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Board approves three-year Achievement and Integration plan focused on AVID at Central Middle School
Summary
The East Grand Forks Public School District board approved a 2025–2028 Achievement and Integration (ANI) plan that directs roughly $209,000 toward reducing academic disparities and launching an AVID exploratory year at Central Middle School, including a $20,000 tutoring allocation.
A district staff member presented the East Grand Forks Public School District's 2025'028 Achievement and Integration (ANI) plan and the school board approved the plan at the March 10 regular meeting.
The plan allocates roughly $209,000 in ANI funding, with about $20,000 set aside specifically for tutoring, and proposes an exploratory AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) elective at Central Middle School in year 0. The presenter told the board the district qualifies for ANI funds because it adjoins Crookston Public Schools, which the presenter described as a racially isolated district under the program's eligibility definitions.
The plan lists three required goals: (1) an integration plan with adjoining districts (East Grand Forks, Crookston and Thief River Falls); (2) measures to reduce academic disparity; and (3) teacher-equity and professional development initiatives. The district indicated it will target 80% of the ANI budget to direct services at the middle level and use remaining funds for professional development, AVID start-up costs and a community cultural navigator role. The presenter estimated initial AVID-related costs at about $70,000 in the early phase and said costs would change in subsequent years as programming and training scale.
Board members asked about evidence for AVID and whether program implementation could be modified in response to concerns. One board member referenced research they had seen suggesting some concerns when AVID is used in younger grades; the presenter and another district trainer said implementation fidelity, local adaptation and the quality of onsite coaching influence outcomes. Dr. Tack, who the presenter brought forward during the discussion, described AVID as a structure that provides consistent instructional language and strategies across grade levels and cited examples where districts used AVID practices from elementary through high school to support vertical alignment.
The presenter said the district's middle-level data showed relatively flat reading proficiency overall but identified demographic groups with varying trends; the board heard that targeted middle-school interventions and career/college-readiness skills would be the logical prioritization for ANI funding. The presenter also confirmed the state must approve the final plan; the district said it would revise the plan if the Minnesota Department of Education requested changes.
The board voted to approve the ANI plan at the meeting. No formal amendments were recorded during the discussion.
The district also reported other supports that the plan would fund: tutoring partnerships with local organizations and university students, a community cultural navigator to connect families to services, multi-tiered systems of support already underway, and a site-team professional-development path to scale AVID over three years.
The board chair and several members expressed support for the plan and for using ANI funds to target middle-school interventions that aim to increase reading proficiency and close demographic gaps in achievement.
Any further changes to the plan, or requests from the state Department of Education, were described by staff as part of normal approval and amendment processes for ANI and other federal/state-funded programs.
