Hibbing Public School District leaders told the school board on a leadership-team presentation that the district this year implemented a consistent K–12 teacher-evaluation model and expanded formal tiered student supports intended to catch academic and behavioral needs earlier.

“It's not, it's not just the English teacher's job to teach reading obviously. It's all, it's the focus for all of us,” said Mr. Gvardi, the high school leader who opened the presentation, describing a districtwide literacy framework and cross-grade continuity in procedures.

Administrators described a three-tier system. Tier 1 consists of universal classroom strategies used for all students; tier 2 involves targeted, team-planned interventions and progress monitoring; tier 3 is for students needing intensive supports and potential special-education evaluation. Presenters said the reinforced tiered work is intended to reduce rapid referrals straight from tier 1 to special education.

“The form is very beneficial for us. So if there's areas of improvement ... it's really easy for us to see those areas,” Gvardi said of the new evaluation form, which he said was developed and rolled out over the summer and applied uniformly across K–12.

At the high school, officials described inclusion and push-in models (special-education staff supporting general-education classes) and a planned after-school target-services program that will provide an hour of tutoring or targeted instruction in math and reading several days per week. Board members were told the district will access funds for target services through the district agreement with the entity referenced as Plocaine in the staff presentation.

Presenters across elementary buildings described social-emotional learning (SEL) delivered at the classroom/library level for tier 1 and said teachers follow up with instruction and behavior supports. One elementary principal described observing a student in the hallway who later received library SEL instruction; teachers reinforced the same lesson later in the day.

Staff described changes to special-education team meetings: collaborative "link teams" now include general-education teachers, counselors and special-education staff meeting regularly to review data and interventions. Several principals said that broader teacher involvement has produced immediate classroom-level changes when teachers borrow effective strategies from colleagues.

Leaders also said the district is beginning to revive an internal early-intervention program labeled “Win” for elementary grades; teachers use FastBridge screening data three times a year to place students into high/medium/low groups during the intervention block and adjust groups as students progress.

Board members asked about program timing and origins. Staff said the expanded tier 2/child-study processes have been developing across buildings for roughly two years and that this school year is the first with increased general-education teacher participation at the high school.

Multiple principals described teacher-development changes tied to the new evaluation model: pre-observation conferences, shared goals, peer review and post-observation conference steps designed to make observations more collaborative and growth-oriented.

Student-device policy changes also drew brief discussion: staff reported the cell-phone policy transition has been largely cooperative, with teachers reporting fewer disruptions and some students saying reduced phone access decreased anxiety.

Board members and staff framed the initiatives as works in progress. Administrators recommended continued monitoring of FastBridge and classroom data, and said they will return with follow-ups as interventions and evaluation cycles continue to produce measurable results.