West Chester Area School District to roll out LinkIt for districtwide MTSS; committee approves contracts and booster clubs

At a meeting of the West Chester Area School District Teaching, Learning and Equity Committee, committee members heard a district staff presentation on a planned districtwide rollout of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) using the LinkIt platform and approved three consent items by 4-0 votes: meeting minutes, annual service-contract renewals, and fall booster-club listings.

A district staff member leading the MTSS presentation summarized the district's vision for MTSS and the reason for a unified platform. The staff member said, "In the Westchester Area School District, multi tiered systems of supports or MTSS is a continuum of inclusive and equitable practices to support academic, behavioral, and social emotional needs of all students. As every student has the ability to learn and achieve their personal best, all members of the district community are committed to and accountable for student success." The presenter said work on a consistent referral process, data tracking, family communication, and resource mapping has been under way for two years and that the district selected LinkIt to follow students and interventions across its 17 buildings.

The presenter described two referral pathways into MTSS: benchmark-driven referral and teacher recommendation. At the classroom level, the district built a tier 1 checklist inside LinkIt so teachers can document in-class interventions. The presenter said teachers are asked to implement and document tier 1 interventions for a minimum of 30 days before requesting team assistance; after that period, a teacher can complete a "request for assistance" form that is tracked in LinkIt. The presenter said student goals and progress will be logged in the system so future teachers can see prior interventions and outcomes.

On family communication, the presenter said the district set a minimum communication standard: families will receive fall and spring benchmark results, teachers must notify families when they refer a student to MTSS, and families will be told the outcome of MTSS-team meetings. The presenter said teams should review student progress roughly every six to eight weeks and that, where appropriate, the MTSS team could recommend an evaluation for special education or a Section 504 plan.

The presenter said the district also completed resource mapping inside LinkIt so MTSS teams can match identified needs to interventions already available in the district. On integration and access, the presenter said LinkIt communicates with the district's student information system (PowerSchool) so teachers see the students rostered to them; access will be tiered by role (teacher, building administrator, district administrator).

Committee members and public commenters asked questions and offered suggestions. Judy DePonzo, a resident, urged consistent instructional language across general education and pull-out supports, noting the confusion students face with multiple labels for the same concept: "When you have a student who's in gen ed and then pulled out for MTSS or with a reading specialist or what have you, they could be using different language... I think it would be a good idea if everyone's on the same page." A committee member suggested creating a glossary of terms for parents; the presenter agreed that a glossary or standard list for the website was a good idea.

Committee members asked about parental opt-out and access. The presenter said MTSS is a regular-education intervention and told the committee: "So it's not really something that parents can opt their child out of." The presenter also clarified that teacher-level access is limited to rostered students, building administrators can see their building, and district administrators can see districtwide records.

The presenter gave an implementation timeline: administrators have had an initial look, MTSS-team trainings start in September, and districtwide teacher training is expected to continue into October (the presenter identified an October training date as a probable second training day). The presenter described the rollout as an enhancement to existing MTSS practice rather than a wholly new process.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of Teaching, Learning and Equity Committee meeting minutes (June 16): passed, tally reported as 4 yes, 0 no.

- Approval of annual service-contract renewals for a set of vendors (presented as 12 agencies in the packet): passed, tally reported as 4 yes, 0 no. The presenter said two of the listed vendors are new to the district; the packet lists approximate prior-year costs for returning vendors. The presenter also noted the district recently added a Spanish interpreter/translator position and anticipates further need for Spanish-language contractors.

- Approval of fall booster clubs for the 2025-26 school year: passed, tally reported as 4 yes, 0 no. The committee approved booster groups listed for East High School, Henderson High School, and Ruston High School (teams approved include, among others, marching band, football, boys' and girls' soccer, girls' tennis, volleyball, cross country, field hockey, golf, cheerleading; athletic additions noted included dance teams at East and Henderson and an ice hockey team at Henderson). Specific team lists were read into the record by a school staff presenter.

The meeting closed after members expressed broad support for the districtwide MTSS tools and for standardizing practices across the 17 schools. The presenter said further trainings and rollout steps will be shared with school teams in coming weeks.