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District audit update: fewer out-of-class placements, growth in restorative practices and tighter transfer tracking
Summary
Student services staff told the board the district has reduced out-of-class placements, increased restorative-practice interventions and improved truancy tracking using RAO/Rowi software; staff also summarized transfer approvals and fiscal impact of out-of-district transfers.
District student-services staff presented an audit update covering discipline and behavioral management, restorative practices, attendance and transfers.
Mr. Kasch (student services) summarized placement data and interventions, saying the district had taken multiple steps to keep students in classrooms and reduce removal rates. He told trustees the district had shifted some students from juvenile-justice or long-term alternative placements to ADAPT/HOPE counseling and DAEP interventions, and that “we are trending in the direction we would like in keeping kids in the classroom.”
Alexis Miller, who leads restorative-practices work, told trustees the program’s goal is to “build and maintain a positive learning environment through intentional relationship building.” She reported that campus refresher training completion rose from 14% (previously) to about 27% so far in the 2024–25 school year, and that initial Canvas-based training completion was 100% for those required to take it in 2023–24.
On attendance and truancy, Jennifer Boniol described sharper, more systematic use of RAO/Rowi software (the district’s attendance/truancy platform), court partnerships and individualized attendance contracts. She said courts and campus teams had worked on attendance contracts tailored to family needs, and that several students who appeared in court returned on track to graduate after interventions. Current district long-range goals cited were a 3.7% truancy target and a 95.3% attendance goal for the school year.
Karen Shearer presented transfer metrics: staff reported processing about 3,711 transfer requests for 2024–25, with 1,480 of those from out of district and 1,243 of the out-of-district requests approved. Shearer noted that in-district transfers, once approved, typically stay in place through a student’s feeder path; out-of-district transfers must be reapplied for annually. Staff estimated that out-of-district transfers represent roughly $6 million in enrollment-based revenue to LISD.
Board members asked for deeper breakdowns, including out-of-placement actions by campus and feeder, discipline data by demographic cohort and multi-year trend lines. Trustees expressed support for restorative practices and asked staff to provide five years of data and disaggregations requested by trustees.
Ending: Staff agreed to produce the requested multi-year trend data and more detailed breakdowns of repeat disciplinary incidents and placement counts for follow-up to the board and committees.
