Westerville City Schools administrators on Aug. 25 described how the district is using state and local wellness funding and existing local dollars to support staff health, classroom reading interventions, nursing services and a credit-recovery program for students at risk of dropping out.

District staff told the Board of Education the employee wellness program for the 2025–26 school year is funded by an administrative fee credit from Anthem, the district’s health insurer, and that those funds are run through the district’s self-insurance fund rather than the general fund. “Opportunities are available at no cost to staff, and some opportunities have an incentive offered for completion,” said Miss Bishop, the staff presenter for the employee wellness plan.

The board then heard the required annual Student Wellness and Success and Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid (DPIA) report. “Not new funds, just new requirements,” Miss Marshall said, summarizing that the presentation concerned dollars the district already receives but now must report on. The district’s presenters told the board they expect state-era reductions this year: Student Wellness and Success funds are estimated at $995,035.26 for fiscal 2026, down $241,747 from the prior year, and DPIA is estimated at $1,028,052, down $22,008.72. Staff said additional state and local dollars from the general fund used to support these services total about $2,900,000.

Administrators described how those dollars are directed. Cheryl Relford explained that at the elementary level DPIA primarily supports small-group reading intervention (tier 3). Recent state legislation requires smaller high-dosage tutoring groups, so group sizes dropped from five to four students. Relford said about 20% of K–5 students receive some reading intervention, typically through pull-out small groups: “We monitor students’ progress all along the way, and we make adjustments if we need to based upon the instructional or intervention delivery.” She and colleagues said buildings use universal screeners — I-Ready and DIBELS — plus additional assessments to target skills.

Nick McElwain described the Educational Options for Success (EOS) credit-recovery program, which staff said served about 200 students last year and typically contributes to roughly 10% of Westerville graduates. The program runs morning and afternoon sessions and frequently uses a split-day model so students can attend some district classes and complete other work at the EOS site. McElwain said EOS awarded over 580 credits last year, the most since 2018–19, and that program surveys show positive social-emotional changes: “Last year within the program, we had 98 percent of our students have a positive change in positive thoughts with school, while over 90 percent of our students had less anxieties, less fears, and less negative thoughts with school.”

Board members asked about the staffing impact of smaller intervention groups. Relford said buildings use current FTE allocations and Title I staffing to target highest-need students; the district has not added reading teachers but reallocates staff where needed. She described the tier structure: tier 1 is whole-class instruction, tier 2 is classroom-based interventions, and tier 3 is the intensive small-group model.

Board members also asked how families are notified. Relford and other staff described a layered approach: universal-screener letters go to all families, individual communication about small-group services is sent by the reading-intervention teacher and may be by hard copy, email or phone depending on building practice.

Superintendent Hamburg and board members emphasized that some services are beyond what state law requires and flagged those programs for possible future budget review if a proposed levy fails, noting the district’s ongoing discussions about potential reductions.

The presentation concluded with no formal board action; staff said the written plan will be posted to the district website as required within 30 days.