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Board approves FY‑25 school improvement plans for CSI/TSI schools and funds dean of students positions
Summary
The board approved district and school-level school improvement plans required by the Mississippi Department of Education for FY‑25, including funding to hire dean-of-student positions at listed schools as part of attendance and behavior strategies tied to academic improvement.
The Jackson Public School District board approved the FY‑25 school improvement plans for schools designated as Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI). The plans now will be submitted to the Mississippi Department of Education for final review.
Doctor Loesch, director of federal programs and school support, said the submission includes a district application, a budget overview showing allocations, school‑specific action steps and a budget narrative that MDE requires. One school‑level action highlighted in the board packet is hiring a dean of students; Loesch and board members discussed how the role supports attendance, behavior, and family engagement and pointed to Forest Hill and Lanier as examples where hiring dean positions coincided with exiting school‑improvement status.
Board members asked for clarification about prior-year fund balances that remain at several schools (Kirksey, Cardozo, Blackburn, Peoples, Whitten, and Powell). Loesch said timing drives carryover: allocations are notified in February, plans are written and approved by the board, and MDE typically authorizes final use of funds in May, after schools have closed for the year. As a result, schools often use the funds in the following fiscal year.
The board moved to approve the FY‑25 school improvement plan package; the motion carried by voice vote. Administrators said the dean-of-students positions are intended as strategic investments to reduce chronic absence and improve student outcomes and that the plans include supports such as ACE Academies, expanded formative assessments, and small-group instruction.
Provenance: Office of School Support presented the improvement plan and answered board questions before the board vote.
