Frontier Central frames 2025–26 goals after BEDS enrollment shows cohort shifts

Carrie Amici, the district staff member who presented BEDS enrollment data, told the Board of Education on Oct. 22 that Frontier Central’s year‑to‑year counts show cohort movement that affects planning for instruction and supports.

"So today, I'm going to explain to you our best day enrollment information," Amici said, introducing the Basic Educational Data System (BEDS) figures, the district’s October snapshot used for state and federal reporting.

The presentation showed enrollment by grade bands over a four‑year window and highlighted cohort changes rather than single‑year swings. Amici told the board that universal prekindergarten (UPK) enrollment is 175 students this year, up from 171 last year, and pointed to a persistent drop between eighth and ninth grade. The district lost 28 students this year when the eighth‑grade cohort transitioned to ninth grade; one left for family‑directed home instruction and 27 went to private or parochial schools. Amici summarized the eight‑to‑nine grade loss as averaging about 34.6 students per year.

District leaders connected the enrollment data to the instructional goals for 2025–26. Linda Danza, speaking for elementary instruction, said the district set two elementary targets: a 10% growth in proficiency in both reading and math as measured by AIMSwebPlus composite scores between fall and spring benchmarks.

At the middle school level, administrators will use I‑Ready diagnostic data. Colleen (last name not stated), describing secondary measures, said the district’s target is that 50% of grades 6–8 students will reach their program‑defined “typical growth” in both reading and math from fall to spring.

Leaders stressed layered supports and screening. The district reported adopting AIMSwebPlus as the elementary universal screener, continuing I‑Ready at secondary levels, and expanding multi‑tiered systems of support (MTSS) with an emphasis on clearer flowcharts for identification and progress monitoring. The district also reported ongoing work with external trainers: Dr. Sharon Walpole led initial ELA program launch training, and Dr. Lisa Kalinowski (Niagara University) continues work on intervention toolboxes and MTSS.

Superintendent Christopher J. Swiatek and board members credited multiple initiatives, including expanded summer school and transition programming, with raising graduation rates. The district’s overall graduation rate rose from 88.6% (previous August) to 90.5% this August; the high school rate rose from 90.8% to 92.5% in the same comparison.

Board members and staff identified attendance — especially among ninth graders — as a continuing concern. Administrators said they will pair academic screening with social‑emotional screening (Panorama) and tiering that combines attendance, discipline, and academic data to identify students who need nonacademic supports.

District officials said they will continue professional development tied to new curriculum adoptions (an elementary ELA program and Wilson Foundations phonics), build vertical alignment of intervention resources through grade 8, pilot pre‑K curriculum materials, and run student mentoring and “big brother/big sister” programs to support secondary students.

The presentation closed with staff pointing board members to a wider set of enrollment dashboards on the district site for further cohort tracking and to plans to report back on Panorama comparative results when they are available.

The session contained questions from board members about family home instruction monitoring and requests for comparative data on the forthcoming Panorama screening.