ESL program reports continuing student exits; district expands teacher modules and staff certification efforts

Christie Weedy, director of the district’s ESL program, presented the annual ESL program evaluation at the Oct. 16 board meeting and reported continued progress in identifying and exiting emergent bilingual students from ESL services.

Weedy said the district exited 14 students in 2024–25 (an increase from 11 the prior year) and attributed gains to the Summit K12 program plus a sustained professional‑development push requiring core‑content teachers to complete Summit modules on a regular schedule. Teachers who completed modules last year now form a second‑year cohort and new staff begin the first‑year modules.

Weedy said most ESL services remain coded as ESL pull‑out (where the RLA teacher is ESL‑certified) but that she has begun coding more students as content‑based (indicating all core teachers are ESL‑certified) in some campuses. She said the district has roughly 35–40 ESL‑certified teachers currently and is encouraging additional teachers to complete ESL certification as staffing and certification requirements permit.

The board discussed certification pathways and alternate‑certification staff; Weedy noted teachers must hold the core teaching certification before completing ESL testing in some routes. The presentation was informational; no board action was requested.