus, NYU Metropolitan Center for Urban Education.

An NYU study found that black males, Hispanic males and Hispanic females were less likely to graduate from Monticello High School. When looking at students failing one or more courses, Hispanic males ranked the highest at 28 percent, compared to a little over 12 percent of white females.

"Talking about race doesn't necessarily mean that we're talking about racism, but we're talking about how race is complicating some of these sets of issues," said Dr. Fergus.

The goal is to get every student to meet state benchmarks in reading and math, regardless of their racial or ethnic background. School officials say the process will call for teachers and faculty to get accustomed to tacking some sensitive issues.

"To have them examine their practices and their beliefs and help to translate that into some very transformative outcomes," said Rod Wilkins, NYU Project Associate.

"It doesn't really matter whether it's race or religion or socio-economic, we really need to look at how students learn and adapt," said principal Arleene Siegel.

The university will be collaborating with teachers throughout the upcoming year and beyond.

Dr. Michel said, "It's not going to happen overnight. This is a multi-year commitment. It's something that we feel is very important."