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Janesville committee details Act 20 literacy rollout, AP participation and benefits timeline
Summary
District staff briefed the board on implementation of Act 20 third-grade literacy screening (AIMSweb Plus), plans for reading interventions and monitoring, differences in AP participation across high schools, staff recruitment efforts and an upcoming benefits renewal timeline; no board action was taken.
At the March 11 meeting, the Janesville School District's Policy and Curriculum Committee (PPC) update reviewed the district's rollout of Act 20 requirements, academic program participation and the district's employee benefits timeline.
Staff described Act 20 as the state law requiring that public-school students read proficiently by the end of third grade. The district is using AIMSweb Plus, chosen by the Department of Public Instruction as the required screener, to assess early literacy skills for students in 4K through third grade. The screener components include letter naming fluency, letter-word sound fluency, phoneme segmentation, auditory vocabulary and oral reading fluency as appropriate to grade level, staff said.
According to the presentation, parents receive notification of screening results; any child flagged as at risk is placed on an official reading plan. The district said it monitors progress weekly and provides a 10-week review for families; staff reported plans to add reading-plan resources to the district website and to create a summer program for students needing additional support. Presenters said the statewide funding for the rollout had not yet been released by the state at the time of the meeting.
PPC members also reviewed advanced-course participation at district high schools. Staff said overall high-school enrollment has stabilized and that AP exam participation varies between Parker and Craig High Schools. The committee noted an increase in AP test scores of 3 or higher over the last three years and described adjustments to transcripted-credit offerings (for example, changes affecting TC chemistry). Staff pointed to alternative pathways and programs on the district website, including Project Lead The Way, Start College Now and early-college credit options.
The committee discussed staffing and recruitment: the district has been posting jobs early, held a job fair at Marshall Middle School and plans to participate in a job fair with CESA and to pursue recruitment partnerships with UW-Whitewater. Jamie Brown provided a benefits overview and a timeline: staff said they expect a full presentation on health-plan renewals from providers Mercy and Dean at the next PPC meeting in April and an information briefing to the full board on April 8; final renewal decisions are scheduled for the April 22 board meeting.
The committee also reviewed NEOLA policy updates and retired policies that were later included on the meeting's consent agenda. Staff said no action on benefits or policy renewals was taken at the March 11 meeting; the benefits advisory committee and district staff will continue stakeholder briefings.
Staff identified Dr. De Grama as the local expert on the literacy screener and credited committees and administrators for the rollout work. The PPC will meet next on April 7 at 4:30 p.m. at the ESC to continue committee work.
