Coos Bay School Board reviews Division 22 compliance, instructional hours and upcoming reporting deadlines

Coos Bay School District staff told the school board on Oct. 13 that the district is in compliance with Oregon Department of Education Division 22 standards for 2024–25 and outlined several areas for continued work, including aligning assessments, curricula and district report cards, and updating the comprehensive school counseling plan.

The presentation, delivered as part of the board's regular meeting, explained the purpose of Division 22 rules and the district's timeline for community reporting. Staff emphasized that Division 22 sets the baseline service expectations for Oregon public schools and that compliance is tied to state school funding processes.

Why it matters: Division 22 covers more than 50 rules across categories such as high-quality learning experiences, aligned educational systems, engaged partners, safe and inclusive schools, and staff support. Noncompliance can lead to required corrective actions and, ultimately, to the state withholding part of a district's state school fund if issues are not corrected.

Key details reported by staff included: - The district is in compliance for 2024–25, staff said, and will submit the community report by the Nov. 1 posting deadline and the Nov. 15 submission in the state smart sheet. - Waivers: the state's essential-skills assessment waivers remain in place through the 2027'28 school year, including for English-language learners. - New rules in effect include a K'12 social-emotional learning program requirement and a K'12 personal-financial-education requirement; the district said it has adopted materials and is preparing to meet the 2025'26 timetable. - Rule revisions in effect require annual parent information about diploma options such as modified or extended diplomas; staff said they provide that information through individualized education program (IEP) meetings where applicable. - Instructional-hour totals: staff reported that K'8 instructional hours exceed Division 22 requirements; ninth-through-eleventh-hour totals increased from roughly 991 instructional hours last year to 1,027 this year, placing the district above the state floor for those grades.

Areas for follow-up: presenters flagged the need to better align state assessments, district report-card measures and adopted curricula so that professional learning communities (PLCs) can use the same progress-monitoring data. Staff also said the district's comprehensive school counseling plan is more than a decade old and is being updated by the counseling team.

Next steps and board schedule: staff asked board members to review the historical data slides before the board's Nov. 27 meeting, when building administrators will present beginning-of-year data and school goals. Staff said the district will present additional OSAS comparisons to similar districts and first-quarter high-school data at future meetings.

Staff also noted that, if a district falls out of compliance, Oregon Department of Education (ODE) reviews corrective action plans and provides technical assistance; corrective actions must be completed by the start of the following school year.