School leaders detail Priority 1 plan: data chats, new CTE labs, PBIS, attendance, mental health

Charlotte County Public Schools program leaders on Sept. 9 presented the district’s Priority 1 plan — a package of instruction and student-support initiatives intended to prepare graduates for “enrollment, enlistment, or employment.” The board heard status updates and near-term plans on five objectives: rigorous instruction, monitoring low-performing students, career and technical education, behavior supports (PBIS), attendance, and student mental health.

Lede and context: Assistant Superintendent Mike Desjardins said the district will focus in the coming year on “what did we achieve last year… and what are our high level big rocks for this upcoming school year,” noting a district vision of “success for all.” He described the Priority 1 goal as preparing “all students to graduate ready for the… 3 e's, enrollment, enlistment, or employment.”

Instructional monitoring and data chats: Dr. Bedford (instruction) described new “data chats” that group principals and assistant principals into clusters. Schools will present plans for monitoring learning gains among their lowest-performing 25–30 percent of students and describe tier 2/3 interventions. High schools will additionally report graduation caps and how students are placed into courses that contribute to CACR (Career and College Readiness) scores.

EduClimber and teacher tools: The district has rolled out EduClimber to replace EDs; trainers have completed sessions and each school assigned trainers to take staff through hands-on practice. Presenters displayed student profiles and teacher “data wall” reports showing prior-year assessment scores, attendance flags and interventions. Desjardins said teachers can now see longitudinal information for incoming students, which leaders hope will improve early identification and targeted intervention.

Career and technical education: The district distributed printed career-planning guides and a brochure listing CTE offerings. Senior leaders described an Advanced Manufacturing program at Port Charlotte High School with four class sections and a lab; some equipment is delayed but the program is running. Aviation programs include an in-class kit airplane donated by Zenith and an FAA AMP program at the airport; staff said the district is building hangars tied to training. Cybersecurity has launched at Lehigh Acres/Lehi Bay (transcript: “Lehi Bay”) in partnership with Cyber Florida and Space Florida. The presenters emphasized local employer partnerships: district staff said companies have asked students to build components and trainers, and one local firm hired an instructor part time.

PBIS and behavior changes: The district described a new “minor infraction” option in its discipline workflow. Teachers can log minor classroom interventions that do not remove students from instruction; on the fourth minor entry an automatic referral will be triggered. Officials said the approach reduces office referrals by capturing early corrective actions and gives administrators data for proactive coaching. A district representative said, “the data is now allowing them to have proactive conversations with their teachers about classroom management.” Several principals reported positive early feedback.

Attendance: The district reported progress lowering chronic absenteeism to 25.23 percent last year (a roughly 2 percentage‑point improvement from the prior year goal of 26.29 percent). Staff described pre‑year lists given to principals showing incoming students’ prior attendance tiers and the use of ParentSquare texts to let parents report absences. Staff said daily average attendance this September is higher than at the same point last year.

Mental health and resiliency: District staff highlighted student-led initiatives, including a resiliency poster and sticker campaign called “Enough,” created by student Hannah Dickinson. The district said resilience lessons from Navigate360 produced a 66 percent pass rate on pre‑post assessments last year; the new goal is 68 percent.

Why it matters: The Priority 1 package connects instructional monitoring, CTE expansion and student supports to graduation and workforce readiness. Presenters repeatedly emphasized systems change — common protocols, teacher training and shared digital tools — as key to raising outcomes.

Ending: Board members praised the cross‑department cooperation. Staff said follow-ups will include December PM2 test results, principal data‑chat schedules and continued rollout and training for EduClimber and PBIS systems.