New Britain reports early-grade reading gains, fewer office referrals; chronic absenteeism remains a concern

New Britain School District leaders presented a year-over-year rise in early-grade reading scores and a drop in office referrals at the board—s May 5 regular meeting, while warning that chronic absenteeism and some middle-school results still require attention.

Superintendent Dr. Gaspar told the board that the presentations and data represent collective work across the district: "It's not a thing. It's not, by chance. It's lots of people making really, really hard decisions over and over and over again." He framed the reported improvements as "green shoots" after three years of targeted initiatives.

District assessment data shown by administrator Miss Velasquez indicated upward trends on several internal measures used to track early literacy. Velasquez said the district—s IRLA/IRRRLA runs regular one-on-one assessments and reported proficiency climbing from roughly 34% to about 44% in the first two years of the program—s administration, and a 13 percentage-point reduction in students at the lowest "emergency" reading level. "We are headed in the…