Yukon superintendent reports in‑state college remediation steady; outlines teacher training and dropout interventions

Mr. Signer, superintendent of Yukon Public Schools, reported to the school board that district data from the higher regents show 247 Yukon students entered in‑state public colleges in the fall of 2023 and that 35 of those students — about 14.2% — required at least one remedial college course.

The numbers, Mr. Signer said, come from the regents and represent students who attended in‑state public institutions; they exclude Yukon students who attended private or out‑of‑state colleges. "I'm super impressed with our staff. We have a great team, a great crew," he told the board as he presented the remediation and dropout reports.

Mr. Signer broke down remediation by subject: three students in science, nine in English, 30 in math and two in reading; the district monitors an unduplicated count that captures students who needed remediation in one or more subjects. He said the data run about one year behind and thus reflect the class entering college in fall 2023.

To reduce remediation, Yukon High School has trained its core teachers in ACT AIM training so they can better align daily instruction and test preparation with college readiness measures. The district also used a Solution Tree representative to help teachers design targeted interventions, continued SREB coursework in math for students needing additional preparation, and expanded use of Imagine Math and NWEA assessments to gather diagnostic data. Mr. Signer said teachers used those data and common formative assessments to build interventions and that, for the first time this year, the district relied less on outside ACT prep by equipping classroom teachers to implement prep plans.

On dropout reporting, Mr. Signer said the district defines a dropout as a student in grades 9–12 who leaves and for whom Yukon receives no records request; students who leave for a GED or are withdrawn for homeschooling are counted as dropouts under current state reporting rules. For the 2023–24 school year, the district recorded 20 dropouts, down from higher counts in earlier years but four more than the previous year. Of those, Mr. Signer said four were students with special education status and five were eligible for free or reduced‑price lunch. He provided a grade breakdown: one ninth grader, eight sophomores, seven juniors and four seniors.

Mr. Signer described a range of programs aimed at re‑engaging students: two full‑time registrars who search for missing students and follow up on records requests; an advisory program that assigns students to a single advisor for four years; a weekly "reboot" intervention for up to 20 students; a full‑time virtual school with work sessions; collaboration with an alternative school (staffed by Miss Pendleton and others) and the Yale program (which Mr. Signer said has about 65 spots) to place students who need a different setting; Bridges and Project Connect partnerships; contracted spots at the Canadian County Education Center; credit recovery and fast‑track classes; and a summer school program the district began the first day of June.

Board members asked whether Yukon compared remediation and dropout numbers to other districts. Mr. Signer said the regents publish comparable remediation data for every school in the state and that Yukon generally tracks with similar districts except in math, where Yukon is "a little bit lower." He also told the board that Yukon’s graduation rate has risen since he started and now hovers around 96%.

Several board members questioned whether state reporting rules distort dropout counts (for example, counting GED completers and homeschoolers as dropouts). Mr. Signer said those definitions come from the state and that he is aware of the reporting limits: "It's all guidelines by the state or the OSD. We track that internally," he said, adding that many of the names on the dropout list are students the district has been unable to locate.

The presentation also included a brief remark that the district has restarted conversations with SWASU about establishing a campus at UConn; Mr. Signer said those talks are in early stages.

Board members did not take any formal vote tied to the remediation or dropout reports during the public presentation; the session concluded with members asking for additional comparative numbers and offering thanks to staff.