Central Valley SD staff outline back-to-school plans: co-teaching pilot, attendance incentives and expanded security cameras

Central Valley School District staff on Aug. 13 outlined a set of operational and instructional measures they say are in place ahead of the 2025–26 school year, including a co-teaching pilot in English language arts, expanded attendance incentives and upgrades to campus video security.

District staff described the measures as part of a broader effort to raise attendance, increase graduation and improve ELA growth.

Administrators said they will start a co-teaching model this year in the high school ELA department and plan to expand it to math and science in subsequent years. Doctor Hartzell and other administrators said the model will help identify curriculum gaps, provide professional learning for teachers and support student achievement.

"Research shows that co-teaching can reinvigorate teachers and give them an opportunity to learn from one another," Doctor Hartzell said, noting the district will begin the approach in ELA this year.

Staff also described an attendance push that reintroduces and expands incentives used last year, including an "attendance on a roll" program and other measures intended to raise daily attendance rates. The district said it will launch a new at-risk program, described in the meeting as "RAP," to identify high-school students at risk of falling behind and place them on three-year plans intended to support graduation.

Administrators described tweaks to the senior-project process to add expectations for advisers and to adjust deadlines; they said three students who lacked senior-project hours were able to make up credit over the summer and receive diplomas.

Building- and campus-safety items described in detail include a districtwide rollout of exterior cameras and new video-archiving capability. IT and facilities staff said a PCCD grant funded a new data connection and wireless internet at the stadium concession stand, and the district installed new cameras at the concession, press box and around both the high school and middle school perimeters. Staff said the exterior camera installation began the Monday before the meeting and should be finished by the first week of school.

"We are adding all new exterior cameras around the perimeter of both the high school and the middle school," a district facilities or IT representative said, adding that the project could spill into the first week of school.

The district also added digital signage at multiple school locations, upgraded servers to store higher-resolution video from the new cameras, and installed additional security cameras around the press box and ticketing areas. Staff said kindergarten iPads were being prepared and that the district’s master schedule had been loaded into PowerSchool for student access.

Administrators listed timing and parent-facing events: a school safety drill for Todd Lane scheduled for Wednesday the 20th (staff asked the community to avoid the campus during that drill because of emergency-vehicle activity) and a sixth-grade orientation the evening of Aug. 19. Multiple schools planned open visitation and orientations the week before the first day of classes.

Staff noted operational staffing pressures: the district had recruited several paraprofessionals over the summer but said it still needed more. The district described new hires and reassignments that are pending clearance, and it thanked custodial and grounds crews for summer preparations.

The district said Title I paperwork had been finalized and was ready to be returned to the state. Staff also noted new-teacher orientation, IEP-writing training for new special-education teachers at the Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit and various professional-development activities ahead of the first day.

District officials did not present new policy changes for immediate vote in the course of these reports; the items described were presented as operational updates and plans ahead of the school year.

The board received the updates and offered thanks to staff for summer work preparing facilities and schedules.