Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Social Emotional Learning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board hears SABERS report showing racial and gender rating gaps; district outlines nearly $1M safety and SEL grant work
Summary
At the March 12 meeting, district staff reported winter benchmark results for SABERS, the district’s social‑emotional risk screener, and described a near‑$1 million grant and plans for safety and SEL programming.
At the March 12 meeting, district staff reported winter benchmark results for SABERS (Social, Academic and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener), the district’s screening tool for student social‑emotional development and a component of the district’s Safe and Healthy Schools domain.
District staff reported the student self‑report component (My SABERS) showed 78% of students in the low‑risk category, 19% in some risk and 3% in high risk. The teacher rating component (SABERS) showed 76% low risk, 18% some risk and 6% high risk, a slight improvement from the fall benchmark on teacher ratings, staff said.
Presenting the data, staff identified recurring discrepancies by race and gender. “Students who are Black, two or more races, or Hispanic tend to have fewer students in the low‑risk category and more in the some‑risk category,” the presenter said. Staff also noted that teacher ratings disproportionately flagged male students in higher‑risk categories compared with female students.
The district described how schools use SABERS: to identify students for small‑group or individualized supports, to target interventions, and to spot classroom or grade‑level spikes that may require different universal supports. Staff said the district’s SEL leadership team meets quarterly and the district offers monthly check‑ins for building teams.
On funding and implementation, the presentation noted the district was notified it had received a Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Stop School Violence grant worth nearly $1 million to support school safety and social‑emotional programming. The district has hired a grant coordinator, William Green, and is planning a school crisis response simulation for this summer coordinated with law enforcement and emergency responders. Staff also said the district is continuing partnerships with Conscious Discipline, CESA 6 and other SEL partners.
Board members asked about training to address rating discrepancies. Staff said the district continues ICS (implicit‑bias) work led by district leaders and is training principals on disaggregating SABERS and discipline data to identify areas for targeted supports.
Board members asked how the district evaluates SABERS as an improvement measure; staff said SABERS is a norm‑referenced assessment and district goals aim to be near the norm of approximately 80–85% in low risk, roughly 15% some risk and 2–3% high risk. Staff cautioned that SEL measures are imperfect but said SABERS provides valuable information for intervention planning.
Staff said next steps include additional administrator training on data use, continued work with partners on prevention and restorative practices, and implementation planning for grant‑funded activities.
