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Dixon Unified reports small drop in projected enrollment; district outlines dedicated ELD supports for multilingual learners
Summary
District projected overall enrollment down by 53 students for 2024-25 compared with the prior year and presented attendance standings by school. District coordinator Martha Salazar described dedicated and integrated English Language Development instruction and a five-day teacher institute to prepare staff to deliver the curriculum.
District staff presented a February 2025 enrollment and attendance update and described the district's supports for multilingual learners at the March 20 board meeting.
Superintendent Brett Barley (presenting the enrollment slide in the packet) said projected enrollment for 2024-25 shows gains at Anderson (+37) and Maine Prairie (+32) and declines at Dixon High (-78), Gretchen Higgins (-17) and Tremont (-15), resulting in a district-wide net decrease of 53 students compared with the prior year. Barley noted migrant-education students were not expected back until April 23 and that could affect final counts.
On attendance, Barley said Dixon High had the highest overall attendance for the month and Anderson showed the largest year-over-year improvement (up 6.33 percentage points). The district's overall attendance goal is 96 percent.
Martha Salazar, district coordinator for multilingual programs, described the district's English Language Development supports. She said the district uses a districtwide, systematic ELD curriculum with both integrated ELD throughout the day and protected, designated ELD blocks where English is the explicit focus. Students are placed by proficiency level (emerging, expanding, bridging). Salazar said teachers must complete a five-day institute to learn the curriculum; the training uses adult-learning strategies, includes collaborative practice and is scheduled across the first six months of the school year so teachers have time to implement lessons and return with reflections.
Salazar said the ELD curriculum focuses on the language domains of listening, speaking, reading and writing, aligns to ELD standards and is designed to prepare students for reclassification assessments. The district recognized two cohorts of teachers who completed the institute; principals and several teachers came forward for brief recognition during the meeting.
No action was required; the items were informational. Superintendent Barley and staff said they will correct a slide typo (labeling February attendance) and continue to monitor attendance and enrollment trends as the district prepares estimated actuals for the May/June budget adoption.
