Roaring Fork Schools report first-year strategic plan progress, data dashboard launched

Superintendent Dr. Anna Cole presented a year-one update on the Roaring Fork School District No. Re-1 strategic plan, telling the board the district has completed its first-year implementation work and launched a public data dashboard for ongoing monitoring.

Cole said the district used an organizational diagnostic and root-cause analysis with Attuned Education Partners to set five strategic priorities, add measurable targets and create a data dashboard intended to raise transparency and accountability. “This plan has specific targeted metrics to measure and monitor the implementation of the plan strengthening accountability across the board,” she said.

The superintendent framed the work as systems change, not a single program. She highlighted efforts to strengthen the district’s data culture — including new in-year assessments, schoolwide data-review days, educator coaching (Grow), and improved visualizations — and credited Dr. Park (chief academic officer) for leading that shift. Cole said the district has a balanced first draft of the 2025–26 general fund budget but that budgets remain “tight” for the coming years.

On student outcomes and programs, Cole gave several concrete participation totals: 66 graduating seniors earned the Seal of Biliteracy this year; 38 Roaring Fork High School students participated in a construction pathway; 57 students at Bridges participated in the ACE (alternative cooperative education) pathway; and 48 students from Fork, Glenwood Springs and Basalt participated in the district’s CMC auto-tech program. She also said roughly 240 additional high school students participated in programs still in early development, including culinary arts, EMT and digital media pathways.

Cole and Dr. Park acknowledged progress in reducing in-school and out-of-school suspensions and referrals compared with prior years, but both emphasized that “disparate outcomes by race” persist and require targeted work. The superintendent noted attendance remained around 90–91.1 percent while the target is 96 percent.

Board members asked for more detailed, disaggregated information about outcomes for emerging bilingual students and for clarity on how year-two efforts will close persistent gaps. Director DeFriedis asked whether reunification and emergency protocols include translation services; Cole and staff said bilingual family liaisons in the Family Resource Center would be part of reunification response to support non-English-speaking parents.

Cole said the district will present a second, data-rich update in the fall after additional state assessment and end-of-year measures become available and invited the community to review the strategic-plan dashboard on the district website.

Ending: The board did not take formal action on the plan at the meeting; staff said detailed student achievement data and a program-level CLDE (emergent bilingual) review will be presented in the fall to inform year-two priorities and potential changes in programming.