Osceola board presentation finds 356 initiatives cost more than $100 million; district to tighten program evaluation

District Management Group presented an initiative inventory to the Osceola School District Board of Education that identified roughly 356 separate initiatives costing more than $100 million annually in combined staff time and dollars and found that fewer than 30% of initiatives are actively monitored.

The inventory, delivered by Simone Carpenter, director with District Management Group, and Lucy Niazoba, an associate with District Management Group, described the work as an "academic return on investment" review intended to answer the question, "What works for which students at what cost?" Carpenter said the review combined central-office inventories, principal surveys and usage and outcome data where available.

The inventory found that about 70% of initiatives are not targeted to a specific student population, roughly one in three programs is directed at a defined population (English learners, students with disabilities, etc.), and about 25 initiatives each cost $1 million or more in fully loaded time, people and dollars. Fewer than 30% of initiatives were described as actively monitored with results reported to the…