Allie Martin and district staff updated the board on the district’s reset (safe‑schools) program Dec. 10, saying referrals this year are trending younger and that district leaders are working to open a short‑term elementary reset site.

Martin described reset as an individualized placement intended to improve students’ behavior, provide social‑emotional learning, and maintain academic progress. Reset presently serves secondary students; staff reviewed safe‑school referrals year‑to‑date and reported 36 safe‑school outcomes so far this year, eight of them for elementary‑age students. Martin said the average age for a safe‑school referral dropped from 15 last year to 12 this year, and the district has seen referrals as young as third grade.

Because research indicates younger students need more flexible, often longer interventions, staff said they are developing a dedicated elementary reset housed in an operational elementary school with a full‑time teacher, paraeducator support and social‑work services. The elementary model will be individualized and not necessarily time‑boxed to a single fixed length; staff said they hope to have the program online as soon as feasible and were aiming for early 2025 timelines.

Martin and other staff told the board that transportation is a complicating factor: students who were chronically absent at their home schools tend to remain chronically absent after placement, and inconsistent arrival times complicate supervision. For elementary placements, staff said they are evaluating different transportation and scheduling options and indicated that additional transportation resources might be required in some cases.

Transition work also remains a focus: staff described a handoff process led by the safe‑school specialist who coordinates intake meetings with receiving schools and families and does monthly follow‑up after students exit reset. However, Martin said the district needs more predictable notice windows and continuity for students returning to regular schools. Housing reset at Horizonte (the district alternative school) presents campus‑management challenges when students re‑enter programming there, staff said.

The superintendent has convened an S3 and reset work group including administrators from Horizon and area high schools and district staff to review policy and operational transition steps. Board members asked about the legislative context and funding for social‑emotional or therapeutic services; staff said legislative changes are uncertain and the district will continue to adapt as laws and funding change.

No policy action was taken; members asked staff to return with details about staffing, transportation cost estimates and a timeline for the elementary reset planned.