Marysville earns four-star report card; leaders flag progress and growing special-needs caseload

Mister Gallagher, the district's continuous improvement director, reported Sept. 18 that Marysville Exempted Village Schools received an overall four-star rating on the Ohio local report card, with 5 stars for gap closing and graduation, 4 stars for achievement and 2 stars for progress (value added).

"We had 4 stars for achievement, 2 stars for progress, and 5 stars for gap closing," Gallagher said, noting the progress score — which measures student growth relative to state expectations — is the district's most pressing challenge.

Gallagher highlighted building-level results: Edgewood Elementary retained a five-star rating for the third straight year; Early College High School, Creekview Intermediate School, Mill Valley, Raymond and Northwood scored four-and-a-half stars. He said the district will prioritize improving value-added results this year through professional learning for principals and instructional coaches and use of state value-added reports and dashboards.

The presentation also covered changing student demographics. Gallagher reported total K-12 enrollment at just over 5,500 students (preschool counted separately at 209) and continued growth in the English learner population. He said Hispanic students are the largest minority group and that students receiving occupational, physical and speech therapy have grown substantially since 2018'19: roughly a 150% increase for occupational therapy, more than 200% for physical therapy and a 27% increase for speech-language services.

Gallagher said students attending school outside the district are at a nine-year low (253 students this year), and that the district met all annual measurable objectives (AMOs) in language arts for the fourth or fifth consecutive year. He noted gifted identification has increased after revised protocols, including earlier prescreening beginning in first grade.

On value added, Gallagher explained Ohio uses different models: a normal curve equivalency model for grades 4'8 and a projection/residual model for high school end-of-course exams. He said the district will focus on building staff capacity to interpret these models and embed value-added analysis into teacher-based team structures.

Direction: The board requested additional data on English-learner screening roll-off rates and a breakdown of students attending outside the district (homeschool vs. other schools). Gallagher said the state-level value-added reports will be available to teachers in October.