Lakeville high school leaders spotlight counselor additions, freshmen supports and push for a seventh period

Lakeville Area Schools presented a wide-ranging update on the district’s high school programs on May 27, highlighting new counselor hires, freshman transition programs and proposals to expand scheduling and course access.

Elida Kane, director of secondary teaching and learning, told the board the high school team is focused on ‘‘preparing students for an ever evolving world’’ and described graduation as the district’s ‘‘North Star’’ for instructional planning and student supports.

Kane said the district serves just under 4,000 students across two traditional high schools, Pathways Academy and Lakeville Online Academy, with more than 55 languages spoken among high school students. ‘‘Our teachers see roughly 75 students per day with varying needs and backgrounds,’’ she said, drawing attention to the data the district uses to align staffing and supports.

Nut graf: District leaders argued that recent investments — adding counselors and freshmen support programs — are producing early benefits, but principals urged the board to consider deeper schedule and facility changes to increase course options, delivery of college-credit classes on-campus and to reduce large class sizes.

Principals outlined programs and results Kim Budi, principal at Lakeville North, and Sean Murphy, principal at Lakeville South, described course offerings and student outcomes. Murphy said the district average GPA is 3.271 and that nearly 1,800 students took Advanced Placement courses this year, with about 74% of AP test-takers scoring a 3 or higher. He reported an average ACT score of 22.9 for Lakeville juniors, above the state and national averages cited in the presentation.

The high schools also emphasized career pathways and concurrent-college-credit opportunities. Kane and Budi described a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) course started in 2022 that has yielded 76 student certifications so far this year and is on track to pass 100. STEM, manufacturing, and vocational pathways include capstones and internships, they said.

Counseling and freshman supports Budi said the district expanded counseling this school year and added three counselors at each comprehensive high school. ‘‘As of early May, the counselors at North had well over 2,000 student booked appointments,’’ she said, listing typical reasons: course and postsecondary planning, schedule changes and social-emotional support. When asked how many counselors would be ideal, Budi said she would staff eight counselors per high school; the board discussed that moving from three toward four would be a near-term objective.

Murphy and Budi also described two freshmen-focused interventions: Link Crew, a peer-mentoring program pairing upperclass leaders with ninth-graders, and BARR (Building Assets, Reducing Risks), a teacher-team model intended to increase attendance, credit attainment and student-teacher relationships. Murphy said freshmen in the first year of BARR maintained attendance above 94% and teachers reported stronger student relationships.

Concurrent enrollment, credit recovery and trades Administrators urged expansion of on-campus concurrent enrollment so more students can earn college credit without leaving campus for PSEO courses, which the district pays to outside institutions. Budi and Murphy said offering more concurrent courses at Lakeville would help students who need a ‘‘safety net’’ and could reduce the district’s PSEO expenditures.

Margaret Gehr, principal of Pathways Academy and Lakeville Online Academy, explained Pathways’ role as an area learning center and summarized credit-recovery and targeted-service numbers: 231 summer high-school credit recoveries and roughly 600 students served in summer targeted services for K–8.

Scheduling, class size and facilities Several board members and principals pressed for flexible scheduling (moving to a seven-period day) to increase course opportunities and in-school intervention time. Murphy said a seven-period day would require additional staff — about eight teachers per building in the models the district has tested — and noted the financial and facilities implications. ‘‘A 6-period schedule limits students’ access to electives, interventions, and enrichment opportunities,’’ he said, adding that neighboring districts’ seven-period schedules allow for more course choices.

Principals also raised concerns about high class sizes and facility capacity. Budi said many classes have 35 students or more and the district is nearing room capacity for some programming, which limits the ability to expand concurrent enrollment, STEM labs and other hands-on courses.

Board response and next steps Board members asked administrators to return with additional data and options. Several trustees suggested a future work session focused on schedule alternatives, staffing costs and facility impacts; Superintendent Michael Baumann said the district is exploring multiple financing models and called for sustained investment to institutionalize scheduling and course changes. Administrators said they will continue monitoring early data from the counselor additions and BARR program and bring metrics to future meetings.

Ending: The high school leaders emphasized graduation and postsecondary planning as primary measures of success; principals urged the board to weigh scheduling and facility investments to give students earlier access to expanded pathways and supports. The board asked staff to return with more detailed cost and implementation plans for scheduling, concurrent enrollment expansion and counselor staffing.