Sarasota district board reviews updated K‑12 evidence‑based reading plan, emphasizes literacy coaching and compliance

Sarasota County School District leaders presented the board with an updated K‑12 comprehensive evidence‑based reading plan on June 17, outlining steps the district will take to align instruction with the science of reading and to meet new state rules that require timelines and credentialing for interventions and identification of substantial reading disabilities.

The presentation, led by Deputy Superintendent Rachel O'Day and supported by Chief of Elementary Schools Jennifer Manelli and Director for Middle School Curriculum Kiara Bryant, explained the district's literacy leadership structure, staffing expectations for district and participating charter schools, and the professional learning funded through a Strauss literacy grant and a Community Foundation partnership. "It is due to the state every year by August 1," O'Day said of the plan, underscoring the yearly submission requirement.

Why it matters: the plan sets instructional expectations that affect classroom staffing, coach endorsements and intervention offerings across K‑12, and it ties directly to student outcomes monitored by the state and the district. The board signaled interest in next steps for comprehension and secondary interventions as the district shifts emphasis from foundational phonics to higher‑order literacy skills.

District leaders said the plan threads literacy leadership across K‑12 with a network of literacy coaches and, in some schools, interventionists who support teachers and monitor progress. Manelli described district tools that help leaders assess practices and noted minimal updates were needed this year because of prior alignment work: "After completing that reflection tool, our team was able to identify these priority actions," she said, listing coach endorsements, streamlined instructional approaches, and tiered supports.

The presentation noted that 7 of 15 charter schools currently opt into the district plan and therefore meet staffing expectations that include a literacy coach and interventionist; other charters submit their own plans for district review. O'Day said the district has been building coach and interventionist capacity: "Our literacy leadership team for the past 2 years, we've been working on reading endorsements, state coaching endorsement, as well as dyslexia certifications and other variety of micro credentialing." The district also reported running Summer Bridge programs for students who score below the tenth percentile on screening measures and said no students in district‑managed schools qualified this year.

Board members focused questions on next steps after students master decoding and phonics. Board Member Barker asked how the district will move students from decoding to deeper comprehension and writing; district staff replied that elementary literacy blocks range from 90 to 120 minutes and include rotating whole‑group, small‑group, and writing time, and that interdisciplinary instructional planning will be used to build background knowledge and stamina for sustained reading. "Reading is breathing in and writing is breathing out," O'Day said, describing the reciprocal relationship between reading comprehension and writing instruction.

Secondary strategies were highlighted as well. Bryant said the district is scaling small‑group instruction frameworks and targeted interventions (for example, a phonics intervention implemented in middle school intervention classrooms) and plans to extend those methods into core ELA classrooms. The district also described a Literacy for All institute for coaches, interventionists and administrators supported by local funders and external partners such as the University of Florida Lastinger Center.

Board members repeatedly pressed on time in the school day as a limiting resource for interventions and enrichment. Superintendent Connor and staff described plans to use additional intensive reading blocks in secondary schedules and to offer before‑ or after‑school options only when feasible and aligned to family needs. The board and staff agreed to review student performance data and return with a deeper update at upcoming sessions, including a July 22 review of student performance and an August 4 board update on Pillar 1 work tied to the strategic plan.

What's next: district staff will finalize the annual plan and submit it to the state by the August 1 deadline; the board will receive additional data and a deeper update on literacy outcomes in July and August. The district also plans further rollout of literacy coach endorsements and district‑level professional learning supported by the Strauss literacy grant and the Community Foundation.

Ending: The presentation closed with an invitation for board members to observe intervention classrooms and literacy coach work in action; staff said they will schedule school visits and return analysis of student‑level performance at the July and August work sessions.