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Board reviews Title I/TSI plans as district flags high chronic absence, first-grade reading gaps
Summary
Trustees reviewed federally required Title I and Targeted School Improvement (TSI) plans. Documents cite high chronic absenteeism and reading targets for first grade; staff outlined goals and planned trainings.
Southmoreland trustees approved the district’s required Title I and Targeted School Improvement plans for 2025–26 after extended discussion about chronic absenteeism and early-grade reading levels.
Board members noted the high chronic-absence rate cited in the documents: the high school TSI plan reported 69.5% of students classified as chronically absent in the state data used for the plan. The plans for the primary and elementary centers also flagged attendance problems and reading proficiency shortfalls.
At the meeting, building staff explained reading targets and interventions. A staff member summarized the primary center’s reading goals: the district will aim to increase first-grade oral reading fluency toward a year-end target substantially higher than the minimum level cited by the state. "Last year, we had 70 percent of our students able to read 34 words correctly per minute at year end," a staff member said; the primary center aims to raise targets to as high as 65–70 words per minute for a larger share of students and set staged quarterly targets (for example, 25 words in the first quarter progressing to higher rates later).
Staff also said the district will begin trainings this fall to implement multi-tiered systems of support and evidence-based reading instruction; the meeting record notes a $6,000 allocation for Enhanced Core Reading Instruction (ECRI) training for staff.
Trustees asked for clarification on the online state reporting format used to generate the plans; staff explained that some language and true/false fields are artifacts of the state’s web form and do not always read clearly in the exported PDF. Board members requested follow-up data on how many service agreements the district maintains and asked for periodic updates on attendance and reading progress.
Why it matters: District educational plans guide use of Title I and related resources and trigger targeted supports where student subgroups lag. The plans show attendance and early-reading as priority improvement areas and set concrete instructional and training steps.
What’s next: Trustees approved the plans as presented and asked administrators to provide more granular service-agreement data and updates on implementation and student outcomes.
