Eau Claire board accepts OE‑2 equity report, approves targeted indicator amendments after extended presentation and discussion

The Eau Claire Area School District board on Tuesday accepted the district's OE‑2 equity monitoring report after a detailed presentation by Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Dan Yang and Director of Special Education Dana McConnell and extended board discussion. The board voted to approve the monitoring report with several targeted amendments to indicator assessments.

The report, an annual equity review, summarized eight key performance indicators including climate survey results, disproportionality in special education identification and discipline, attendance trends and nondiscrimination complaints. Dan Yang told the board that the district defines educational equity as "making sure that students have the right things at the right time, regardless of their background," and said the presentation would highlight climate, attendance, nondiscrimination complaints and disproportionality in special education.

The nut graf: The report showed mixed results — statistically significant gains in several climate survey measures and in district attendance overall, but continuing disproportionalities in discipline and in some subgroup outcomes. Board members pressed for continued root‑cause work and clarified next steps; the board approved the monitoring report but amended several indicator findings to note exceptions and ongoing work.

Yang and Dana McConnell led the presentation. McConnell reviewed the district's joint federal notification related to special education and said that, for the 2023–24 school year, the district was identified for disproportionate discipline removals of Black students; she noted the district was not identified in 2024 for over‑identification in emotional behavioral disability or specific learning disability but added that discipline removals had produced a new identification in 2024. McConnell said the district will undertake a required root‑cause analysis and continue building‑level and district‑level reviews and interventions.

McConnell and Yang also reported a 56% drop in people‑nondiscrimination complaints year‑to‑year, from 130 complaints to 60, and described changes in the bases for complaints; race remained the most common basis, and complaints categorized by sexual orientation or gender identity rose in visibility (for example, one category doubled from 7 to 14 complaints). Attendance trends in the report showed a 0.7 percentage‑point increase districtwide from 2022–23 to 2023–24; Yang said Black students saw the largest single‑group gain (about 3.6 percentage points). The presentation also noted continued gaps for some groups, including nonbinary students and several historically disadvantaged subgroups.

Yang walked the board through student, family and staff climate surveys: elementary students (grades 3–5) had an 83% response rate on an 11‑question survey; secondary students (grades 6–12) had about a 45% response rate on a 48‑question instrument; families returned about 1,500 surveys; and staff response to a 77‑question survey was about 50.5%. Yang and McConnell emphasized disaggregation by race, gender identity, disability status, economic disadvantage and other identities and highlighted statistically significant year‑over‑year changes and effect sizes when relevant.

During discussion, board members raised several themes. Commissioner Farrar urged the district to align curriculum choices with the equity goals and questioned an administrative decision to remove a particular second‑grade lesson resource on definitions of queer identities; Farrar said, “I’m not sure how we’re going to accomplish those goals if we don’t teach students the right words to use.” Superintendent Johnson responded that curriculum and resource selection is the work of content experts and building‑level teams and that the district followed its review process for that particular resource.

Several commissioners, including Dr. Bica and others, pressed for detail on the planned discipline root‑cause analysis and for continued emphasis on culturally and linguistically responsive practices for staff and principals. Commissioners also asked about the limits of the climate‑survey data (administrators confirmed surveys are anonymous snapshots rather than longitudinally tracked cohorts) and how district data are used to prompt building‑level interventions.

On motions: the board first considered a series of proposed amendments to the OE‑2 assessment. A motion to mark OE‑2 indicator 2.2 (indicator 3 in the packet) as "in compliance with exception" passed; separate proposed amendments to mark 2.2 indicator 4 (Black student success) and 2.4 indicator 3 as in compliance with exception both failed in roll‑call debate. The board later amended OE‑2 by changing 2.1 indicator 2 to "in compliance with exception," then changed the overall OE‑2 2.1 assessment to "in compliance with exception." The board voted later to mark OE‑2.2 overall "in compliance with exception." Following those amendments the board approved the OE‑2 monitoring report as amended.

Board members and staff said the report will inform further work: McConnell outlined the required federal root‑cause review related to discipline identifications and the district's plan to continue building‑level deep dives; Yang outlined equity action goals for 2025–26 (including culturally and linguistically responsive instructional practices, guaranteed curriculum work, and priority efforts to improve climate for LGBTQ and certain racial/ethnic groups). Yang noted the equity action work is district‑wide and will involve teaching and learning, special education, human resources and other departments.

The presentation materials and a 65‑page equity annual report were made available to the board. Yang and McConnell said the documents contain detailed data tables and the full equity action plan. The board directed staff to continue the root‑cause analyses, provide follow‑up evidence on interventions, and bring related monitoring information to future board meetings.

Ending: The board thanked the presenters and moved to the remainder of the agenda. The approved monitoring report will be incorporated into the district's monitoring records and used to guide the district's equity action planning for the coming school year.