Westonka board approves state-funded reading stipends, updates teacher-evaluation rubric

The Westonka Public School District board voted to adopt a memorandum of understanding to distribute state REED Act stipends for literacy training and to approve a revised teacher-evaluation model, the board announced at its April regular meeting.

The MOU implements Minnesota's REED (reading proficiency) legislation and allocates the district's one-time stipend money for staff who complete approved training and demonstrate proficiency. Mark, a district staff member who presented the item, said the district's REED allocation is about $88,000 and that the district has set aside roughly $10,000 to cover future new hires who will also be required to complete the training. "Westonica's allocation is about $88,000 and there's a formula that is used to come up with that," Mark said. "We pulled out about $10,000 because the money can carry over." The board approved the MOU by voice vote.

Why it matters: The MOU directs how the state-provided funds will be distributed locally and ties stipend payments to completion and certification from approved providers. The change…