The Douglas Unified School District governing board voted to approve four performance goals proposed by Superintendent Samaniego, who said the goals are intended to strengthen instruction, increase stakeholder input and lift district outcomes.

Samaniego told the board that the first goal is "leading and developing and implementing common formative assessments known as ACES, check and enrich" and instituting a structured data analysis process to "monitor student growth, inform instruction, and improve academic outcomes across all grade levels." She said the assessments are already being developed and will be implemented in core content areas, with principals responsible for collecting and summarizing assessment data.

The superintendent described three additional goals: establishing three advisory councils (certified, classified and parent councils) to increase communication and stakeholder input; creating a superintendent student advisory board (SSAB) to amplify student voice; and finalizing a unified mission and vision statement by June 2026. She said advisory councils would meet multiple times a year and be evaluated, and that the SSAB application criteria were finalized in October.

Samaniego also said she submitted a separate letter asking the board to waive the statutory performance-pay plan for this year "considering the budget situation," noting the district had not received pay increases. The motion before the board approved the goals; Samaniego told the board she had requested the waiver but the motion as approved did not expressly grant performance pay.

Board members discussed formats for community engagement and next steps. Several trustees recommended an administrative public meeting to solicit broad public input and noted legal limits on what can occur in a board study session. Trustee remarks emphasized parent involvement as central to improving outcomes and suggested a possible future study session or public meeting to generate ideas for boosting enrollment and academic performance.

The discussion also included district context: staff reported current enrollment of 3,486 and an average daily membership (ADM) used for funding of 3,315, down from 3,401 at the same time last year. Business staff said the district will prepare a budget revision next month to reflect the enrollment decline.

Public comment earlier in the meeting urged greater local vision and community involvement and flagged state school-rating results; commenter Adam Blake said Douglas "had a 70% drop in gifted education funding" year over year and encouraged parents to engage in appeals if the board doubted the published letter grades.

The board approved the superintendent's goals by roll-call vote. The superintendent said principals will report assessment and progress data during the school year and that administration will return with implementation details and regular updates.