Several community members urged the Farmington Public Schools Board of Education on Sept. 9 to act immediately to close persistent reading gaps for Black students and to redirect or deploy existing funds to accelerate literacy interventions. The comments came during the board's public‑comment period and were followed by a district update from Superintendent Dr. Carlton.

The most pointed public comment came from Bill Loveaway, who said the district can afford targeted programs and called for immediate use of reserves held from federal COVID relief. “It'll cost $5,660,000 to educate them for a year,” Loveaway said, adding that roughly “we have $20,000,000” that remains on the balance sheet from COVID dollars and urging the board to “take action on that for a change.”

Other speakers underscored the scale and demographic pattern of the gap. Sean Black cited district assessment outcomes and said, “29 percent of Black students in grades 3 through 7 are reading at grade level…22 percent are doing math at grade level,” and added that just “16 percent of Black students in grade 11 are ready for college.” He asked: “When do we deem that the plan isn't working?”

Henrietta Forshey connected literacy to future workforce needs and urged investment in teacher training and evidence‑based literacy programs, and Mark Forshey criticized existing strategies and urged reallocating funds to foundational skills.

Superintendent Dr. Carlton told the board the district is reviewing recently released state assessment data and is providing weekly updates to the board as staff “dig deeper into the data.” She said the district has “identified both areas of strength and opportunities for growth” and noted that Farmington has already made changes in early literacy resources over the past three years, aligning materials and methodologies “with the science of reading.”

No formal board action was taken on the public comments. Several trustees urged that literacy remain a priority item for the board’s upcoming retreat and called for community advocacy and engagement with legislators to protect school funding.

Why it matters: Board members and community speakers linked state budget uncertainty and the timing of state aid to districts’ capacity to plan and sustain targeted literacy programs. Several commenters and at least one trustee expressed urgency that the district define specific metrics for when current plans require revision and that the board prioritize interventions for groups that are not meeting grade‑level benchmarks.

What was said and what comes next: Commenters provided specific percentages and dollar figures drawn from their materials and emails to the board; the superintendent said staff will continue analysis of state assessment results and provide weekly information to trustees. The board did not adopt a new literacy program or budget revision at the meeting. Community members asked that the issue be on the agenda for the board retreat scheduled for Sept. 27.

Ending: The board closed public comment and moved on to other agenda items; district staff and trustees signaled that assessment analysis and targeted literacy work will continue in coming weeks.