Dr. Jeff Hauswald, superintendent of Boone County Schools, presented a year-end progress report Tuesday that summarized the district’s 2024–25 priorities and laid out initiatives the administration expects to implement in 2025–26, including systemwide curriculum alignment, universal classroom translation services, expanded early-childhood capacity and new employee-retention programs.

Why it matters: The report frames the district’s operational priorities — learning and safety — and accompanies several board decisions the administration said are intended to improve instructional equity, recruitment and retention while protecting student data and school safety.

Hauswald told the board the district has completed a timeline to adopt common curricula and common diagnostic screening assessments across K–12 to reduce disparities when students move between schools. He described an initial language-arts adoption (CKLA) and said the district is standardizing screening and diagnostic assessments so data are comparable across schools.

He announced plans for universal, real-time classroom translation services for students who speak more than 70 home languages, saying the district expects installation in classrooms to begin immediately and be in place by mid-August. Hauswald said the service will allow teachers to deliver instruction to English learners in the student’s home language while students continue acquiring English.

On staffing and compensation, Hauswald described several personnel initiatives: a districtwide program of “stay interviews” (about 300 conducted this year) to learn why employees remain and what would improve retention; a 7.8% total increase in salaries and wages over two years; and a targeted increase in beginning-teacher pay (a $3,000 incremental raise at the start of the salary scale). He also outlined a new local annuity program that includes a 1% district match and an additional $2,000-per-year “sign-up/retention” contribution for employees during their first five years (subject to vesting rules), which the administration said is intended to improve recruitment and long-term retention.

Hauswald described planned safety and operations upgrades, including a $400,000-plus investment in cybersecurity and a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar program to replace antiquated intercom systems and to add targeted classroom alert features. He said combining updated intercoms with the translation service would let the district deliver safety instructions in students’ home languages during an emergency.

The board acted on several formal items that accompanied the presentation. In votes recorded on the meeting transcript, members:
- approved the consent agenda (items a through gg), which included the treasurer’s report and a group of routine items (motion recorded without named mover/second; vote recorded as 5–0, approved);
- approved updates to bookkeeper job descriptions (motion and second recorded; vote 5–0, approved);
- approved the tentative working budget for fiscal year 2025–26 as the district’s working budget (motion and second recorded; vote 5–0, approved);
- approved the 2025–26 salary/wage charts and an executive-cabinet reorganization chart that reduces the cabinet by roughly 10% and yields the administration’s projected savings (motion and second recorded; vote 5–0, approved).

Treasurer Katie Noonan presented the month-end financials for April: an adjusted cash balance of $93,145,040 at the start of the month, approximately $8.7 million in receipts and roughly $13.8 million in expenditures for a net decrease of $5,140,507 and a closing balance of $88,004,533. Noonan said the district received about $1,000,000 in PSC property tax and $1,100,000 in utility taxes in the period; she also noted timing-related variances in student-transportation purchases and that the district made $1.6 million in debt-service payments during the month.

Board members asked follow-up questions about dual-credit logistics and student supports (see separate coverage). Several board members and staff praised the new retention and compensation measures and the translation and safety investments as steps intended to reduce inequities and modernize school operations.

The superintendent said the report is intended as a “progress report” and preview for 2025–26; he asked the board and the community for continued feedback as the district finalizes plans over the summer.

The board adjourned after routine motions; the meeting record shows unanimous votes on the items above.