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Board approves Missouri Assessment Program report, elects officers and passes routine measures
Summary
The Special School District Board approved the district’s Missouri Assessment Program report after a staff presentation and debate about test validity and significance; the board also approved a bus route, a budget adjustment, set a closed meeting date and completed officer elections including Carmen Statham as board president.
The Special School District Board of Education voted to approve the district’s Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) report after hearing presentation and board questions about performance, growth metrics and statistical significance.
Dr. Matt Grama, director of evaluation and research, presented MAP results for the 2023–24 school year. He told the board that roughly a quarter of students scored at or above the basic level in English language arts, about 16.8% were at or above basic in math, and the district reported an increase in science and social studies results compared with the prior year. Dr. Grama emphasized the MAP growth metric, saying growth may be more meaningful for many SSD students because several enter SSD schools multiple grade-equivalencies behind and growth captures year-to-year progress.
Board members pressed staff on the validity of the math test and on whether year-to-year changes were statistically significant. A board member asked staff to include statistical-significance information (using a .05 threshold) in future reporting so the board can distinguish noise from meaningful change. Dr. Grama and staff also confirmed the district is awaiting action on an innovation waiver from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that could affect some accountability reporting; the district remains subject to normal accreditation standards while the waiver is pending.
After discussion a board member moved to approve the MAP report “as presented.” The motion passed on a roll call vote recorded as unanimous.
Votes at a glance
- Approval of Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) report — Motion: approve the MAP report as presented; Vote: unanimous (roll call: Director Esmere — Yes; Director Mueller — Yes; Vice President Steggye — Yea; President Cunha — Yes; Director Souto — Yes; Director Sartorius — Yes). Outcome: approved.
- Bridal bus route approval (06/2025) — Motion: approve bus route; Motion made and seconded; Vote: all in favor (Aye). Outcome: approved.
- Budget adjustment, Business & Finance (6.03) — Motion: approve budget adjustment; Vote: all in favor (Aye). Outcome: approved.
- Motion to hold a closed meeting on April 8 at 7:00 p.m. — Motion made; Roll call vote: all voted yes. Outcome: approved.
- Governing council election results — Motion to approve election result; Vote: all in favor (Aye). Outcome: approved.
- Board officer elections / reorganization — Motions to nominate and elect officers passed: Carmen Statham elected board president; a nomination and vote elected the vice president (name recorded in meeting), Tom Giles elected board secretary; CFO Cindy Romond recommended and approved as board treasurer. Outcome: officers elected.
Several of the votes were routine, taken by roll call and recorded as unanimous or all in favor. Board discussion on MAP focused on interpreting low absolute performance percentages in light of student growth and on staff commitments to provide statistical-significance information in future reports.
The meeting also included recognitions, scholarship announcements from the Special Education Foundation and a public comment from a foundation representative; those items were informational and did not require formal board action.
