Superintendent Dr. Matczak told the board Aug. 28 that Woodland District 50 opened the 2025–26 school year with a slate of districtwide back-to-school events, introduced new family coordinators to work on chronic absenteeism and family outreach, and received donations from community partners to support students.

The announcement came during the board’s governing meeting as Matczak ran through a slideshow summarizing events and programs that preceded and marked the first days of school. “These are new positions that the board approved, to not only connect with our families, and help make them more of resources that they may not be aware of and put them in touch with community networks,” Matczak said, describing the family coordinators’ role in reaching chronically absent students. Matczak identified the coordinators on the record as Kristen Carruthers, LaVonna Garner, Gabriela Navarro Diaz and Rhianna Fyle.

Why it matters: district leaders said the coordinators are a strategic response to chronic absenteeism — a condition Matczak framed as a learning barrier. She told the board the coordinators have been working through the summer to establish connections and family outreach and will focus on getting students to school so they can participate in instruction.

Board members and staff described several districtwide events used to welcome families and reduce barriers: a library-hosted giveaway that included 350 backpacks donated by the Warren Newport Public Library; a centralized medication drop-off held at the middle school so families could leave student medications in a single, staffed location; and a “back-to-school bash” at the middle school with DJ, food trucks and family activities. Matczak said the district intentionally ran several events as districtwide gatherings rather than single-school events to reinforce the message that Woodland is one district with four schools.

Matczak also described the annual teacher institute day, new-teacher orientation sessions, and an administrative retreat that used Covey Institute methods to set goals and “compelling scoreboards” for tracking progress on the district’s strategic plan. She credited school custodians, maintenance and transportation staff for a smooth opening and reported that, five days into the year, the district had no major transportation failures reported to the district office.

Public comment during the meeting included Dr. Ted Hamilton, a special-education teacher, who used his three minutes to thank the board and the district for approving PhD tuition reimbursement that helped him complete his degree. “You gave me something so I could seize an opportunity and I could grow,” Hamilton said. He characterized the board’s tuition support as “equity made real.”

The board did not take additional formal action on the matters described in the superintendent’s report during the meeting; Matczak and principals said they would return to the board with regular updates and the district’s “compelling scoreboard” reporting tied to the strategic plan.