Battle Creek Public Schools launches Phase 2 strategic plan to accelerate literacy, attendance and grade-level transitions
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Summary
Superintendent Dr. Carter presented a new multi-year strategic plan Monday that refocuses district work on four priorities — positive school experiences, foundations and excellence, grade-level mastery, and career/college readiness — and sets numeric baselines and targets for 2025 and beyond.
Battle Creek Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jason Carter introduced the district’s Phase 2 strategic plan during the Board of Education’s Sept. 22 meeting, saying the district will concentrate on accelerating student outcomes in literacy and numeracy, strengthening attendance and engagement, and targeting transition grades 3, 6 and 9.
“The first strategic plan got us here, but it's those same goals are not gonna get us to the next level,” Carter said, framing the new plan as a reset designed to sustain enrollment gains and translate early-childhood progress into higher proficiency in later grades.
The plan, titled Every Student, Every Dream, Every Day, sets four broad priorities: positive school experiences (including belonging and safety), building foundations and achieving excellence, grade-level mastery for all, and career, college and community readiness for secondary students. Carter said the plan establishes 2025 baseline metrics and multi-year targets intended to accelerate gains rather than maintain the status quo.
Among data cited in the presentation: kindergarten readiness rose from about 15% to 47.3% during the district’s transformation work; ELA proficiency improved from about 7.8% to 18.6%; and the district’s fund balance grew from 8.7% to roughly 30%, giving the district roughly 15 weeks of cash flow, Carter said. He added those gains show progress but said the district must now focus on translating early gains into third-grade and middle-school achievement.
Board members pressed for detail on metrics and measurement. Carter and staff said NWEA assessments will be central to measuring grade-level mastery; staff noted NWEA is normed nationally and used as a benchmark three times a year. Carter said the district uses NWEA percentiles to triage interventions, explaining that students below the 60th percentile trigger additional supports because that level correlates with state assessment proficiency.
Trustees asked for more disaggregated data and for the internal metrics slide (which staff said is included in the board packet) to be expanded in future meetings to show starting points, accepted/enrolled pipelines for postsecondary programs, and clearer connections between early literacy gains and later proficiency. Carter said the district will present starting baselines and more detail at upcoming work sessions and will focus school-level attention on third-, sixth- and ninth-grade transitions.
The presentation also addressed noninstructional supports: placing a full-time nurse and a behavior interventionist in every school; investments in teacher pay that raised starting wages to $50,000 in 2023–24; and talent development and leadership coaching to retain and diversify staff. Carter said the district plans targeted investments in attendance, family engagement, extracurricular opportunities and career pathways over multiple years rather than in a single budget cycle.
Board members and staff agreed to return with more specific metrics and a one-page summary of external and internal measures. Carter said implementation will be phased and that not all actions are expected in year one.
The board did not vote on the plan at the meeting; staff described the session as a launch and discussion of implementation priorities and requested follow-up presentations on family and community engagement, external metrics, and how the district will track postsecondary pathways.
