At the meeting, Speaker 2, an unidentified presenter from Allen Sheppard, described a new literacy pilot developed with the AEA to reduce the number of fourth‑grade students persistently at risk in reading. “Right now, coming into the school year, we have 67 students in that grade level. 21 of those students would be being persistently averaged based on their FAST screening data,” Speaker 2 said.

Speaker 2 said the school assembled a team of three fourth‑grade classroom teachers, reading interventionists, and special‑education teachers to craft individualized intervention plans. The AEA provided two specialists: Sarah Reagan, who is on site two days a week and pulls cases for intervention, and Rachel Anderson, who leads professional development for teachers working with the cohort.

The approach combines targeted assessments, small‑group interventions (Tier 2 and Tier 3), and professional learning during early‑out Fridays. Speaker 2 said staff have used internal assessments alongside state FAST data to regroup students every few months and that the school is piloting a new phonics program (UFLI) intended to strengthen systematic phonics instruction.

On teacher training, Speaker 2 estimated roughly nine or 10 of about 20 classroom teachers at Allen Sheppard have taken state-provided 'letters' training that complements the district’s intervention work. The presenter emphasized that the goal for this first year is to achieve a minimum of 80% of students being successful with year‑one instruction and to sustain high‑quality Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions beyond the pilot.

Board members asked clarifying questions about participation in training and how progress will be measured; Speaker 2 said the team will reconvene after the new year to review data and reconfigure intervention groups based on student performance. No formal policy or hiring decisions were recorded in the transcript excerpt.