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State board accepted Mitchell High School innovation plan; local board told plan aims to raise instruction quality
Summary
The board received an update that the State Board of Education unanimously approved the Mitchell High School innovation plan and learned the district will add an external partial academic manager to accelerate teacher supports, instruction and student progress.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Trustees were briefed Wednesday that the Colorado State Board of Education unanimously accepted Mitchell High School's innovation plan and the district is preparing to implement a two-part strategy combining an external partial academic manager with the school's existing innovations.
Area Superintendent Lehi Callback and Mitchell principal George Smith summarized the plan, telling trustees the state board voted 9-0 in favor of the proposal. The department described the local plan as emphasizing "partial academic management" from an external partner and continued use of the innovation plan's waivers; the innovation plan itself remains unchanged and state law requires the local board to review innovation plans every three years.
Dr. Comfort and area leaders said the root causes the plan targets include weak day-to-day classroom instruction, gaps in hiring and compensation, and insufficient talent development and evaluation systems. Trustees asked for evidence of progress monitoring; administrators said progress-monitoring reports they share with the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) are publicly available and they would provide links and updates.
The state-approved strategy focuses on intensive on-site instructional support the district said has produced improvements at other D11 schools where the same partner has worked (examples offered included Galileo and Adams). Mitchell administrators said student intake levels for reading and math show students entering far below grade level in many cases, which underlines the urgency of focusing intervention on instruction.
Why it matters: Mitchell is on the state's priority list for improvement; officials said the new implementation step emphasizes getting coaches and specialists into classrooms to support teachers and accelerate progress rather than relying only on longer-term systemic changes.
Next steps: Administrators said they will provide the board with the plan's progress monitoring and data that go to CDE and will increase local reporting to trustees. The board signaled support for monitoring the plan's implementation and asked staff to bring back specific updates in the months ahead.
Ending: Trustees and staff portrayed the plan as urgent work to accelerate classroom instruction and said they will provide regular progress updates to the board and the community.
