Assistant Superintendent Melanie Catherine presented the board with data tied to the district’s goal of increasing the percentage of students who graduate “choice ready,” explaining how the district measures postsecondary, workforce and military readiness.

“Choice ready” requires students to meet essential skills plus two of three indicators: postsecondary, workforce or military readiness, Catherine said. For postsecondary readiness the district uses ACT benchmarks — a 22 in reading and 21 in math — and she noted those thresholds are part of the board’s progress measures.

Catherine explained the state no longer requires the ACT for all juniors or pays for the exam; the district chose to continue offering it to preserve longitudinal data. She told the board the percentage of juniors meeting the ACT math threshold (21 or higher) has been roughly plateaued near 32% in recent years; reading scores (22 or higher) were ticking upward. The board discussed whether to allow juniors to choose the ACT or WorkKeys (a workforce assessment) or ASVAB (armed services vocational aptitude test) to better align assessments with students’ post‑graduation plans.

Catherine also reviewed Advanced Placement (AP) participation: seven AP courses are currently offered (biology, chemistry, AP calculus, two English language arts courses, microeconomics and U.S. history). Ninety‑seven students took AP exams and 81% of tests scored a 3 or higher; the average score was 3.4. Board members asked about correlations between Algebra II grades and ACT math results and requested further analysis to see how course performance predicts ACT outcomes.

The presentation was informational; the board did not change policy but asked staff to return with additional analyses and suggested parent‑facing materials to explain the choice‑ready chart for families of freshmen and juniors.