The Instructional Committee received a preview of the district's draft professional development plan at its Aug. 13 meeting, with Assistant Superintendent Yerlott describing the materials as preliminary and noting a September meeting of the district's professional development committee would follow.

Yerlott said the draft shows PD days on Aug. 25-26 (with educational assistants and tutors starting Aug. 26), an October NEA-related PD day, a district-wide PD day on Nov. 4 with multiple two-hour blocks of choices, and further building-level PD days in January and other points in the year. "The professional development days are August 25 and August 26," Yerlott said.

The draft distinguishes building-level days (for principals to run site-specific initiatives) and district-level days (with a menu of choices). The Nov. 4 district day was described as a full day with three two-hour blocks offering options including executive functioning, social-emotional learning (SEL), continued AI training, Discovery Education, suicide prevention, Medicaid training for appropriate staff and next-generation science standards (NGSS) review. Yerlott also said the draft includes required trainings such as CPI (crisis prevention intervention) and Medicaid-related sessions for eligible staff.

Committee members supported choice but urged the PD menu be more tightly focused on district priorities that improve student outcomes. Several members asked whether having as many as 60 choices would be practical and who would vet programs for quality and alignment with district strategic goals. One committee member suggested limiting choices to 30 in a given year and rotating options across years; another urged targeted PD for reading, math and science linked to student outcome data.

The draft also includes specialty sessions for staff groups often left out of general PD: art teachers (art therapy), PE and health teachers, ELL teachers, and a half-day offer from a community parent familiar with NGSS to provide hands-on science work. Presenters named in the draft included Alyssa Johnson (executive functioning), Sarah Sherman (SEL), Susan Rydell (art therapy), Nancy Rose (Discovery Education), Stephanie Bowser and Wendy Harrison (NGSS work). The committee asked staff to return with feedback from the professional development committee and from teachers on how best to balance choice and district priorities.

Next steps: Yerlott will convene the PD committee in September, gather input and refine the menu and delivery model; staff will share the draft PD plan with teachers and principals and return to the committee with recommended adjustments.