Instructional, Resource and School Climate goal areas remain a focus for the district and Board of Education members were provided with an update on the growth and needs of the board goals, strategies and action steps by district administrators.
Director of Curriculum Dr. Angie Hards began the presentation by addressing the Instructional Goal. Goal measures include an increase in growth and achievement for Grades K-8 assessments, an increase in proficiency each year for high school state assessments and a graduation rate of 90 percent.
Dr. Hards was happy to report that 68 percent of students in grades K-8 made 50 percent growth for the 2023-24 school year. She also noted that while 59 percent of our high school students met or exceeded the SAT English Language Arts and nearly 25 percent met or exceeded the SAT math portions of the assessments, those scores were still higher than the statewide average.
"There was a statewide slide in scores on the SAT," she said. "Last year there was a major change in that test and it was given completely online for the first time."
Dr. Hards also gave status updates on Guaranteed Viable Curriculum (GVC) and Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). GVC is an idea introduced by educational researcher Robert Marzano.
"Basically, it means we know what we are going to teach and we are going to teach what we say we're going to teach," explained Dr. Hards.
One of the biggest steps taken in order to ensure a GVC was the revamping of the District's Advisory Curriculum Committee process. Known as ACC, the committee meets regularly to develop and monitor curriculum, from determining course outlines, selecting resources and evaluating assessments.
"We are making sure our teachers know how to teach what they are going to teach," Dr. Hards said, adding that this school year, the additional Early Release days will provide 12 hours for teachers to collaborate and receive embedded professional development.
Other ways the District is working to ensure GVC is through the use of Instructional Coaches in grades K-6, classroom learning labs where educators observe classroom instruction techniques and revamping the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process of how educators work together to analyze data.
MTSS is a framework that schools use to provide academic, behavioral, social and emotional support to students. MTSS aims to ensure that every student has access to the resources they need to succeed.
Dr. Hards said the District is very intentional in developing and maintaining an MTSS practice by having a quality Tier I intervention system in place for all students and robust Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention systems for grades K-6 that are individualized for the student's needs.
Director of Finance Services Mr. Josh Evans and Director of Human Resources and Operations Mrs. Christine Kuzinski reported on the Resources goal.
The Resource Goal is to uphold the highest standards of operational reliability, financial integrity and transparency while simultaneously striving to maximize the district's resources to their fullest to guarantee the fiscal stability and long-term sustainability of the district.
"We had our audit three months ago and we have a balanced budget and have always had a balanced budget," Mr. Evans said. "We are always forecasting - we don't have our blinders on. Everything we do we look at what does that mean for one year, two years and down the road."
For example, buses and Chromebooks are two items the District has to constantly be planning for and budgeting.
"We have 40 buses and it is expensive to keep them on the road," Mr. Evans said, adding that systems are also in place for bulk ordering of annual Chromebook replacements in order to receive the maximum cost savings.
Evans said the district also continues to proactively look at internal systems for ways to save money. For example, the district is realizing a substantial savings by hiring its own certified bus mechanic rather than sending buses out to be repaired.
Long-term planning is also crucial to the budgeting process and district officials have worked to recently finalize a 10-year facilities plan that will be shared soon with the community.
"We have been working on it for months and it includes things like boilers, HVAC systems, playgrounds and roofs," said Mrs. Kuzinski.
Mrs. Kuzinski added that security will remain a top priority under the Resources Goal.
"We have made a significant investment in security - by a 400 percent increase in district security spending over the past five years," she said.
Those costs include adding armed, retired law enforcement security personnel in every building, advanced surveillance measures and secure vestibules.
As staffing also falls under the Resource Goal, Mrs. Kuzinski reported that as of January 31, 2025, the District is 94 percent staffed. The goal is to be fully staffed. The largest vacancies are in support staff positions including paraprofessionals and playground monitors.
Mrs. Kuzinski said the district will utilize existing Human Resources software to increase recruitment tools, continue to maintain and develop partnerships with local universities and colleges to recruit future staff and explore staff wellness programs to foster a workplace culture that prioritizes employee health and wellness.
Executive Director Amy Chorley presented on the School Climate Goal, which is to increase student engagement and positive behavior as a result of staff receiving sustained and ongoing support in the areas of social emotional learning, student engagement and positive behavior training.
Mrs. Chorley said there was a slight decrease in district referrals counts from August to December 2024-25 compared to the same period in 2023-24.
There has also been a steady increase in the District's score from the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) survey, which evaluates student health and well-being in schools by measuring five tenants: Every student deserves to be safe, healthy, engaged, challenged and supported. Mrs. Chorley said while there have been gains in each area, the highest has been in engagement.
"That is a huge testament to our interventions and administrators and their teams," Mrs. Chorley said. "And to our teachers for the relationships they are building with students and the engagement taking place in their classrooms."
