Raytown administrators cite steady APR gains but say attendance must improve to secure full accreditation

Raytown Quality School District officials told the board on Dec. 9 that the district’s annual performance report (APR) shows gains in student achievement but that attendance remains a key barrier to reaching full accreditation.

Doctor Greiner presented the APR highlights, saying the district earned 71.5% of possible points for the 2023–24 year and a three‑year composite of 69.7%, just below the 70% composite threshold the state uses to classify full accreditation. "Our plan, not our hope, our plan is that next year ... our new three year average will be well above 70%," Greiner said.

Greiner told the board that 200 points are available under the state’s MSIP 6 framework and that roughly 70% of points (140) are tied to performance on high‑stakes tests such as the MAP assessments (grades 3–8) and end‑of‑course high school tests. He said the district has seen increases in English language arts, math and social studies performance between the most recent years and credited teachers, building leaders and district staff for the gains.

The presentation also singled out attendance as an area where the district earned no continuous‑improvement points last year. Greiner said attendance points require that at least 70% of students attend 90% of the time and described steps the district is taking: improving accuracy of daily attendance reporting, strengthening processes at the building level led by the director of administrative services and district attendance staff, regular outreach by advisory teachers to families, and formation of site intervention teams to create tailored plans for students with chronic absence.

Greiner described tiered instructional supports—tier 1 universal instruction, tier 2 targeted interventions and tier 3 intensive remediation—and said the district expanded instructional coaching this year through a partnership with Marzano Strategies. He also noted daily intervention practices in elementary schools (students receive breakfast and targeted support first thing each morning) and ‘‘bird hour’’ interventions for secondary students.

Board members praised the data and asked for additional benchmarking. Greiner offered to provide a one‑year ranking (instead of the three‑year composite) on request; he said the slide presented compared Raytown to six neighboring districts and placed Raytown third for the most recent year among that peer group.

The superintendent, Doctor Martin Knox, and board members also emphasized student voice and student engagement programs as part of broader strategies to improve attendance. Student representatives at the meeting said they are planning attendance incentives such as a hot‑cocoa movie screening for students with attendance above 90% and other events to encourage regular attendance.

District officials did not propose any formal policy changes at the meeting; they described ongoing operational steps and promised follow‑up materials for the board on specific attendance‑improvement tactics.