Kirkwood School District Board of Education Meeting - March 30, 2026

001Right. I'd like to call this meeting to order and we'll start with the pledge of allegiance. Miss Andrews, could you lead us in it, please? Okay. And we have no public comments. All right. I need a motion to approve the agenda for the March 30th, 2026 business meeting as presented. >> Second one. All those in favor raise your right hand and say I. >> I. >> Motion passes. I need a motion to approve the consent agenda items 5.02 through 5.10 as presented. So charm second. All those in favor raise your right hand and say I. >> I now need a motion to approve the personnel report for March 30th, 2026 as presented. All those in favor raise your right hand and say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. All righty. I need a motion to

002approve the February 2026 financial statements as presented. >> So moved. He >> Mr. Cook. >> Oh, sorry. >> We're zipping along. >> I second. Okay, good evening. Uh, operating revenues in February just over 18.6 million. Uh, mostly comprised of our third influx for of local tax revenue. So, u local revenues uh 17.5 million in February, 87% of what we're expected uh to receive there. So, current tax revenue is the biggest chunk of that. Again, um we're we're at 94% of what we expect to receive in current taxes. That's a great spot to be in uh because we we are aware of some protested taxes that are out there that will likely be re uh dispersed in May. And so we feel strongly about where we are in our current taxes uh for the year. That

003segus well into lagging in collection of delinquent taxes as we went backwards this month from where we had been in the previous month. I being new just reached out to the county to ask uh for some guidance as to what was going on. So when folks pay their taxes, uh it's classified as as normal or received and then as those protests roll in, they get reclassified into a protested uh amount. And so we are lagging behind because a bunch of our normal taxes that had been paid got reclassified to protested taxes and so they're withheld from districts until uh the state tax commission finalizes those appeals. My understanding is typically we get those in in April or May and and so uh there's kind of a standing court case around that and and we would

004expect that to show up in in May. So, uh, concerning to me to see that amount behind where we would expect to be, but it it seems to be not an abnormal occurrence. I got our eighth Proposition C payment for FY26, $668,000. Um, almost a 30,000 increase from last month. Uh, Desi reports that revenue is still meeting expected appropriation. trending in the right direction with Prop Cy. Eminem SER tax again, we're at 83% of our expected $1.1 million there as we got $884,000 this month. Uh state revenues, we we received a little over a million dollars in February. Uh year to date, we're at almost half our budget for our state revenues uh at six million. So, uh, basic formula 387,859, uh, down from, uh, what we received in January, but a reminder, we got

005an a financial institution tax reduction payment, uh, in January that boosted that overall total. So, uh, SAT is still at 6,900 overall. Uh, we are at 1440 per students after uh, subtracting our local effort. classroom trust continues to be well below normal and don't see that correcting anytime soon. Um $145,000 versus $260,000 in January. So for every $10 million short uh in the amount per ADA, it's about a $13 reduction in SAT. So, we're uh very cautiously monitoring that overall number for not just for this year, but as we think about building a budget uh for next year and and and watching that SAT uh shortfall and and expecting or trying to anticipate how that might affect us in the current year. Uh transportation 78,000 in February, more consistent with what we've seen this year

006um after a little bit of an increase in the previous year. Uh we are now at 56% of our federal revenues as well. Uh so trending in a good direction there. February operating expenses just over 8 million. Uh year-to- date expenditures uh 54 million overall. We're at 57% of our budget last year. At this time we were at 60%. So we're trending in line with what expenditures were at this time last year as compared to this. We're we're uh 67% of the way through the year as of the end of February. So, uh, the self-funded insurance balance continues to to be strong, and that's an encouragement. Um, revenues were 1.1 million in February. Expenditures were a little under a million. So, we increased by another 111,000 in February. Our our fund balance in February closed

007at 1.486 million. Last year, we were at 451,000. So, it's an encouragement to me that that fund is performing so much better. Certainly, I'm sure that some of the claim insurance or claim increases have have helped there as well. Uh, brief legislative update for financial priorities. Um, so a bit of a story here. I'm going to keep it short though. FY25 to FY26. Uh, the state carried over $148 million in Prop C funding. Uh so from fiscal year 25 to 26, it's sitting in that school district trust fund for Prop C. At present, the appropriation, it appears that uh that $190 million that that equates to in the school district trust fund is going to sit there. It hasn't been appropriated yet. So uh the legislature has not developed a plan to appropriate that money

008to public ed. uh they've left that uh item flat as it moves from the House to the Senate. So to give us that money for next year, the Senate would need to increase the appropriation amount from 1.3 billion to 1.49 billion. So the House and Senate, it's too late for us to get that money this year. But if we were to think about ways to advocate for next year's funding, it would be to talk to Senate uh to the Senate about uh not leaving that money sitting in that account to appropriate it for next year so that school districts might be able to better offset some of the other shortfalls if that makes sense. So, um it's unusual to leave a balance in there, but we've missed the window for which they could have had

009a supplemental bill to release that. So, uh we would be advocating and and thinking about how we might encourage them to help offset that shortfall for next year. Why why would we leave that on the table? Uh SJR 1111 is a property tax bill that would eventually become a ballot measure if it makes it out of the legislature. Uh SJR 111 would place new construction and debt service under the Hancock amendment. And we've talked, I think, briefly among our board about the potential pitfalls, especially of debt service. I think there's a big worry uh among school finance folks about what that might do to our bond rating if uh we're issuing municipal bonds on a a levy that is not as predictable as it once was. If we're going to subject debt service to Hancock

010and roll it back, all of a sudden that number becomes uh less reliable and bond ratings could also become less reliable and the amount that we could generate uh in a no tax increase bond issue would also become less reliable. So, uh that that bears watching uh SJR 111. The last bill uh that that is really uh from a financial perspective rising to the top is Senate Bill 919. That's a new one that we haven't talked about before. Senate Bill 919 uh would replace Senate Bill three with a 2.5% cap on property value growth. So, uh rewinding back to the stadium conversation from the summer uh for the Kansas City sports teams, of which I'm a fan, but not a fan of Senate Bill 3. Uh I'll go on record saying that. Uh different counties

011and different jurisdictions had an opportunity to choose whether they would be limited or not. and at what level. Uh St. Louis County uh representation chose to exempt stat St. Louis County from that. This new bill would place a 2.5% cap on everyone regardless of what happened with Senate Bill 3 in the past. So, um this bill would bring everybody under that that cap. So, that that is one that's on the calendar for uh the Senate and could move to the floor for debate. So that's one to keep an eye on as well as that would be a limitation in future revenue growth from assess value. So I think that's all for me unless you have questions. >> Thank you Miss Pangborn. Do you have questions? >> Not questions. Thank you Mr. Cook. uh just little

012concerning about some of the House and Senate bills for public education and I really appreciate you laying out the facts on these and giving us more to be able to talk to and advocate for and I really appreciate your comment that maybe we start now instead of waiting till next year because uh those are really concerning those two bills that you highlighted. So thank you. >> It seems as we plug one hole another hole opens up. So, I I appreciate that. Thank you, >> Andrew. >> Yeah. Um, remind me, and I should know this. Um, for some reason, it's not Hancock amendment limits at what what percentage? >> So, the highest rate of growth you can get is CPI or 5%. >> 5%. >> Yeah. So, 5% is the best case scenario under Hancock. >>

013Okay. Okay. So that that would really the 2.5 then would >> it >> would be a significant >> um >> Okay. >> It could potentially cut that amount in half. >> Yeah. think it certainly bears watching >> uh no questions. Just thank you again for keeping us updated on the legislature. Thank >> you. >> Um I appreciate you sharing the trends, both those that are compared to last year as well as where we're looking throughout the remainder of this year. both on the expenditures and on the revenue. Um I'm wondering if you can in the future uh reflect that in some of the documentation that you share so that others, you know, it's beneficial to get the kind of the verbal commentary around where we are. Um because it helps us really hone in on

014uh where we should be paying attention, where we are potentially behind, helps us look down the path a little bit further so that we're always on top of it. Know that you're doing that um and trust that you're doing that. But I think for the benefit of the public and others um it could be helpful to track that. Um so I'm you know even a red yellow green or this is behind or this is the you know where we expect to be on track or not on track or whatever it could be helpful effect. >> Good good advice. Good advice. Thank you. >> Thank you >> Mr. Kathy. >> Thank you Mr. Cook for all this information and I will echo really appreciate the legislative concerns, updates, all of that. Um, we know what we

015have to do. So, now we can vote. All those in favor of approving the February 2026 financial statements as presented, raise your right hand and say, "I." >> Those opposed. Motion passes. Now, I need a motion to approve the one-year salary package for support staff with a combined increase of 4.80% as presented. So moved. Hernan. >> Thank you, board. I am here and it is my pleasure to present or recommend a one-year salary package uh for support staff with a combined increase of 4.8%. 8% that takes into account salary and benefits. Um salary alone the average increase is 3.3%. So I want to make sure those two numbers made sense to everyone. This uh document uh shares out some specific information in a lot of different categories. So I figure we can be efficient with

016our time. It is a step for everyone that is eligible and it includes an increase to the base. So I would open the floor to any questions uh that I can answer and I will thank my partner in this work Scott Cook in advance depending on the rigor of those questions. >> Miss Neman, >> I have none. Thank you. >> Mr. Kathy, Miss Upper, >> Dr. Shern, Miss Andrews, Miss Pangorn. You guys did a great job. >> All those in favor, raise your right hand and say, "I." >> Those opposed. >> One abstension. Motion passes. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. And now we are having a report strategic plan winter benchmarking report. >> So our team moves over to the microphones. Um good evening board. Tonight, we are excited to share our winter

0172026 strategic plan data with you following the winter benchmarking that took place at the end of last semester. And I just wanted to take a moment before we walk through the numbers to offer some context for what you'll see grounding us both in what the data tells us and what it also calls us to do next as an organization. There is genuinely good news in this report. across nearly every grade level in both reading and math. Our overall student performance has improved since we launched this current strategic plan five years ago. More students are at or above benchmark and more students from historically underserved groups are reaching those benchmarks, too. In addition, our high school students continue to outperform state and national ACT averages by a significant margin. That is real progress, and it reflects

018the incredibly hard work of our students, our teachers, principles, and staff across the district. At the same time, we want to be very clear and very honest about what remains. The disparity in achievement, particularly for our students of color and our students receiving special education services, is still significant. When we look at our white overall student group, while there has been some improvement, the gap has not closed significantly and in some areas it has actually increased. While growth is occurring, it's not yet at the level needed to meet our district expectations or our goals. And we also acknowledge that it's not happening fast enough. You'll notice in for us that creates both urgency and opportunity in the work ahead. You'll notice that many of the next steps outlined in this report, whether it's strengthening PLC's,

019refining MTSS, investing in coaching, or deepening our instructional practices, are not entirely new. They're things that you have heard about before, and that's intentional. These ideas and these practices represent best practices in education. Best practices that if done with fidelity and high levels of support and accountability should result in all students experiencing growth. The work before us is not to chase the next flashy initiative that might fix this, but to ensure that what we're doing is implemented with clarity, consistency, and fidelity across every school and for every student in the Kirkwood School District. The data tells us that we need to look more deeply at how we're implementing the programs that we have and why they haven't yet produced the outcomes that our students deserve. So our next phase of this work is really about

020asking better questions. Why aren't the strategies producing the outcomes we expect for all students? Where is the implementation inconsistent across the district? And where do we need to adjust supports, expectations, or systems to make sure that we're meeting the needs of all of our students? And this is exactly the kind of work that positions us well as we move into our next strategic plan. We see this year as a bridge. It's an opportunity to learn from the current plan um what has gone well, what we could do better, confront the gaps with clarity, and build a stronger, more focused path as we move forward so that every student, regardless of their background or need, is experiencing success. That's the work ahead, and we are committed to doing it well. The gap is not just a

021data point. It represents real students in this district and real opportunities for us to do better. And we believe that naming it clearly, as we are tonight, is the first step in finally closing it. So with that, I'm going to turn things over to Dr. Bailey, Dr. Grana, and Miss Lockach, who will speak to the specific data points and next steps, and other members of the team might chime in as well as we work through this. Um, we'll go through the presentation, and then we'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have. >> Thank you, Dr. Rumpus. Uh, board, the data that we're presenting tonight is different than some of the data that we presented to you before. It's still the same data that's captured and that we've shown in different ways, but

022we've we've looked at it a little bit differently this year uh to try to provide some comparative options and some comparative opportunities for us um when looking at our student groups and looking at different benchmark assessments. This data is also focused on our academic outcomes. Um, and while we know that many things contribute to the academic outcomes for our students, including social emotional support, climate and culture data, staffing data, for this particular presentation, we're showing academic and behavioral outcomes, and we'll focus on grade level cohort data over time. Uh, additionally, we'll review data from student groups of black African-American students and students with IEPs on the same benchmark assessments and data points as for all students. Importantly, we'll focus on reading and math academic benchmark data along with data from the high school regarding uh

023graduation, ACT, and college and career prep preparation readiness. Our data for benchmark scores will show data from the length of our current strategic plan uh and changes that have occurred. A point of clarification and I shudder to even think about this time in our careers in 2021 and 2022. We were still offering Kirkwood at home options if you remember um because of that thing we won't talk about. So uh but during that time we didn't always get every student uh to be able to do benchmarking and in fact some of those students might have been doing it as Miss Lock described on a Zoom running circles around a living room because they were ready to just get out and be a part of the world. So um so that that may have impacted the numbers

024whenever we show you the presentations with the uh student groups and the number of students that were tested. Uh additionally the data that we're presenting tonight is over winter benchmarking period which occurred right before winter break. Uh or if it's not benchmark data we're showing you data that was up until the end of first semester. So things like graduation or ACT or all first semester data captured on here. Uh, finally, we want to make sure that the board and the public has an awareness of what being at benchmark means in the Kirkwood School District. In Kirkwood, we define benchmark as the 40th percentile. These are across national norms. When we use national norms, we're comparing all of our students at a grade level to students in that grade level all over the country. However, it's

025important to remember that this assessment again is a snapshot in time of how a child was performing at that moment on a certain day because students change over the course of a school year. The 40th percentile or what we call benchmark also changes over the course of the year and is a little bit of fluctuation to it. So, as we jump into the strategic plan uh review and looking at the data, again, these are priority goal areas and the guiding principles and I'll turn it over to Dr. Granite to start the literacy part of this presentation. >> Good evening to the board and our community. Um, across these data points, we see a consistent story. There is real progress and at the same time a clear need to accelerate growth and close gaps so every

026student experiences that success. So on these slides, you'll see that the data is organized by student cohorts, allowing us to follow the same group of students over time. For example, the blue line, and I'm going to try and use my spotlight here. So, the blue line um begins with our eighth grade students. This is the cohort. This is their most recent winter data. And then if you follow this back, it's seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth, and third grade data. This this group of data is the same group um of students, and you'll see the same um layout in the following slides. You're also going to see highlighted here um in light red the stairstep data as well. This is kindergarten data but not by cohort. So when you're looking at this data, you're looking at programming

027and what you can see here and I'll go back to that blue line as well. You've you can see growth within our kindergarten programming in 21 47% of our students were at or above benchmark in reading. And this is all students. And you can see the growth over the past five years within the strategic plan. We're at 81% now. It's a huge celebration. And I really have to call to attention our kindergarten teachers and the work that they have done. Um they've taken on on this work and they've really embraced it. Um the letters training within the science of reading um and really just meeting the needs of our students to prepare them to be strong readers um for the rest of their life. Again, we'll go back to this eighth grade data. This is

028cohorted data. So this is the same group of students and you can see over the past five years the growth is from 73% at or above benchmark to now the most recent data 79% at or above benchmark. You'll see the same same format of data throughout um the presentation. So what we see here um is encouraging and one thing that we are proud of is that uh more of our students are reading at or above benchmark than in previous years. Uh this tells us that our focus on literacy instruction is helping more students access grade level content and build that confidence as readers. At the same time we are seeing that progress has leveled off in some of these grade levels as well. Um especially in our most recent data. Our next slide, we're going

029to take a look at our students who are black African-American. Um, you're going to see this gray bar to the far right as well. This is an additional column um that is added. So, you're going to see black African-American students data here on the left and then the gray column represents all data. So, what you are going to see between that winter 26 and all winter 26 are the gaps that exist between our black African-Americ students. Um you're also going to see students with um receiving services um through special education as well. But you can see that gap here, 45% 79% and so on and so forth. So you're going to see the same format um as well in the following slides. We are encouraged that more students who are black African-American um are reaching

030benchmark level levels than in earlier years. Um this reflects that intentional effort to better support and respond to our student needs. However, these outcomes are still not where we want them to be and gaps remain when compared to overall student performance. So, you will see that all students in this winter data on the far right gray um bar and then again our black African-American student data. I'm going to pass things over um to Dr. >> This is awkward. Um, one of the things that I want to just me mention that's important to think about regarding the students receiving special education services is this is our most transient group. And that's not because they're moving in and out of the district. Uh, but it's because students don't always come into kindergarten with an IEP. They don't

031always stay having an IEP throughout. So, this group could be added to, subtracted to, whatever that might happen during the course of their time here. Um, many students come into the district or they move into the district and they may bring with them an IEP or some students, especially students that uh are in things like speech may graduate out of having an IEP. So, this data is not necessarily the exact same students throughout the cohort of their time, but there is some encouraging data that's in here. Um, just as an example, there are some highlights to look at. the couple grade levels. Fifth grade, if you look when they started, the first data point in spring 2021 was the kindergarten year, we had 35% of students with IEPs at or above benchmark. And the most

032recent uh benchmarking assessment, we were at 52%. Um, and then the fourth grade when they were in kindergarten, 36%, the most recent benchmark where they were at 58%. Even with the data, you could also see that there's a a number of um growth when it comes to the total number of students added to that group as well. However, even with this, with the exception of kindergarten, first grade, uh each cohort of grade levels has seen growth from their first data point on the far left to their most recent data point on the far right. Yet, there's still, again, as Dr. Grana mentioned, regarding um our previous student group, black African-American students, when it comes to students receiving special education services, there are still gaps again occurring between their performance at the benchmark level uh when

033compared to all students across our system. All right, good evening. Now, we're going to shift gears a little bit and we're going to look at the number of students making typical to aggressive growth. So, the charts still work the same way. It's just the numbers now that we're seeing in the cells are numbers or percentages of students making typical to aggressive growth. In FastBridge, the assessment we use for benchmarking, each student receives a growth score. This score is compared to other students who started at a similar performance level to determine a growth percentile. The growth percentile is based on how students all over the country have grown from one assessment window to another. FastBridge has named four different categories that they organize those growth percentiles into. Aggressive, typical, modest, and flat. Of course, at a

034minimum, we want all students to make typical growth. And for students who start off below benchmark, they need to make aggressive growth or about one and a half times the growth of their peers who are making typical growth in order to close that gap. Um I would sorry >> Sure. So students who start off below benchmark need to make aggressive growth which is often about one and a half roughly times that of students who are making typical growth because I'll do my little hand gesture. If you're making typical growth and you start in the average range, you're growing like this. If you start below average and you make typical growth, you're growing like this. And we're growing in a parallel universe. were never. So that aggressive growth is is what we need to be able

035to get that difference to close. Um I would also like to point out that students have to take the assessment in both fall and winter or fall and spring for us to be able to report that growth score. And so what you might have noticed is on the growth slides, the spring of 21 column drops off because we did not administer benchmark assessments in the fall of 2020. So we do not have growth for the 2021 school year. So for this reading slide of all students, I would like to highlight the work of our first grade and intervention teams across the district as they have grown the number of current first grade students making typical to aggressive growth from 162 students when they were kindergarteners to 260 students this school year. Um on this slide

036now looking at students who are black or African-American you can see that there are in six out of nine grade levels students who are black or African-American have a higher percentage of students making typical to aggressive growth than when we look at the all student column. And in all but one grade level, there are more students making typical to aggressive growth now than there were in the 2122 school year. Again, while a gap remains, the trajectory is encouraging. >> Miss Lock, I'm going to have you pause there. I just that's a great example, I think, of what we're focusing on here that the idea is not necessarily something new, but tightening and better understanding what's going on. So when we look at this and we see, you know, plus six plus 10 plus 7 plus

03715%, you know, when we look at that second grade group, clearly there's aggressive growth right now. So why isn't that resulting then in long-term gains that we're able to sustain? And so understanding in certain grade levels or in certain schools where there might be pockets of um a lot more aggressive growth than we might see in others, what's happening there that could potentially be replicated in other buildings across the district or when students do experience this growth, it may potentially be the group of teachers they're working with that year. How do we make we're able to build upon that and sustain it the following year. >> I'm not going to try to explain the percentile stuff that she just went over regarding the growth stuff, but it's the same measures for our students with IEPs.

038Um and you can see that when we um showing typical aggressive growth students as you can see the number of students at or above benchmark has increased or sorry making typical aggressive growth has increased for several grade cohorts over time and actually in six grade levels the percentage of students with IEPs making typical to aggressive growth is higher than that of our all students. So again that's that gap closing space that we have and trying to improve those areas. Um, I'd like to highlight fourth grade which improved from 29% to 55% and second grade which has improved from 42% to 69%. There are some grade levels that have shown a reduction in the percentage but may have still shown an increase in the overall number of students that are making typical to aggressive growth. For

039example, fifth grade decreased from 60% to 42% but did increase from 21 students to 33 students. And so looking at the the fluctuations of students that are coming in and out of this specific student group, uh you can see that those numbers change slightly, but in overall fashion, the percentages are are performing well in six the grade levels higher than our our all student student group. >> Now we're going to focus on math data. Um, in math, we continue to see strong overall performance with a high percentage of students meeting benchmark across grade levels. Outside of one grade level, 75% or more of our students are performing at or above benchmark. This consistency speaks to the strength of our math instruction and alignment across the system. At the same time, we've noticed a slight decline

040in some recent data. So, we must continue really refining that instruction to maintain and build on that success. I'm looking at our students who are black African-American. We do see areas of growth over time with more students reaching benchmark than in earlier years. Uh showing that our efforts are making a difference. However, this slide also highlights one of the most important areas of focus and that is the gap between our students who are black African-American and overall student performance still remains significant. And again, similar uh information when we circle back to our students with IEPs, with our math cohort data. I do want to make sure I I clarify for both the reading and the math cohort data that this is data that's presented for for any student with an IEP, not just a student

041who may have a math disability or a reading disability. Um so any student that has an IEP is captured in there if taking this benchmark assessment is appropriate for them. So we do have some students with significant disabilities who are in alternative curriculum um and take MAP A test. they may likely not take this particular benchmark assessment because the data is not going to be usable for us in any way and they have different assessments that they use that are individualized for their students and to show student growth through there. That's actually the MAP A assessment that they do over a longer period of time versus the MAP test that our students without IEPs do. Again, while there are uh points of celebration that we can look at here in terms of the number of

042students performing at or above benchmark and showing some increases across grade levels, there are still gaps uh between the students with IEPs and our overall student growth. Um but there are some celebrations again looking at first grade moving from 59% to 74% looking at second grade moving from 61% to 65%. There have been areas of improvement there. All right. And at this point, we once again shift to looking at the numbers of students making typical to aggressive growth. Again, there are um places where we see uneven growth, but overall for math, there are five out of nine grade levels where we see more students making typical to aggressive growth over the course of the strategic plan. Our current fifth graders, for example, have seen the number of students making typical to aggressive growth double since

043they were in first grade. Starting with just 112 students making typical to aggressive growth. In this past winter, they have grown to 232 students making typical to aggressive growth. And in the area of math for students who are black African-American, we once again can see that six out of nine grade levels, our students have the same or higher percentage of students making typical to aggressive growth than all students. Um, in particular, our current third graders have seen the number of students making typical to aggress aggressive growth also double since they were in kindergarten, growing from 11 students to currently 24 students making typical to aggressive growth. >> Again, with our students with IEPs, we see similar explanations regarding the data. Um, I'd like to highlight that in five of the grade levels, the percentage is

044higher for students with IEPs and for all students in terms of making typical to aggressive growth. Uh, but like the reading data, we've seen increases in the number of students even if the percentage shows a decrease over time. For example, sixth grade went from 75% down to 51%. However, did grow from 24 students to 33 students. I'd also like to highlight uh the grade level that Miss Lock mentioned, third grade, which went from 54% but 15 students almost tripled the number of students uh up to 42 and grew to 66%. So our students with IEPs in in five of these grade levels have a higher percentage of student growth uh making typical aggressive growth when compared to all students. It's not just an elementary or middle school celebration or review. We look at our high

045school as well and some of the measures that we look at regarding high school would be students being on track for graduation. So just as a reminder to be on track for graduation at the end of first semester, this is what that data is capturing. A ninth grader would need to have earned three credits. A 10th grader have earned nine credits. An 11th grader earned 15 credits and a 12th grader earned 21 credits on their path to 24 to graduate. You can see that our numbers are very strong. Um, in terms of this, nobody below 95% on track to graduation. I do want to highlight as well that there because I know the names of these kids that there are several students that are on the 12th grade level that while they may not have

046been on track for graduation when this data was captured through various alternative methods, including our Missouri option program, some of them have actually already graduated. Uh, I know one student that finished everything up before spring break and has already got his job uh lined up and is uh working very hard making lots of money actually doing construction and things. Um, and so there are students that have different pathways. In addition, there are students that have had an opportunity to uh do an early version of summer school when they come back from winter break. If they're just off from passing certain classes, they can make up a few tests or some assignments in order to pass a class. So these percentages typically will go up during our second semester time. Um and we should be floating

047closer to that 100% graduation goal. Another reminder for our board and for our public, however, is that the way that Desi figures our our graduation percentage, it's based on the number or sorry, the percent of students that finish in four years. What it does not take into account is we have some students with significant disabilities who need to continue on their education in a year five, six, seven and sometimes year eight depending on their age. For some reason, DESIE does not allow us to include them in our graduation rate calculation until they actually finish. Um, so it's not a dropout. If a number shows 98% for example, it's not because we had 2% dropout. It could be because 2% of our students are continuing on in career training or career education um through their IEP

048process. So just an always reminder that that we do have a terrific percentage when it comes to our graduation rate. This one's always our our good measure as well when it comes to ACT. Um you can see that this data going from 2022 all the way through 2025. just as a reminder because when you look at 2022, I had to go back and look the composite looks like it's a little higher than some of the other subcores and I recall that that was also when COVID was still occurring in the fall and the spring and the data collection wasn't perfect on the ACT part coming through, but you can see that our most recent data scores in terms of 2025. Our average ACT has been and continues to be above the state and national average.

049Um, our average scores for our male and female again above the state and national average for our white students. There is again similar to our benchmark data a gap when it comes to the scores. Um and one area that we want to continue to push for is to get scores up to an 18. 18 is typically a college uh college entrance number that you need to see. Um there are some colleges that have fluctuated whether or not how much weight they placed on an ACT versus other means. And now they're kind of circling back to place a little bit more weight on the ACT versus GPA or college credit that they've earned. Um, some of the things that we've already started working on with these students and and some of our other groups can include

050our ACT preparation class. Approximately 20% of the students that make up that class of students of color this past school year. Um, we have a new teacher that's in that role and she's been doing a fantastic job. So, we do have some targeted supports that are available. That's all right. >> In addition, we started a couple years ago giving uh a practice ACT that was a little bit different, more like the real ACT to our sophomores and basing some of our course selection and curricular decisions um and recommendations for students around that. We also, as another thing that kind of captured within these ACT scores, we're still Several years ago, state of Missouri mandated that all students in a high school were to take the ACT class. That lasted about two years and then the

051state relaxed that and most schools will continue to push students who they think are collegebound to take the ACT and potentially steer away kids who might not be collegebound in their opinion away from the ACT. At Kirkwood, we do not do that. We give the opportunity for every student to take the ACT. You never know who's going to get a good score um based on taking that test. So that is reflected in our scores. When comparing us to other districts, it might not be an applesto apples comparison. And I still think our scores are tremendous when compared to national and state averages, even though we give that to every student um that is taking that assessment. This data, we've added a few categories just for for explanation. Above the gray line, you'll see that we

052have 2025 data for office referrals for our two student groups and all our black African-American students, students receiving special ed services, and then all students. The 2025 number is the number of office referrals for that specific student group. The 2026 is the number as of the end of first semester, and then you can see the goal that we have. So, for example, there are 439 office referrals for black African-American students. Our goal is 708. below the gray line. That data is just talking about this current school year and capturing the two categories that we added with our adjustment to the discipline policy around tardies and cell phones. And what that would show is the number of referrals that were for a tardy or for a cell phone and the percentage of total referrals that are

053made up by that specific category. So, for example, for all students, there are uh tardies. That makes up 43% of the 1796 referrals overall. Um, so I captured both of those two areas. You can see that in terms of cell phone data, that's a new uh referral piece, 313, which I honestly think is not bad for the adjustments that had to have happen for the high school. Um, that could be one student 313 times. It could be 313 students one time. I can promise you that there's at least one or two kids that have had more than one referral uh for cell phones that are captured in there. However, um you know, less than 20% of our overall referrals are due to cell phone pieces. Um and you can see at the bottom, I think

054what's most important when you're looking at these two areas because in my opinion, uh tardies are things obviously that are happening in hallways. kids are late to school or late to class. And as a reminder, student is not receiving an office referral for a tardy until they hit tardy number 10. So this isn't that they're late once and they're suddenly getting sent to the office. This is after 10 tardies. A student's getting that first office referral. Um the cell phone, their office referrals typically are happening after the third plus warning. There's signage in every classroom. We went over all of this beautiful new law at the beginning of the school year. Um, I will say this, the kids have adjusted very well. I, uh, am so used, probably as a former high school principal, so

055used to seeing kids just on phones at lunchtime. The other day when I was at the high school walking, uh, to the gym during lunchtime, I saw several kids with things between their laps or looking down or read, you know, doing something and I'm like, well, they're on their phones. They're on their phones. They're on their phones. Out of 20 kids, 20 of them were not on their phones. They were either holding a book, holding a sandwich, just leaning down, talking to their friend. And my brain is just so biased and trained to think cell phone that uh I thought a kid's Subway sandwich was cell phone when in fact they were actually doing the right thing when nobody was looking and they weren't on their phones during that time. So uh the kids have

056done well and adjusted and and we will you can see kind of a downward trend as the school year has gone regarding that. But what I think is important to show is that there is a large large large percentage of our office referrals that result in discipline that are either things that happen in the hallway where teachers are not necessarily engaging with the students in terms of classroom behavior or a cell phone issue where it's a lot of habit breaking and a lot of challenges that are coming there. So, a lot of the training that we're providing teachers for how to manage classrooms and how to manage behaviors within their classrooms, less than 40% of our discipline could be attributed to classroom sorts of things for all students. And that gets even lower when we're

057looking at our black African-American students. 24%. Um 76% of the discipline there is either a cell phone or tardy. So, those are some areas certainly that that help us drill down. And I'm very thankful that the board allowed us to add those two categories to our discipline. Not because we want to see an increase in discipline, but because we want to be able to continue to drill down and categorize things so that we can attack the behaviors correctly um and work on supporting students in the area of need. Couple celebration areas as well. The high school presented this in December. We've seen a tremendous increase in the participation of underrep traditionally underrepresented demographic groups in uh various programs. So, just as a reminder, tech is our South County Tech program uh that students can go

058and get career technical education, but there's also high level um computer, premedical uh certifications, nursing, automotive, lots of different programs, cosmetology. Uh students can go there. CAPS is our STL CAPS program. It's our center for advanced professional studies. Those students are taking part in mentorships, apprenticeships in areas such as business, engineering, design, marketing. Um, I was able to meet with the group of students and one stood out to me just because she wants to be a real estate agent or a realtor. I don't know the difference, so I'm just going to say them both. And she's very excited about it. She's already passed her lensure exam. Um, and she has committed to making her first sale before she graduates. And so she's been shadowing and being mentored by realators all throughout her senior year. Um

059and and so it really stood out because she knew exactly what she wanted to do. There weren't courses like that offered at the high school. So she was able to take part in this program where she goes off site for half the day and she is thrilled and she loves it. Um and she's already working on making sales uh for houses and it's a tough market to do that in right now. So uh early college, just as a reminder, we have approximately 30 students who go to St. Community College for their junior and senior year of high school while they also get college credit. And many of them are on the deans list and many of them will graduate with both an associates degree and a high school diploma. Dual enrollment is when they are

060off-campus taking a college class. Dual credit is when they're on campus taking a college class. Uh and you guys have seen our AP and honors class numbers. So you can see this is almost doubled in terms of that. attribute that to the high school has implemented something called a stop day which is where the students instead of getting instruction during the day. The teachers are all essentially pitching courses and pitching classes and working with pathways and talking to students about what's next. Our counselors have discussions with them. Our college and career counselors have discussions with students, our teachers do um and obviously peers have those discussions as well. but also a lot of this comes from increasing opportunities and offerings to students and being able to provide them some real world learning uh pathways. So,

061as a summary of this and again this is by no means you know a 100% celebration there are certainly areas for improvement and areas of work and areas that we need to target. uh I think everybody has shared that but overall student performance in reading and math has improved across mo most grade levels since the start of the current strategic plan. This is true for all students and the specific identified student groups. You can also see that in terms of some measures at the high school ACT average has gone up for all students. The participation in some of those advanced uh programs has gone up for all students uh as well. the number of students who identify as black African-American and students receiving special ed services performing at or above benchmark has increased for for

062grade levels. However, and Dr. Rump has highlighted this as well, and I know Dr. Granite will circle back to this as well, there are opportunity gaps for students who are black, African-American, and students receiving special ed services. And those gaps remain significant. And while growth rates have improved, they are not high enough or aggressive enough to have met our strategic plan goals for those specific student groups. So across our district, more students are reading at or above benchmark than just a few years ago. And in grades four, five, and six, we've seen a growth of 20 to 30 percentage points over the past five years. More students are accessing grade level texts. They're building confidence as readers, and they are more prepared for the next level of learning. In math, we continue to see consistently

063strong performance across grade levels with the majority of our students meeting benchmarks year after year. Outside of one grade level, 75% or more of our students are performing at or above benchmark. At the high school level, an average of 97% of our students are on track to graduate. And more students um especially those from specific student groups are participating in advanced coursework and college level experiences than before. At the same time, we must be equally clear. Not all students are experiencing this this success at the same level. And while overall performance has improved, opportunity gaps remain, particularly for our students who are black, African-American, and students who receive special education services. Growth is happening, but not quickly enough for all students. And some students are making progress, but not at the rate needed to close

064gaps. Moving forward, our focus is clear and grounded in student needs. We will cons continue to strengthen our core instruction for every student. This is year three of our professional learning communities which are grounded in the four core questions to guide instruction, review data, and respond to student needs. District PLC rubrics are going to uh a district PLC rubric is going to be in place for next year. We're continuing with our work around clarity for learning and the handbook for highly effective teams um and a PLC at work as well. Our instructional coaching and that job embedded coaching coaching is still in place for literacy and math work through the link and amplify desmos to continue to strengthen that classroom instruction and practice. And then we have ongoing training in the science of reading as

065well. And that includes that funological aware uh funological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, compreh comprehension um and fluency through letters and also that aspire training as well. Our K2 teachers are required to be trained in letters to meet the needs of our youngest readers. Um the goal is to have the highest quality of instruction in every classroom every day. We are also taking a deeper, more intentional look at our MTSS systems, our intervention structures, and our progress monitoring practices. This is about ensuring that our systems are not just in place, but that they are working effectively for every student. At the same time, the state is also requiring the adoption of a new reading assessment for kindergarten through third grade, and this begins next year. We see this not as a challenge, but really as an opportunity.

066An opportunity to better align our systems, to sharpen our use of data, and to strengthen how we drive instruction in those critical early years. All of this work is grounded in a clear purpose. It's it's so that our students who need additional support are identified earlier, provided targeted, responsive instruction, and ultimately experience faster, more aggressive growth. the kind of growth necessary to really truly close gaps. We also remain committed to expanding opportunities for our students. We will continue to grow advanced coursework, dual enrollment, early college experiences, and also those real world learning opportunities. We want to ensure that students have access to rigorous and meaningful learning that prepares them for life after graduation from Kirkwood High School. This is also about supporting and caring for the whole child. Equally important is how we do this

067beyond academics. Through restorative practices, strong relationships, and positive school environments, we are committed to ensuring that every student feels safe, connected, and engaged. Two key aspects of the restorative practices work are building relationships proactively, so creating those spaces where students feel known, heard, and valued before challenges arise. and also repairing harm in meaningful ways, helping students to reflect, take responsibility, and restore relationships rather than simply applying consequences. This approach not only improves behavior, but it it strengthens our community, and it keeps students connected to their learning. Students learn best when they feel like they belong. We're looking at consistency and systems and really this collective responsibility and collective efficacy as well. So as we continue this work, we must also acknowledge an important reality. Teacher autonomy is important and it is valued. And it can

068also create variability. And when variability exists across classrooms, it creates systems that take longer to fully understand, to identify what is working, what is not, and how to respond quickly and effectively. Our focus moving forward is finding the right balance here, right? Ensuring consistency and what matters most for students while honoring the professionalism and expertise of our educators. This really is a call to action. We want every student, regardless of background, need, or starting point to experience success and to have opportunities. We have made meaningful progress over the past five years and we have strong systems in place and we now must deepen, we must refine and we must accelerate this work together. This will take collaboration across teams, alignment across systems and a shared commitment to every student every day. Because ultimately this is

069not just data. It's about students, their experiences, their opportunities, their future. Our work is not finished and we know our students and our community are counting on us to do more. So we will open it up for questions. Thank you very much for the openness, for the vulnerability, for the honesty. I think as a whole board we've been hungering for this for a number of years. Miss Pangborn. Perfect. Uh, I echo that. I do have a couple comments, questions in no order here. Um, I think I say this every year about the FastBridge data, so this is the last time I get to share my thoughts. Um, what we test the kids on doesn't always align with what they're learning. So, from the fall to the winter, it looks like kids are regressing um, and

070how that data comes back. And then the teachers get nervous because they don't understand that what they're being tested on doesn't align with what they've been teaching in the classroom. And I feel like every year I have I hear this conversation from teachers. Every year I feel I bring this up and I just want to keep reiterating this because our data looks like we're regressing but the kids haven't learned what they're being asked about. So it's my last time say it. Um it's also frustrating as a parent, right, when you get that data and it's not explained and some teachers, especially the newer ones, can't explain that either and they get overwhelmed. So anyways, um, okay. Uh, my my next question regarding the math and the reading scores. And again, how you laid it out

071this year in comparison to past years was so fantastic and helpful, but it was really surprising when we saw the special education students next to the black and African-American students, the difference in those scores compared to all students. So what maybe this is a question for the future Dr. So, I apologize. I'll just throw it out there. But like what are we going to do to dive into these huge differentials between these charts and that is the work, you know, ultimately that will be tied into the next strategic plan. Um, which when we think about setting those goals over the next two months and that's where we're at in that process now is looking at what would be the big outcomes we'd want to see in five years. Um and then maybe a little bit

072different from the current plan having yearly action plans that would be able to share to the board of education to our community to our parents that you know these are the steps that we are taking immediately. It might be that some of the strategies would take three years or four years or five years to actually implement and get to a point of having the outcome data but we should then be able to say to the board by the end of the first year these are the steps that will be taking have taken place and then be able to provide evidence that that has happened. Um, again, you know, I I don't want to minimize the importance of the PLC work and the idea of doing this MTSS evaluation. Um, that structure has been an example

073in the state of Missouri that Kirkwood has had for well over a decade at this point. Uh, but it's not giving us the outcomes that we're expecting. So, really understand the nuance of where is that breaking down? Is it um you know at the end of the day if a student has been in receiving interventions over four or five years of elementary school and they continue to perform at the same level we should be able to say what's not working ultimately. Is it the resource? Is it the curriculum? Is it potentially the teacher? Is it the schedule in place for the amount of time the students receiving that resource? Is it, you know, a double dip? All of those pieces. And so before we say, "Well, MTSS doesn't work. Let's get a new program." We

074need to do a deep dive and a root cause analysis to figure out what's working and what's not. And while I think those conversations are happening at a high level for administrators and at the central office level and yes in some PLC's um back to the language that Dr. going to use. We're really looking for alignment across the system, you know. So, every grade level team should be looking at the data in the same way. Teachers should be looking at the same way, monitoring for growth, not waiting for this presentation once a year or the end of the year summitive data to say that it's not working, but to have checks along the way to identify where we could potentially make some mid-year shifts uh to continue moving forward. >> Yeah, it's again, I think

075that's all great. And I just I look at this compared to the graph, the table before this, Dr. Bailey, it just is really surprising when you look at that winter 26 data, right? Um we're it just seems that we are doing more for our special education students and not our black and African-American. And I know that that's been a struggle in the conversation, but I look forward to seeing what you unear in the next in the next round of the strategic plan. >> Um Oh. At a point I would say to look at there though is um the IEP student includes many of our black and African-American students too. And so then we get into questions of over identification and are we saying is a special need versus a general core instructional piece. So that

076would be part of it as well. >> Absolutely. It's just there's a stark difference. >> Um my next question Dr. Billy is uh for the juniors being at 95% for graduation is that normal at this point in the year? That felt low to me. it is uh if you think that some of those might only be a half credit off and and they're pretty close and and they'll have plenty of opportunity to catch up and so that 95 is not not too bad whenever it comes to the particular group of students um because they'll still have summer school, they'll still have extension opportunities through launch and they'll still have a way to make up credits if they need to. So, no, it's not alarming in our Yeah. >> Okay. I just felt like it seemed

077low. >> No. Yeah, it's great. >> Okay. Um my next question, I only have two more after this. Uh so the actually this isn't a question you mentioned this but the ACT tests that we know we had you know required required all students to take um I think that was a big change and I I applaud us for continuing to do this because and I heard from many parents this year as I worked the the up at the high school that day. It removed so many barriers for parents who couldn't pay for it, couldn't you know get the the classes because now we offer the class like I hope that we continue doing this even if our test scores don't always show it. We are providing an opportunity for so many more students that wouldn't

078consider this. So I just want to >> I agree and and you never want a student to underestimate their ability. They may they may surprise themselves and get a 25 26 on that on that test and suddenly college opportunities open up for them. So it's yeah I agree that it's about opening doors. >> Yeah absolutely. Um, and then regarding the tardies, is there an opportunity to drill into the tardies more to understand if there are other barriers or issues that are at play? And I'll give my example um from last year like my my son had a class in the art room which is on the southwest side of camp southeast side of campus and his next class was in the Spanish class upstairs on the >> literally the opposite >> literally opposite corners and

079it takes longer without students in the way to walk between those two classes, then they get between bells. Now you add students in there. I mean, even if he would run, he's like, I can't make it. So, is that like are we understanding those type of situations in some of these tardies? I think it's an opportunity for us to take a look at because I bring that example up all the time that if you're if you're going from an art class to a science class for example and you're going down the world's longest hallway right there by the commons and and it's empty it takes me with my long legs a certain amount of time. So in looking at that and then starting to also see are we following some kids just to figure out

080why they're tardy. Are they are is it because they're stopping at their locker? Is it because they're stopping to talk? Is it because there's a line at the restroom? I think there's an opportunity for us to keep drilling down. It's one reason why we do give a little leeway when it comes to the tardy piece of getting 10 through that. Um we've also looked at some other systems when we have check-in checkout um through some scanner systems to remove some ambiguity in that. So, it's it's an area that I think we're going to work with the high school on specifically uh to start drilling into. One interesting thing that when we had a meeting last school year and the middle school principles kind of had an aha moment uh because they were basically like we

081aren't really given tardies and so from kindergarten through 8th grade, a kid could be late and they're never trained that you're going to get a consequence potentially for not being on time to class. And so, should they start having some of those discussions with kids? not to certainly throw out new consequences, but when you go to high school, you're not going to be in the same hallway with all your eighth grade teachers along, you know, the teaming structures and and everything. So, I think that's a very long answer to say that yes, there are opportunities for us to drill down into that a little bit more uh and see if there are scheduling things we could work on, if there are location things. Um, and again, relationships, just encouraging kids to get to class. >>

082Awesome. Maria and then my last question, Dr. G, you mentioned that the state requiring a new assessment for reading data, but our numbers have shown that we've made progress in improving in reading. So, will those assessments support that progress or hinder us or you know, can you just speak briefly to that? >> Yeah, so Desi is requiring that um we adopt I Ready STAR um or dipples. Is there one more miss lock amira as well? Um the state is requiring that for the consistency across um measuring student performance. Um to say that there's going to be an applesto apples correlation between brbridge and the adoption of a new assessment I think would is probably would not be accurate. I wouldn't wouldn't go out and say that. I think we're going to have to um give

083the assessment and really dive deep into the data um and really look at the trends and see what's happening. We are speaking to districts um all around the St. Louis region and across the state that are have and have already adopted some of the resources, but there is still the national normed data looking at the typical to aggressive growth pieces um growth norms. All of those psychometric pieces are still in place. And Miss Lock, please correct me here if I'm if I'm not speaking if I'm speaking out of turn, but all of those will still be in place. Um, but saying that that is going to be a direct match from FastBridge to the new assess assessment is is probably not accurate. >> That's uh unfortunate just seeing that we've made progress. Uh so that'll

084be interesting. Good luck. >> Yeah, we feel we feel the same way. Thank you for the luck. We're going to need it, >> Miss Andrews. Yeah. Um, this feels incredibly emotional for some reason for me. Um, because it is um, having served on the board, it is amazing to see um, just the growth um, in in what we're what we're doing. So, I just want to thank you for being real, vulnerable, open, and honest. you know, as you um your phrase and your wording about the alignment, I I just wanted I I want you to I can't wait to go back and rewatch that um because you encapsulated exactly what needs to be happening um and ensuring that we have alignment because that's going to impact students. Thank you for presenting the data in this

085way. I thank you for this because it paints a really clear picture. Um, in order to impact the data, you have to have you have to look at the data in a way that provides you with a true picture of what is going on in order to impact change. And and I think that we're doing that this year. Um, you know, I, as you were presenting, I was going through all the things that we've put in place. You know, I think about the just the overall comprehensive reading plan, the training, the letters, train, you know, um, and the data shows that that is in, you know, it's making impacts. Um, with that being said, as you said, um, I want to go back and talk, you know, like both Dr. Rumpus and all of you

086said that these numbers are students, right? So, obviously, like you said, we have work to do, but I have faith. I have faith in our teachers, our staff, and you all as administrators that that we can really do this, that we can meet the needs of all of our kids so that they can achieve to high levels, every one of our kids. And I believe that we can do this. Um, I just encourage you to um continue to have these conversations and keep this at the forefront um of our work. um we have to be intentional um to impact change and I I know that we can do this. I think that um I'm I'm excited to see what we're going to do. Um I do have a few questions. Um you I think um

087Mrs. Lock you mentioned like to be a grade level you the 40 percentile I think I'm saying that right. Um, but then I think you might have mentioned that there's like a change in what it can you can you expand on that? >> Yeah. And it is a little tricky. >> There isn't really a definition of at grade level in the state of Missouri. So that's why we use app benchmark because we can say okay if you're meeting benchmark you're performing at the 48 percentile >> or above. >> That data is collected by taking all the kids that take FastBridge literally tens of thousands and figuring out what is the 40th percentile at the beginning of the year, at the middle of the year and at the end of the year. And so because kids

088grow over the course of the school year or a lot of kids do that 40th percentile number changes over the course of the school. >> Okay. Um and it can be different depending on the the group of students you have. Is that right? Am I understanding that right? So like in one grade level if a group of students it the water was really really good that year and they're really performing high. Um so that then impacts it. Correct. >> It could but because we use national norms and the norm sample is like I said literally tens of thousands of children it kind of helps >> balance it out >> adjust for those differences. >> Okay. So then to that to another point where you had said the growth percentile. So does the growth percentile change?

089>> Yes. Fastbridge reports a percentile from fall to winter and a percentile from fall to spring. So >> okay. >> Yes. Um and then just another question about um so this back to the state required assessment is the state going to require us to report on that data to them? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> The assessment tools actually taught to >> Okay. And so then like eventually are we moving to um where we will be held accountable for those score like how I don't know that we're comfortable speaking for desk here at the state department of education but all indicators of as they've moved toward a common assessment across all districts um even to the point that they're wanting to be able to access the data from some of these companies automatically and just have

090it to be able to use to report out. So, >> and in some ways there's already a level of accountability regarding a thing called a read reading success plan that the state tracks. And in fact, this is the first year because we were talking where they were calling districts saying, "Hey, this kid should have a reading success success plan and they don't have it." So, we do have to report that with our core data uploads, the number of students who have a reading success plan and the number of students who do not. And there should be a correlation, meaning if you ended last year with you should start the next year with one and they're tracking that. So that's somewhat a measure of accountability. Okay. Um that's tied into it, but as Dr. Ras mentioned,

091there's pending legislation that could change all that. >> Okay. And then um I I might have a few more questions. So, one of the things that I did notice is um in our students um that are African-American, you know, I I look at that data and one of the things that kind of struck me is that um every year we've added more students. Um our our population has grown There's a couple pieces of explanation to that. >> Yeah. Look, >> so so what's interesting about this is what we're reporting here is the number of test takers that particular year, not the number of students that are in the in the student group. And so a student may have been absent, student may not gotten not made the test up. Um a student may have qualified

092for an IEP and it was no longer appropriate for them to take the test. So there is there is some variability in there. However, when that question kind of popped up, I went back and I did some research. Interestingly, at the middle school level, we actually have added black African-American students over the last three years. That's that's the grade I could calculate before I knew which elementary they're coming from. Knifers added eight uh students over the last three years, and North has added six. And so there have been some increases, which is why you see especially 876 up there, those numbers uh look a little different. It's also a reminder that back in the spring of 21 and spring of 22, we still offered Kirkwood at home and many of our black African-American families took

093advantage of that and we didn't get all of them to take the test as well. So, some of that is because of the group and being able to capture the students taking the test, which is one reason why we show both the percentage and this and if you notice that for this particular chart as compared to the all students, we included the number of students out of a certain group versus just saying the number of students who are at benchmark. you know there's 14 out of 37 or 19 out of 45 to give a little more clarity for that but our hope we go back we hope we get 100% of the students taking that test but if we missed a kid or two there is some variability but yeah it does look a little

094misleading like wait a minute I know our percentage has gone down >> but if you do look at the lower elementary numbers you know you can certainly see that there is a stark difference when you look at just comparing second grade 22 students that are black African-American versus 8th grade 42 there's where some of those decreases, >> the over time the metriculation will occur. And and we still do have a couple students in this middle school level, a few students that are part of our um the Vic program. However, >> there's only maybe one or two elementary students. So, so what you see up here, I would just say these are all Kirkwood resident students for the most part. >> Okay. And then my last question, um a question that I probably ask every year.

095Um, and that it goes back to that um intervention and and when kids um are receiving intervention and you know per building is it at the same threshold and um that kind of thing. And so you don't need to provide an answer right now if you don't have one. Um, but what I would just like is um to to kind of make sure that I don't need to know the answer. I just need to make sure that that you all are looking at that. >> When Dr. Dr. Rumpus mentioned the review of the MTSS systems. That's one of the areas that we would take a look at and review is that are there differences between the number of students being serviced in one building versus another or students that are at or above benchmark. Like

096there's different ways of looking at it and case load number versus you know qualifying number things like that. So that's going to be a part of that review. So >> again I will just close with um you know obviously sometimes it's hard to see this when when Not all students are having the growth, but I think it's important that we are we have been honest with ourselves and we are willing to do the work and um I'm really excited and think that it's going to really impact a lot of kids in great ways and so thank you for your leadership. I want to echo what everybody's been saying um so far to start by saying just thank you for naming the significant um discrepancy in the performance among our black students and our students with

097IEPs. Um and I feel like acknowledging the gap matters right and to your um Dr. is what you said in the opening um about being able to like drill down and look at the data because we can't you can't measure what you don't track and so these are numbers on pages but they're students and bodies and and desk and so I'm just thank and yeah I'm just thankful that we're finally having this you know open conversation that I feel will move um it's going to move mountains and so as this is my last meeting as well. Um, I feel good about the direction that we're headed tonight. I'm trying not to cry because this was one of the um topics and reasons why I ran. Um, I'm good for the closing the opportunity gap. Um,

098it's been my why. It's the reason I ran in the first place. Um I don't think anybody can see as the only uh African-American on the board. Um this is truly and I know it's it's it's a passion for a lot of us, all of us, but it's really been dear to my heart and it was a struggle to um come to terms with stepping off the board, but I trust you. Um that's what we trust you. Um year year we've been presented with benchmark data showing little to no growth. Um we've asked questions, we've pushed for results and there have been some small strides not to take away anything. You guys know I've asked questions. Um I'm just hopeful and I think that under Dr. Rompus and your leadership um we have an opportunity

099to see real meaningful progress for our students. um we've talked about this work for a very long time and now it's just you know ensuring that our outcomes match our intentions um and so I just have a couple of questions um number one was like uh for the uh office referrals just curious as to why we have a goal for office referrals >> just been a part of the five-year strategic plan that we've had in terms of reducing the number of office referrals. Uh I think that the the intention of that was that the ultimate goal is to reduce suspension and suspension typically starts with an office referral. So if we can cut office referrals down, we're uh decreasing the amount of time students are outside of class. However, I will say that that um

100it it can create a situation where somebody now feels like, well, now I can't send this kid to the office if there's a a problem that's coming up. Um but Right. >> Yeah, it may be a challenging area. Instead, you know, we can look at in terms of suspension. We can look at terms of in school, out of school, those sorts of exclusionary discipline practices in future pieces. But again, the timing is perfect for looking at our strategic plan and pieces moving forward. Um, again though, I will say that having been now seven years, I can go back to seven years ago, the discipline numbers are certainly down from where they used to be. Uh, we've plateaued in many areas. Um, but it's one reason why we wanted to kind of drill down even further

101and look at the tardies and the cell phone pieces specifically because now those are specific behaviors you can start addressing. I mean, as you know, when talking some of those things, if if we see that there are 500 office referrals, we just think, god, there's so many kids that are acting out, teachers are struggling to to work with them, but then if of those 500, 400 are tardies, well, that gives us a different direction to think about and work on. So why there's a goal? We set that five years ago and we'll see if that continues. So >> hopefully not. Um and Dr. Bailey, as you mentioned, like not all students are going to college and I know that every student um is taking the ACT. Are there any other CCR assessments that students take?

102Yeah, we do have um some of the work keys we're looking at taking with it with for those that don't know, it's it's a version of the ACT that focuses on specific work skills. Uh we just took a group I was I was thrilled to take a group of teachers to Kansas City again to go to the real world learning conference and on the way there we talked a lot about the industry recognized credential opportunities that we could explore. um some of those things that would include like uh safe serve um kitchen preparation techniques or uh things that they could put on resumeumés and talking to other schools that do some of those uh industry recognized credentiing um around that. So, it's an area that again is perfect timing with our strategic plan work and

103with our um real world learning opportunities to tag those in um and expand those. And we've talked about being able to give the kid the right test, not just a test. Um, but we at at the moment we still want to offer the ACT to all students and then add something else to those that want to take it. So, we do have some kids that take the SAT, some students that'll take the work keys. Um, you may not know that students that are going to go to Marramax still also take the ACUPPLACER test as well, unless they get a good enough score on a specific subtest of the ACT. So, it's still opening doors for for those students, but we're looking to expand some of those industry credentiing opportunities. And then last question, you mentioned

104stop day. Can you um >> just tell us a little more about that? How many times a year? And then is it just one day? And is it only for high school students? >> Right now it's only for our high school students. What we do for our middle school students is that the high school counselors this year are trying to make those connections a lot earlier with the middle school to go and talk to them about courses and coursework. Um, but the stop day, imagine instead of going, you still go to your class, you still follow your schedule, but instead of, no offense to the English teacher, doing the essay that day or you know, or working on a government project, the teachers are talking about the course selections that are available for their department

105and the pathways that you would follow. So, here are the prerequisites, here's what you should take, here's what you could take, if you're interested in this, interested in this. In some ways, it's teachers recruiting for their courses. in other ways is making sure that every student has an opportunity to hear about every pathway. Um, and we do allow students to change classes if they are either they they push themselves and they took a class and they realize, gosh, this is too hard. I need to take a step back. Um, or we've had some that gone the o opposite direction based on teacher recommendations. So, we put that into place to make sure that every student, regardless of if they're reading the course guide online or not, has an opportunity uh to take a look at

106what course options are available. Even in the math hallway, you can see a big poster on the wall about math progressions. Dr. Herrell brought that with him and implemented that at the high school. And it's something that I think has added to our ability to advertise to students who may not know what courses are available or what they're interested in or may not know what prerequisites are required for certain courses to take. So, and then for some students, you know, the difference between taking an AP calc versus statistics, they may think they should take one, but realize after hearing that the other is better suited for their future goals. So, the stop day really is more focused on coursework, course guides, prerequisites, and it's not instruction for the day. >> So, is it once a

107quarter? I mean, once a semester. >> Uh, right now it's once a once a semester. Uh, but it is something that we're looking at some partnering with our middle school. uh the career college career software that we're using at the high school for the first time this year. We're going to expand down to the middle school. So, that'll give us some communication uh tools between the two buildings to have kind of uh four-year plan extensions down there as well. So, we're hoping to expand that down to middle school also because that really going from 8th grade to 9th grade is the first time besides math when you have a lot of selection, a lot of courses. And I remember being in even with my wellness committee when I had student representatives on there from the

108middle school just to ask how many of you are nervous about high school. Every one of them shot their hands up, what are you nervous about? I don't want to take the wrong classes. I don't want to take the wrong thing. Um I don't want to get lost. That came up as well. But taking the wrong classes was something that really stood out uh for them as well. So as many times as we can reinforce that, but then the benefit is we do provide some class change opportunities as well. >> Awesome. Just thank you again. um owning where we are, acknowledging the work ahead and for committing to making the best place to be for all students where all students can thrive regardless of what they look like, how they learn, where they come from.

109Thank you. Um, I obviously appreciate the whole team and I appreciate you teasing out, you know, some of the wins that we have in here. And I think we can all be honest that there's not the best story to be told here um, in terms of some of these target student groups that we were hoping to see growth in. And, um, I know we all kind of came here knowing that we were going to see that. And, um, Dr. Rumpus, I I heard you at the beginning with, you know, not necessarily wanting to jump into the, you know, newest, flashiest tactics, and I I know that there's been challenges to find some new tactics, and I've been one of those people. Um, I do want to quote Dr. Shern from this exact meeting, if not

110last year. Maybe it was two years ago, but the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Um, we have had this exact conversation every year and um, I know we're all committed to the cause and I know we all want the same things and I know we have amazing teachers and amazing programming and I get it. Um, but something has to happen differently and and I don't know if I'm hearing you correctly that, you know, maybe we're doing the right things but we need to look at them differently or apply them differently. Um, you know, I'm looking at this committing to next steps. Obviously, a lot of things on this slide are things that we do. Um, you know, I know we called out restorative practices,

111but as we've talked about in this meeting, that's not something that our teachers are consistently trained on. They're not required to do. So, if that's one of our strategies, like, are we going to commit to it or not? I know PLC's is something we're kind of overhauling. So, I appreciate it. If it's going to be focusing on these things that we're already doing and re, you know, reooking at them, retooling them, deep diving into them, I'd love to hear and see more of that in these meetings. I want to stay on top of it. I want to um because I do think some of what we go through every year is that it's this one meeting and we kind of go through this conversation. Um, and so if we can just like have these touch

112points and if we can feel like we're really looking at these pieces and this, you know, mission, um, of helping these groups of students through these different lenses and like knowing that we are actively proactively looking at ways that we can do it and changing something, even if it's something we're already doing, but finding a way to do it better. um or if it is a new tactic. I mean, I I'm maybe not a flashy tactic, but maybe a really cool, boring tactic. I don't know. Um so, you know, I I don't want to take away from, you know, how much we all appreciate you, and I I think you're all amazing at your jobs, and I know that you are all as committed to this mission as we are. I know it means as

113much to you as it does to us. But I also don't think I would be doing my job if I didn't at least call out that this is something that we can't sweep under the rug. We do have to commit to doing something differently. Um even if it's rehabbing what we do now. Um and I think I personally would like to just have a better pulse on it going forward. Um, but that said, thank you so much and um I do appreciate the other pieces that are doing well and I appreciate you calling that out because that's important as well. So, thank you. >> Yeah, thanks. And uh definitely I'm echoing uh what has been said before, but I think what I hear is the distinction on not just looking at what we're doing um

114if we need to change it, but really focusing on how we're doing these things differently. So making sure that we're following those best practices with consistency, with rigor, and with focus. Um so definitely, you know, want to double down on the idea that needing to the first step in changing is really acknowledging those challenges and disparities. So um I I was especially struck by the language of um that while our growth rates have improved, they're not high enough to meet our strategic plan goals. I think that's a really important recognition and that we then transition that into the new strategic plan and what does that mean for us? How do we do things differently um to get to where we need to be? Um, with that and maybe this is a lens on my looking

115at these some of these numbers is with a glass half empty rather than half full. But some of the numbers that I see um instead of we're at you know 80% to uh you know 65 to 85 80% of our students are at benchmark or above. Um I see it as 20 to 35% of our students are below benchmark for reading for example. So I really um am looking for us to set that expectation that we get all students there. um knowing that progress is valuable but we I think setting those goals for ourselves will really help us achieve and and drive us to where we need to be. So my question is do we have specific and I know uh Dr. Cern you mentioned the the goals for discipline um maybe those shouldn't be

116our goals but instead maybe our we should set goals for those benchmarks. What do those look like? Have we set those in the past and is that something we can do going forward to hold ourselves accountable? And I like um Miss Hubburn's suggestion of how do we look at different points along the way to see how we're tracking toward those goals. So a lot of words but question is have we set >> so what I think has been a challenge uh with the way that we've set some of the goals in the past is that our end of the year goal has always been based on the previous year goal and and more of a growth. So we hope to see a 10% increase or a 20% increase which is great if you're constantly showing

117growth every year. The challenge that we've had is that if you started at 70% and then you went down to 60%, now you're saying, "Well, we want to see a 10% growth, which means you want to get right back to where you just started." Rather than saying over the course of three years or five years, we want to end up here or by third grade or by fifth grade. So setting a few of those more nuanced targets, I think, will be something that we should explore in the new strategic plan. And looking at the data this way as across the scope of five years as opposed to looking individual segments of a year where we're resetting the goal and maybe we're saying, "Yep, we met our goal, but the goal was set lower than last

118year's goal." And that's not really growth. That's not really success. That that may be a a small snippet of growth during a specific school year, but looking at the longitudinal data has been beneficial for us. And in many ways, when we start looking at, you know, sorry, I'm going have to go back a lot of slides. I apologize. But the one with the color coding, you know, when you look at an eighth grade group and you say, "Okay, well, they start where they started is lower, where they ended is higher than where they started for the most part." Um, and for most of our grade levels, where they're at now is higher than where they started. And then what we were really excited about was when you look at that diagonal, our kindergarten data in

119particular, starting at 47 59% now at 81%. That's going to continue to trickle up in terms of having scores and students being better prepared. And you can almost see a line in there of when we really emphasized our phmic awareness, our phonics systems, our science of reading approach and the scores that we've seen. So to your point, yes, we have goals, but they've been changing every year as opposed to saying this is the goal that we're aiming for and what are the what are the annual steps we're taking to get there. >> Yeah, that's great. I'm glad to hear that we're thinking about those goals and that we recognize the opportunity is now for us to be more um nuanced or specific about what goals we're setting year-over-year. Um, and I presume that when we're

120looking longitudinally, we'll also be looking at individual um, kind of milestones along the way that we want to that we'll want to hit in order to get to those long term, including setting these really important foundations for kindergarten both in reading and math because as we know th those will only those are necessary in order to foster that long-term growth. Um, one other quick question that I want to make sure that I understood correctly. This is with regards to the ACTs. Hear that everybody uh all students um are offered a practice ACT and are kind of expected to take that. Did I also hear that all the students have access to the ACT classes, not just the practice test? >> We do have an ACT class. I will say that it fills up and so

121we look at, you know, do are we providing enough opportunities that are there? The report that the students get based on the practice test does give them specific areas that they can focus on as well and some things we look at, but it's just like any other there there are only so many seats available. Um but that is an opportunity that students could take at no cost that that they have available. >> Yeah. >> Right now I think we have 88 students this semester over four sections. So 20% of those students are students of color. >> Do we see a a higher demand than we're able to fill because I wonder if that's something worth evaluating for those students who are interested in taking those >> I don't know. I can find out. What I

122can tell you is that one challenge is that it's considered an elective class and it doesn't necessarily meet a specific graduation requirement beside elective. And so some students may prefer to take their English or their math or their science and not have room in their schedule or they're stacking up other advanced courses. But it's something I can follow up with the high school on how many requests are made for that course. >> Yeah. And I I wonder too um maybe this something we can talk about offline the extent to which we can offer those courses outside. So supplemental to the daily course work. Is that something we can offer? is where there's interest. You know, again, wanting to make sure that we're meeting students where they want to be and where they want to go.

123Um, that I think that's a critical element for those students who who are interested in being collegebound. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Cathy. You're muted, Ben. Mr. Cathy. We can't hear you, Ben. Most of the these phones this meeting. What are we doing? You want to go? We can go after you. He's calling on that. >> Hey, can you hear me? >> Yes. >> All right. Oh, >> can anyone hear me? >> Yes, Ben. >> Okay, I'm on my phone. All right, we'll go with this. So, you can't hear me? Thumbs up everybody. >> Yes. >> Okay, I'm gonna talk. So, sorry for the technical difficulties there. I've got a lot. So, Judy, do we need to extend this meeting? >> 30 minutes. >> So, moved in. I I keep getting muted. >> Voice vote.

124>> I I keep getting muted. Somebody's muting me. >> Okay. >> So, are we good on time? Yes. >> Yes. >> Cathy. >> Yes. >> You may now speak. >> Okay. So, I'll go ahead. So, Dr. Bailey, you you hit probably what I think is the most important point here in your comment that we've been setting our goals on an annual basis. So, I I've talked about this each year when we set our strategic goals. And I think if there's one thing that we take away and commit to this, and I know it will be a part of the upcoming strategic plan that we have to have at least midterm goals, if not a defined five-year goal. Um, and so I want to make the point that I think that's important and I'll break my

125comments into three segments, but one of them is to just come to a consensus in terms of where we're at. We're at where we're at. Everybody needs to take ownership of this. And all of us have signed off on the fact that we've been operating in a state for five years where we've been setting incremental one-year goals based on where we finished the prior year. So, I'll come back to that. But I do want to say thank you for for bringing this data. I echo what every board member has said. um so far and that it takes a lot of courage to put this data out there and and own it. Um to me, and I'm not an educator, but I believe this is probably the hardest problem to solve in education is closing these

126achievement gaps in whatever group that we're we're targeting. Um but I also believe in my opinion that the district itself is in could not be in a better position to tackle this um and in an aggressive way, in a way that's going to show the progress that we want based on where we're at with the leadership we have. the skill that we have in our leadership and our teachers, the resources that we have including financial. We talk about the strong position that we're in and then also coming up on the new strategic plan. So, I'm going to break my comments kind of into into three buckets. But the first one is making sure that we come to consensus on where we're at. And to me, that kind of gets broken into two pieces. And one

127is understanding where we're at from a baseline performance perspective. And we've talked about that and I think everybody has shared the comments that we're not where we want to be and where we might be seeing small points of progress, we're not seeing it at the rate that we're comfortable with. The second part is in terms of where we're at is do we have the pieces in place that we feel like we need? And so I'll go back to a question that that Miss Pangorn asked. Um there's a few areas here. So I'll start with is do we believe that FastBridge is the tool that we need to go forward to what we're trying to address. >> I think there is no um perfect assessment. I think fast brbridge is the kind of tool uh for

128this strategic plan type work because it is more of that big picture to dip. Are all kids growing? Are all kids making progress? Another very important piece of assessment that we also need is exactly what Miss Pangborn was talking about where teachers need assessments in their classroom that are tied to what they're teaching in the moment that tells them did students learn what I wanted them to learn and if they didn't then I need to readjust and do something different and that is extremely important as well. Both one is not better than another. I think that is the type of assessment that we have been missing for a long time and is something that we're exploring as part of our new assessment for K3 is to have tools that meet the needs of both classroom

129teachers and the district as a whole being able to show growth over time. >> And so we don't have those assessments in place right now. >> We're get I mean we're getting better. We have unit assessments for our ELA curriculum. Our some of the newer resources we've been adopting. Desmos has unit assessments built into them. Um, so we're growing in that area, but there's definitely room to improve. The other piece that I'm hearing, and I just want to make sure we're we're on the same page, is that PLC's and MTSS are going to be a major part of that and that those specific tactics, we're still growing into those. Would that be accurate? >> That's correct. Yeah, we are still we are in our third year really of implementing PLC's. So continuing to focus on

130that work and what that collaboration and collective teacher efficacy looks like. But I also think it goes back to the common formative and summitive assessment pieces that are tied directly to our grade level standards in addition to having that nationally norm data that FastBridge provides um as well. >> Okay. So so I'll come back to those three pieces with two of my other kind of summary comments. The second one is um and I'll repeat myself these annual targets that we've been set. I'm coming off the board as a two other members. We have got to make sure that we're setting like three and fiveyear targets so that we can hold oursel accountable in more than just one year reset incremental annual goals. Um so that's that's a repeated statement. So I'll move on. from a

131board perspective and to revisit things like we were talking about with the pieces that are part of the plan but might not be where we need them to be. I heard Miss Shern say this and I and I appreciate her her passion that we're finally having this conversation. It is my belief, and I'll leave this as I leave the board, that this specific conversation that we're having tonight needs to occur at a minimum of twice a year. And if we were to do that, I shared this with Dr. Rumpus, that in itself would be progress because we have been hesitant to have this conversation. If we do that, then I think as a district, we can hold oursel accountable for having these pieces, making within the PLC process, making sure MTSS is where we need

132it. And then if there are gaps in assessments, we need to continue to discuss that because what I'm hearing is if those aren't in place, then the district's not in the best position possible to make the progress that we're looking for. So, I'll close with that. Um, I apologize for the connection issues and my frustration with that, but I'll just reiterate that we need to be comfortable and understand where we're at. The targets need to be more than just these one-year annual reset targets. And as a board and as a leadership group, this district needs to revisit this topic more frequently and at a minimum twice per year. So, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Cathy. I am not going to repeat all the things and questions that everyone has said. Um, really good points made.

133Again, I will reiterate how much we appreciate the work we're doing and the willingness to do the work. Um just a couple of things I really like and this is something we asked um and that you've been doing for a couple years is we're getting not just the percentages but the numbers and those are kids and for instance I'm looking at page seven um for fourth grade winter 26 13 of 30 kids made typical to aggressive growth. That's 17 kids who didn't spread across five schools. That's three and a half kids per school. And I know we don't have half kids. Um so if we're if we do what we're pledging to do and what we're committed to do, this shouldn't be that difficult to move the needle. And I know that I I know

134that we can do it. And I know that from what you're talking about with the PLC's and all the different resources and really digging down, we can do this. We can really make a change. And you know, I also noticed for the reading um across the board. The second graders are killing it. And so, you know, that's I think an opportunity. And you've already said that you're going to be doing this. What is it? You know, is it just that these kids were the first ones to have three years of letters and so that should make us feel great if that's it? Because wow, those kids are killing it. and that's going to carry through to when they're taking the ACT and the ACT is so much reading, those scores are going to improve. I

135mean, it all builds on everything. And so, I'm really excited and really encouraged to see these numbers in our our earliest, youngest learners because if we can catch them, then everything's easier. But we also can't forget the eighth graders. And you know, again, it's not that many kids. And so we should be able, all of us working together with whatever resources you need. We should be able to really make a change here. And I'm really excited about it. And I commend you again for all the work, all the honesty, and the willingness to do this. And I will echo what Dr. Shern said. I think we have the right people, the right leadership in place. And I'm really excited about this. So, thank you very much. things here, future events. There's an election on Tuesday,

136I believe, that I hope everyone is paying attention to and votes in next Tuesday. No, that would be tomorrow. Next Tuesday. um uh board reorg on April 13th, board business meeting on the 27th. And with that all said, we do need to recognize the people who are leaving us. And between Ben, Nicole, and Jennifer, that's 18 years of experience on the board. And I have been fortunate enough to on my four years worked very closely with Miss Pangborn and Dr. Shern and your contributions to the board are immeasurable and I hope you know that. And Mr. Cathy, I have said to you how much I'm going to miss you and I'm still mad at you. Um, your questions are so thoughtful and so important. Not to say your questions aren't. um try to spread the

137love around. Um so we will be a different board in a couple weeks and I'm very excited about that. I'm very excited about the energy and the new people we will have. But you all will be missed and you cannot change your cell phone numbers because I will be reaching out. So with that we are adjourned.