001The June 24th, 2025 Force Grove School District Board of Directors meeting is called to order at 5:32 p.m. We'll start with a roll call of board members present. Uh Brad here. Mark here. Kate here. I am here and Val is absent tonight and excused. If we can all rise in place. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And I've been looking for a motion to approve tonight's agenda. So move. Second. All in favor say I. I And uh board reports tonight. None. I'll just make it at four and none. You're welcome. All right. I know. There's one thing I was going to say, but I'm pretty sure you're a little bit angry at 10. We will hand it over to Dr. West for superintendent report. Great. Thank you. Um, just
002a couple of things to report. Uh, if you would please advance to the next slide here. Um, I want to start by reporting on a conversation that I was able to have yesterday at the attendees at the Chamber of Commerce lunchon. Um it was a great opportunity to spend some time with our community leaders, community members and share with them some of the great things that's taking place within our school. Um also shared with them the fiscal reality that school districts are facing today even with an 11.36 million budget that is not keeping up with the real costs of doing school. Um and what that means for us as a school district which this year is a $1.8 $8 million reduction in expenses and we expect that we will need to continue to make similar
003reductions in the coming years. So that was a great conversation. But what I wanted to bring into the boardroom is this particular slide. Prior to the meeting with the chamber, I put out a request to our colleagues that are working in our schools to share things they would like people to know that are invisible. the kinds of things that never show up on a state test that may not make it into the local newspaper, but that are really meaningful experiences for our kids. And so I brought this to the chamber meeting and shared with our chamber colleagues that these are just a few of the things that our educators tell us has made huge difference for our students. Um, so I want to elevate this and I want to thank our teachers, our school year
004just ended. Our educators in our classrooms, our support staff, our principles. They worked really hard last year. We saw a lot of kids walk for graduation. That was exciting. Um, and even more kids than walked for graduation left for the summer feeling really good about the school year that they had. And it's because of experiences like this. So, I wanted to bring that in to share with the board. Um, we can leave that up for just a minute. The only other thing I wanted to share is regarding the legislature and where they're at. Uh, session ends next week, so they're just about that. Some of the things that we have been monitoring like increases in special education funding, that is highly unlikely to happen at this point. Um, so I don't think we should expect
005that. The 11.36 is what has been approved by both chambers of our legislature. So we'll see the governor sign that along with the accountability bill where goes hand in hand with the funding. The other bill that was approved is the bill related to unemployment benefits for those who are striking. There are some safeguards related to those benefits. for example, there's a waiting period and there are a limits on the amount of weeks that benefits can be collected. We don't know what the impact will be. Nobody has a crystal ball, but that does upset the balance between labor unions and management when it comes to negotiations. So, that is something that we'll be watching pretty closely in the years to come and it's expected that the governor will sign that bill. And that's all I have
006right now. Uh we do hold space for force group education association each meeting. They are not here tonight with their comment. I don't believe we have any on the schedule public appearance. We do not. And so we'll move to consent agenda which is made up of routine non-controversial items to be voted on under one motion. Are there any items within the consent agenda a board member or the superintendent wishes to discuss separately? Seeing none, we'll call for a roll. All in favor say I. I. Opposed. And wait. I didn't take motion. I just went went ahead and did a motion in my head and then I seconded it. So Okay, there you go. And second. It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor say I. All right. Motion passes. And we are up
007to presentations today with uh starting with winter benchmark data. Welcome, director. Thank you. test. The button is on the bottom. It's red. Okay. Going to try that. See how long it lasts. Um, good evening board. Uh this spring local benchmark data presentation is uh dedicated to uh Brad and to Mark uh for their last meetings because I know how passionate they are about measuring outcomes and targets. Right Brad and uh over time making sure that we're tracking our data and in conversation with Mark certainly and other board members this this is meaningful work and so thank you both for your service. Yes. Yes. So um tonight I am here to provide the board with an update on spring local benchmark data. If you recall a conversation we had many moons ago at the beginning of
008the year we talked about the difference between local benchmark assessments and state bench state assessment summit assessments. And in that conversation um we talked about the power of the local benchmark right as being yes we know that our our state assessments are important. They're they're important measures for us. We don't take them lightly, but we also want to put a lot of weight behind our local benchmarks because this is data that is routine that really informs instruction and really shifts our our system. And so tonight, I want to provide you uh a report on on where we're at over the course of this year. So, um, we will talk about K through 10 literacy, K through 10 math, K through 12 English language development, um, and then at the end I I want I'm going
009to throw in a couple of interesting slides around expulsions and tag identification. The reason why we're talking K10 for literacy and math and not K12 is that um our 11th and 12th graders the beginning of year looks very different than the end of the year data because some of them are are passing or exceeding and don't always um are not always included throughout the year in the same way. So we're trying to refine that so the data is true. Um and also because especially when it comes to star literacy which we've talked about we've gone through some shifts there. So, I'll show you where we're at with with some of this data this this school year. This is not the rightation for missing slides. Can you sh Yeah, let's uh should we pause and we
010can move? Yeah, we can move through the action items back. Sounds good. All right, apologies. Let's move to action items. We'll start with the 202526 school fees with director, director of finance and operations. Good evening. Um, so tonight we have the 2526 school fees. Um, both for the high school and middle school. Um, in the packet is both the proposed fees for 2526 and the comparison for 2425 students and the differences. Um we ended up meeting with both uh middle school and high school leadership to talk about fee structure. We looked at um other districts in our area and who we compete against to see what their fee structures are. And a couple of years ago, we went to a flat $50 fee for student athletic fees um when we went to 100% reduced. And
011in looking at what other districts are doing and where we're at, we're looking at going back to a model similar to what we had prior where we had um a student athletic fee and then we had the free and reduced also as an option. So we have a tier approach to student athletic fees. Um but also in knowing that our families are used to only having that $50 athletic fee, we looked at doing it over a three-year period. So where do we want to be and then how can we phase it in over three years so it's not a huge jump for families. And so what you have in the packet is year one of three and then at the end of year three we would reassess see where we are compared to our comparables
012um and see what we would want to do in the future. So, the biggest change here is now we have um the free and reduced athletic participation maintains the same for the high school at $50, but now we have a regular sports fee uh without that free and reduced application. Um and we would do a modified approach to that application. Um we can't collect the actual free and reduced applications like we have in the past for nutrition services. So we would create our own to be able to establish that uh that written. Um and then the other change on this is we have a note at the bottom for AP testing. It um provides an estimate for families so they can plan ahead for AP testing for the full amount and the reduced application um
013fee. And then this one is set by the college AP board. So this is subject to change. So but it provides benefit notice ahead of time on what that cost would be. A couple things to add briefly here. The AP testing fee was added because what we heard from our high school colleagues is that this is often overlooked by families. They don't realize it's an opt out, not an opt in. So, if they don't tell us upfront that they're not going to take the test, then they are expected to take the test and pay the fee. And that's caught some people by surprise. So, we just want to be really upfront that there's a fee associated with that test. Um also want to point out that there was some conversation around family maximums. So we
014know that we have some families with multisport athletes and families with more than one child who will be participating in athletics. So we put in place a family maximum so that the out of pocket for our families in those situations is not by they always have that I believe so. Yeah, we're continuing that forward. Yeah, additional questions. So, are these PS especially the athletic things comparable to the teams in our league? Is that what you're saying? It will be comparable in three years. Oh, I see. So with the step with the step we we are below just because we have the $50 flat fee for anybody. Um so we we are considerably lower than our districts and participate um in athletic events. Um so the goal would be to get parable by the end of
015three years. So not to have that huge impact for families right away. So where does this where does this money go and what does it support? Um yeah, it goes to the general fund in um local revenue and that goes to support. It's just reduced significantly over the years. I mean ultimately it is used for uh coaches. It's used for athletic costs, but it's only a very small portion of the total costs of athletic operations. Thank you. Any other questions? Do I have a motion to approve the 25.6 basic school fees schedule as presented. So second any discussion? All right. All in favor say I. I. Post. All right. Motion passes. We'll move to Fernhill Elementary School edition. Right. So um this one in front of you is the Fernhill Elementary School edition. It's setting
016the maximum um price, the guaranteed maximum price for the contract amount with Robert Robinson. We have already um come to the board for approval using Robinson as our contractor for that project. They have um been working with both Robinson and Mumm over the last several months. We've been able to go out and get the scope formally finalized and then go out for bid. Um and then with the bid packages, this would set the GMP to4,135,635. Um, and this is preliminary, but this is what will set us the max for for right now. Um, until they can finalize all the numbers, it'll allow us forward this summer. Questions? Will this be done at the end of the summer? No. Um, we will probably start breaking ground in July. Uh, and that project will go through all
017of next year. We hope to have it done April or May of next year. So, it'll it'll be a full school year. Is this two classrooms? It's four. Four class. Oh, great. Yeah. And will be attached to the building. It'll be It'll extend the building because Burke Hill is a long Yeah. So, it'll just go on the end. Go ahead. Do I have a motion to approve the preliminary GMP construction contract with Robinson Construction for up to 4,135,635 for the Firm Hill Elementary School prek addition project? So move second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I opposed. All right. Motion passes. And thank you Director and Director Shear. Contracted staffing services. Welcome again. Contracted services. Um we currently have a different nurse position open and we are intending to run approved for that but
018um so very hard to fill position so uh we want to um remain open to potentially we can hire and fill the position before this school year starts using a contracting staffing agency. Uh so we're requesting board to allocate up to 168,000 for the 25 system a year to secure contracting services if necessary. questions. Do I have a motion to approve the district securing contracted services at a cost of up to 168,000 for a 1.0 FTB district nurse position that is currently vacant in student services for the 2526 year? So move second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I opposed. All right, that concludes action items. We're gonna circle back to presentations. We're back. We're back. We're back. We're live. Woohoo. As I mentioned, we will be reviewing our benchmark both local benchmark data,
019illiteracy, math, and EL. Um, so just to give you some big a big picture analysis of what this data is, we talk of principles about three levels of data. A level one being satellite data which is big picture data um that kind of helps us as a district look at trends across grade levels or schools. There's math data which allows you to drill down a little bit deeper and u talk about maybe reading uh skills, math skills, that type of information. And then ultimately there's three level three data and that's uh boots on the ground right teachers local assessments what they when we talk with students when we talk with staff um that kind of data. So as we as we talk about tonight's data is really about satellite data that bigger broader uh systemwide
020data um and trends that we're seeing in these local benchmark assessments. So we'll begin with our literacy data to begin MCL class which is our tool that we use at our elementarymentaries. Um and this is a graph of achievement over time from beginning of the year to end of the year 2425. Okay, as you can see um the red is less. That's what we want to see. We want to see the green and the blue expand and we want to see the red less. that in in this case fewer students are well below benchmark from the beginning of the year to the end of the year 47% to 38%. more students are at or above benchmark um from 35 to% to 70 47%. And so trending positive right um we know that this is achievement
021in our local benchmark according to MClass how that translates to state assessments still to be determined right but we are showing improvement over time with student achievement in these areas. and and that's that's uh that is an English M class, right? But that's that's all grade levels of degree. Yes, that is all grade levels that enter into our entire system. Okay. Um K through six. I'm sorry. K through six. Okay. Okay. K through six. Seven and 12. We use STAR. Okay. Yeah. This is this is K through six. Thank you. I should have clarified that. So if we that this is achievement, right? Achievement for MC class K through K through six. I want to show you this. This is our zones of growth K through six. So what this shows is in blue is
022where we were at at this time last year. And so the green are is the growth for in that grade. So for all grades, I'm sorry, for four of our grades, we saw growth that exceeds or gets us to the national norm, which is 60%. Okay, there's one grade third grade in which we went from went down seven points. So about 59% which is almost to the national norm but we went the opposite direction in terms of growth that that allows us to raise questions for us right we dig deeper we find out what's happening at the third grade specifically what skills what classrooms what's building I will tell you some of the conversations we've had so far is um that third grade is a is a important transition year um you we remember that
023many of our kids are learning Spanish as well and so this test is measuring their English skills at uh the lower grade right and um you know we have we have some spot we have some areas for improvement third grade um some things to to address curriculum wise instruction wise and we recognize but uh the good news is we we're seeing some growth can I ask a question so So maybe just to clarify. So for example, second grade or let's just take uh first grade last year at this time first grade was at 61%. Right? So this year those students are in the second grade. Those sec correct? So then the growth was from 61 to 67 for sort of the same students. Is that that's another way if you look at the cohorts they
024moved over. So they went from 61 to 67% because I I think we I think we look year to year and we never look at the same students over time. And I know there's movement in and out. It's complicated to do that, but I think it's valuable to look at the same students over time, not just the same grade level over time, right? No, that's that's absolutely Mark, you're interpreting that correct. So those the kids that were in first grade last year have saw a sixpoint job if they were all the same kids. Yeah. And so the the third grade class that has had or is it the second that has had three years of amplify? This will be their third year of using Amplify for reading. It'll be the second grade. Current second grade
025started with Yes. Yes. as kindergarteners, they're completing their their their second grade. And even then, and sometimes the way we talk about is even that first year, that year zero, like when they were kindergarten, there was a delay in the curriculum. Um, it was kind of mid year that year. Uh, so two full years common. And last year was was it this year or last year when we really ramped up the interventions piece of that and brought those pieces in? That was this year. That was this year. Yeah. And we still have work to do especially in small groups in ter um that's ramping up now. But it's a great point. I mean to your point K1 and two are the kids that their reality has been amplified. Similarly, lectura. So this is Spanish. Um
026again K6 Spanish the number of the you can see the red line decreasing the green and the blue increasing. Um so that's positive. We're trending in positive direction in terms of Lura and in growth. Um here's what we're seeing. Um the national norm still is the same 60%. We saw we're seeing some increases at the lake at the older grades. um which we know when you're learning as another language or Spanish you that is often times delayed right and you'll see that but it's kind of hard to tell because many of our students are are um it's hard they're biling coming in um and they're Spanish and so um needless to say we're trying it's great to see growth in that area especially at the at the older grade levels and that we're trending at
027the national norms, right? Kindergarten um we we we know that that is an area for for growth as well, but generally positive. We're excited to see and feel like the curriculum people the implementation of curriculum construction is really um folks are believing right and although we have areas of improvement no doubt um there is a belief in in the curriculum and in the instructional strategies that we've develop been developing star reading. So this is seventh and eighth grade. Um to give you a little bit of an example for the upper grades. Again, this is a tool that we've we've been working to build more buy in at the at the middle school and the high school level. Um specifically, I can speak to in star reading. We made some changes in interventions this year at
028the middle school. We did Lena did some work with uh the science of reading at the middle school level and we saw some significant growth in our intervention classes which we feel is contributing to some of this growth over time. Um that's something that we want to explore at the high school level. Um being more intent really building skills for our secondary teachers on what it is to really teach reading explicitly um systematically and with the right supports. reading at the nth and tth grade level. About 80% of our ninth and tth graders took this test at 80 85% somewhere in there for both grades. So I felt comfortable bringing that to to you today. Um because it is of most of our our nth and tth graders. Um again trending in the right direction.
029Um how this translates to ESPA, we'd love to have these same similar results, right? Um and and again we're still working through STAR and that assessment. Yeah. When the data is discussed at the building level, uh besides what we're seeing here, do do the buildings get to see it broken down by grades and classrooms and is that conversation is happening at like at a PLC level where teachers I know at ENC class like it's very it goes by skills, they can look at kids and they do work together as teams. Is that happening in the middle and high schools with conversations at PLC's? Yeah, mostly at the PLC level, the department level. Um to be able to talk about how different uh classes are doing. Um might talk about algebra as a whole, um grade
030levels, that type of thing. But yeah, they the idea is that they're using that math level data, that street level data, right? That they're we're building a culture where it's safe to talk about the data. um that we can share what's going well in some classrooms and what's not. Uh that's the culture that we want to build. Can be easier in some, harder in others, right? If you have to lead very thoughtfully, um you don't want folks to um pass shame or blame or anything like that. The data is is what it is. And how do we support each other to move forward? Yeah. So that's the literacy piece. I want to share with you the math data. Just a reminder, this is year two of math, our math assessment, which is our local benchmark
031for math. Um, and so this is this is shown a little bit differently. So I want to orient you to this um this graph. Uh on the bottom is the achievement from fall 2024 25. So we were at the 32nd percentile and then uh the spring and our spring achievements. So from fall to spring over the course of the year we went up two points. Okay. Um not a huge jump. Remember this is our first year of our math curriculum, right? So we wouldn't expect to see a necessarily a huge jump right away over time. Um but our growth is at the 50th percentile which is an which is a bell curve which puts us um uh at the 50th percentile of of the average across the country who use that right who uses the
032same tool. So this is how we performed this year adding to this. Yeah. Yeah. Um I I think it's important to note that as we're looking at growth we can see a lot of growth. So, we're at the 50th percentile nationally with our growth metrics. Many of those students may not actually be crossing achievement levels. We may be seeing a year's growth, a year and a half growth, two years growth, but because of where they're starting, you may still not see the crossing from one achievement level to the next. Over the course of several years, you'll start to see that move. But in these early stages of a new curriculum and improve instructional practices, that takes a little bit of time. And this might be difficult to even predict, but is there a is there
033anticipated growth in the different areas? Like at the top, we would expect the red to be the first to decline and then maybe the the middle pieces are dependent on schools, kids. for is a pretty standard like in different schools across the nation when there is growth but you are seeing growth in the same areas first as far as high achievers gaining and then the you know a quicker growth in the red or is it just kind of all over the place? Yeah, that is really hard to predict and please jump in here. There there's something that as educators we're really mindful of called the Matthew effect. And if you're familiar with this, the general way to express this is the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. The same thing applies. Oftentimes when we're
034looking at metrics like this, the students at the high end in performance tend to continue to accelerate their performance. And without the kind of interventions that we've put in place in the last year, the students that are performing below grade level tend to continue to perform below grade level. So what I have seen in my own practice, I don't have this normed against any national metrics is that we actually end up seeing the two ends adjusting more rapidly than we see the middle adjusting. But I I can't see generalized that across all systems and a distribution across the nation. What would you like to add to that, Director Loly? No, I I I think that's correct. I don't think there's you would see one in any one color, but I will also add to what
035Dr. Wes brought up that the growth. Sometimes we think about the growth in terms of students moving out of the red while it's also making sure that our blue stay and grow within that, right? And that is something that we pay attention to when we talk about um so that's really important because we can't have kids by each. So I share this with you but I also want to share with you last year's data. Um so the same same visual from last year. If you look on the bottom not a huge shift in terms of achievement from 30 33 to 33. Actually we we flatlined. So we did move two points this year but look at the growth. Our growth last year was up to 43rd percentile. So to to we moved up seven points
036in terms of the degree to which we grew kids from last year this year. That's a positive. Now as Dr. west and it doesn't mean that the red changes yet because they may be having to make up many years but to see our growth um median change is is important. It's it's a great metric. So is this given I see fall and spring is it given twice a year? This one's given three times a year. Yeah. For this graph we were able to show this. Okay. and sort of what's a setting that this is given in I'm in a math class and I'm seventh grade math class or sixth grade math is it is it uh today's the district assessment we want you to do your bet I'm you know what I mean because because
037I you know I know that state test is just mail it in I and even at a young age. So, um, so I'm just, you know, I don't not a long answer, but just a I think that's something that always goes into the accuracy of any achievement that's Yeah. No, it it matters that's created, the timing that it's given student teachers that to them and it's% I want you to do your best. I know they get that. No. So what we do is we have a beginning of the year, middle of the year, end of year window that we provide as schools and teachers and and it's up to them to manage that window. Um so that the we're generally in the same place when we talk about middle leading assessment growth in here but
038there is there I I would say there's a different approach typically than the state assessment right where you know we we're using this data soon as soon as we get the the data back it is in our 100% it is in PLC conversations we are adjusting a instruction three times a year based on these results Um the the state test is at the end of the year, May. Um we have a little work to do in terms of our spring assessment and that power assess or the end of year the ESPA assessment. Um because there's still a little bit of test fatigue potentially that's happening. Um so we're talking about that but it's about the environment that's created um and the importance that that teachers and principles give to the students and really at the
039end of the day how our teachers using this and how our how our students receive. One of the things that comes with these local benchmarks is we over the last two years now we send home um the re the the data that comes from these really welldesigned Spanish and English in most cases um tools here's how your son or daughter is progressing um as a parent who gets it I sit down and look at it and say this is it gives you tips and tricks on things that you can do in the interim um these these tools are really come a long way in supporting what really mattering that's that instructional response to what we're doing because I I think the state assessment especially in math achievement levels very low across state and I mean
040if you're a student and take it 30% or something or 35% which isn't maybe the passing rate I don't know anymore is maybe 39% that might be pretty high, but it's just so I just think it's sort of could be as you get older sort of defeating to get that and I don't know how this this you know the score that they get related to students on this history wide assessment because it's you know anyways please go ahead go ahead your point is well made that for the state assessments right? It is hard for students to invest in those assessments because there's no real application. Um they may get a score at the end of that assessment that their teacher and their school is not doing anything with it because we don't get validated results
041until the following school year and by that point students have moved on. So we have had conversations this year and I saw an improved effort amongst our colleagues to instill in students the importance of taking the state assessment seriously and really trying their best and not just rushing through it and instill a once and done that doesn't inform instruction different from what we're seeing here. One of the things that I saw this year in many of the classrooms that I went into for both math and reading is that after students took their assessment, they pulled out their own chart and they were graphing how they were progressing. So our turtle talked about how this information informs instruction for educators and it does and that's great. It also for many of our students is instilling in
042them the self- agency that they need to see they can make progress if they are engaging in learning and being responsible for what they have access to in the classroom and that that was great to see. So that's what we have to have more of and state test really just needs to go away. cuz it's I know we have to message it's just an explicit but anyways waste of money I think my point goes a lot along the lines what basically what Suzanne was just talking about so so there's buy in and there's kind of a diagnostic process for between the the assessment tool for the student to improve and then they use it as uh method for improve instruction at the teacher level. So I think we're on the right track. It feels like
043yeah that's the most powerful component is when a student feels they're looking at that progress over time right the growth over time whether they're meeting yet or not it's how are you growing over time especially when we see that growth second so just a little uh you know in terms of elementary math those these are the growth percentiles I do want to point out fifth grade which is in red compared to the yellow which is closer to the 50th percentile so we got some work to do in head. But I also want to highlight kindergarten. Check out the that's the 93rd percentile in kindergarten. If you recall, kindergarten is our group of teachers that we delayed the math adoption this year because they were still working through some um some intricacies of really getting behind
044that. But the funny thing is what we really talked about all year long was really sound math instruction. The curriculum, the resources are there to help, but really it's about great math instruction. So, we kind of chuckled that this growth happened because we talked about sound math instruction all year long and we feel like it had a direct impact on what was happening. Um what a great lesson learned for for our system because there there's no perfect curriculum out there but there's really sound instruction and we know that um secondary macro tip in the yellow zone. So again kind of represents that bell curve that we're at as a district. We're around that yellow zone and we hope to push through that uh next year. The next piece of data I wanted to share you
045was EL baseline data. This is the first year of Flashline 360 which is specifically designed for our ELD students to measure um their language development. On the left side you can see in the darker blue is the speaking score from the beginning, middle, end of the year trending in the right direction and in the light blue is the writing score. So we went on the right side from yellow from two to 2.6 from two to 2.5. Um this is our first year. So this is all baseline data for us, right? Nothing compared to in years past. But what we've heard from teachers is that it's especially our ELD teachers very valuable because of the things that Dr. West brought up that students are now buying into that data and tracking that data and and uh
046having rich conversations. This is a little bit harder but to read but they are the green strands. So we want to get we're moving into the green right. So you can see all the trends especially on the left which I believe that's the speaking on the right. We started really low in the writing area, especially kindred through first, understandably so, and then moving to the yellow, but we are our our younger all of our grades, right? And so we're able to track that. Um what's again baseline data, this is moving from yellow to green, which is great, but if you look at the top left, there's a blue and a purple. We've got work to do. We've got work to do to move kids into the those higher stages, the beginning and advanced levels of
047speaking and writing. Adding one bit of information to this. Um, as a reminder, we are all educators. So, we've heard this at points in the past. For our English learners, it takes typically 5 to seven years to develop academic language skills. It takes typically one to two years to develop those interpersonal skills. So the speaking growth that you see there is very expected. That is the first skill that we develop when we're learning a new language is being able to listen and speak. The writing skills, the reading skills, the grammar, the vocabulary, those skills develop over time and aren't as immediate. So while there's work to do here and there's really good information to inform instructional improvement, these are also the kinds of trends that we would expect to see. Similarly at the upper grade
048as as Dr. Westba as they go through the program as they're later in their years of of exposure to language then you would expect to see um greater achievement and at the at the old at the older grades. Um certainly some kids enter our system as first year English language learners as an eighth grader as a ninth grader as a 12th grader right and so um it's not always the same kids or cohorts because they come and go out of our system um or they interlate into our system. So within the flashlight assessment there is not a um what am I going to say? There's not a measurement metric in there to account for the data that you're sharing about what we do know about when they will acquire different skills. The flashlight doesn't when
049it's doing the assessments of kids and we know that they aren't yet going to have those. Is it just assessing without knowing that or is there a way to assess knowing that and still see what's appropriate growth versus actual cognitive um developmental growth for bilingual students? Yeah, it's actually the ELPA and I'll let Director Loly speak to this. The ELPA shows whether or not students are making expected growth. the ELA is the state English assessment and so that has built into its algorithm the time factor that you're talking about. So within that 5 to sevenyear period 8 years if a student is being served with an IEP if the student is continuing to make progress they're considered on track. Um this is a different type of measurement. to to the skill those skills. Okay. And
050the last two pieces of data I just thought they they help support the conditions for learning, right? And and expulsion data is one of those. I thought I'd share with you some information. If you look at 2021, that's our COVID year. What expulsions looked like prior to CO and then what 2122 and 22 23 brought us. Um and then we've progressively gone down. So this past year we had 30 expulsions. Would love to have zero, right? And but um this to me what this speaks to is that um this and attendance those type kids are in school, right? Where we're where they are there to learn that this is a positive indicator that we're creating the conditions for students to feel safe to make good decisions to be in classrooms learning. So I think there's
051a direct correlation to growth as well as a reduction of of expulsions and an increase in attendance percentage as well. Thought that'd be something that the board would be interested in hearing. And and the last piece is this past year our increase in tag identification for 2425. Um last year we had 126 students 23 24 we had 126 students in TAG. Um this year we grew 71 students. Um EL we had one student, we grew eight eight more students. Special education we have five students. And um one of the big shifts that happened this year is that we went to schools and asked all the entire staff who would be willing to be a tag lead. So they so a teacher opted in and that was an important shift that we made. Uh counselors were
052carrying that responsibility. They did an outstanding job but they've got a lot on their plate. And so by us shifting that model and saying who's passionate about TAG, who's willing to take this on? We're going to give you extra hours every month for your time and leadership. Um what we what we received in return are passionate educators who believe in TAG and want to get after. And so that's a direct result of those of those folks out in the buildings who have really gone above and beyond to to start having a different tag conversation with our colleagues. So really excited about that too and wanted to share that um with the board. And then maybe you can just talk a little bit about how once you're identified, how they charge into Yeah, I think one
053of the I think that's an one of our challenges is to be able to really meet their need in tier one instruction. Um be able to extend the learning. Um I think that is certainly a next step for us, Mark. I appreciate you asking that um because that is still an area of growth. Sure. Yeah. Well, that's other questions. And thank you so much. That's very positive uh way to finish this board meeting in particular for the reasons you mentioned because tonight is going to be that and Lance and Belle. Belle is not here tonight. her daughters are having a birthday tonight and so she is not here but today is the last meeting for these three who have really brought all of these questions there's school boarding right up until the last minute here
054um not dialing it in until the end and I know there's going to be contributions beyond tonight as well so want to recognize that and thank you both again thank you for the presentation and all of the data and visuals which are really helpful I think uh Just one quick mention, we do have within our board packet the annual restraint solution report for those that like to do that. It is available and it will also be available on our website. I I have one comment. I I guess I just look forward to looking at the day of 5 years in the future and then I hope knowing how long I've been here all the changes and ups and the downs and changes in assessment tools change that we can stay consistent with what we're doing
055so that we can really track that five 10 years down and and see those kinds of progress future. I want to thank you for both did a good job. Great. All right. And with that, there be no further visits. The meeting is adjourned at 22. Yeah. think pretty