Avon Grove board reviews draft 2025———2028 comprehensive plan emphasizing people, progress and purpose

Avon Grove School District administrators presented a draft 2025———2028 comprehensive plan to the Committee of the Whole, outlining three cross-cutting themes — people, progress and purpose — and measurable goals the district intends to pursue over the next three years.

Dr. Harvey, who led the nine-month comprehensive-planning process, told the board the plan is still draft and will be posted for public review; it must be submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) by March 31. The steering team—6s work included district needs assessment, steering-team meetings, action-team reports and public engagement such as focus groups and surveys.

The plan retains three priority areas from the prior cycle: high-quality academics, supportive learning environments and healthy systems conditions. Administrators described a shift toward deeper, measurable outcomes tied to student experiences and engagement, and toward staff-centered systems to improve retention and operational practice.

Key measurable goals in the PDE-format draft include: by the end of year three, 100% of students in grades 2, 5, 8 and 11 will demonstrate proficiency on career education and work standards as evidenced by aligned portfolios; 90% of students will meet academic growth expectations (with incremental year-by-year targets); 90% of students will report feeling connected and safe at school by year three; and a staff retention target of at least 90% by year three, starting with classroom teachers in year one and expanding to all staff in later years.

The presentation highlighted data points that guided priorities: PSSA and PVAAS student-performance comparisons showing uneven cohort results post-COVID; PACE student-survey responses that indicated large shares of students who felt schoolwork was not meaningful (higher in grade 10 and grade 12); educator-survey items where district averages hovered near but not above the target of 3.0 on a 4-point scale; and chronic absenteeism rates ranging from about 11% to 21% across schools.

Board members commended the work but asked for clarifications. Mr. Wood asked for clearer links between foundational initiatives and measurable student outcomes; Dr. Harvey responded that the new plan places more emphasis on student-level measures and growth monitoring. Trustees also asked for more cohort-level analysis of PVAAS and internal benchmark data, and for more frequent reporting on absenteeism, retention and professional-learning engagement.

Administrators said the draft will be posted for 28 days for public inspection and comment; a final update will be presented at the March committee meeting and then on the legislative agenda for March 27. If approved, the district will publish an infographic and begin implementation next year.