Dr. Springston presented USD 443's required 2025 accountability report at the board meeting, outlining district goals, the KISA accreditation framework and targets tied to state assessment performance.
Dr. Springston said the district's academic goals align to the state's PLD (proficiency level descriptor) measures and that the district's target is for 80% or more of students to be at or above the upper half of PLD level 2 by the 2028–29 school year. "So everything from that target, we work backwards," he said.
He noted the state's 2025 assessment scores had not yet been released and said the Kansas Department of Education was estimating a fall release; he committed to share results with the board after release. The district's most recent publicly available accountability report for 2023–24 showed results near the state average, with the district's dropout rate about one percentage point higher than the state figure.
An English-language proficiency presentation included KELPA domain results. A district staff member summarized spring 2025 KELPA outcomes for roughly 2,700 tested students: 41% of English learners scored proficient in speaking; 52% in listening; 23% in reading; and 27% in writing. The presenter said 252 students (about 9% of those tested) scored proficient across all four domains.
Board members pressed for clarity about the district's emphasis on "adult behaviors" and instructional consistency and asked how the district would address student-level outcomes if proficiency did not improve after system changes. Dr. Springston said the district is integrating behavior supports, EL strategies and instructional planning and would present bubble/borderline student data after the state's transition tables are released.
Ending: Staff said they will provide the fall state assessment release and transition tables when available, and the board will review updated results after release.