The State Board of Education approved a new accountability hearings policy that clarifies the hearing timeline, who must attend (including superintendent and local school board chair) and the corrective actions the board may recommend after hearings. Ali Reed (state board staff) outlined the policy, and the board discussed mechanics, local‑board notification and the role of hearings in driving systems‑level change.

The board also received and approved the department’s 2024–25 priority school (CSI) list. David Laird explained that priority identification used three years of assessment data (2022–23 through 2024–25), a bottom‑5% ranking approach, and additional graduation‑rate criteria; the department identified 108 priority schools. Laird and members discussed the methodology (rank order, safe‑harbor growth exceptions and how ranks appear on the published list) and the relationship between federal/state letter grades and priority identification.

The board announced the accountability hearing committee (to be chaired by Vice Chair Collins and including Dr. Maxwell and the chair) and discussed expectations that hearings should prompt system‑level follow‑up, including informing local school boards. The board approved both the policy and the priority list on final reading.

What’s next: staff will implement the hearings timeline and prepare notifications; board members asked for comparative data showing overlap between schools’ letter grades and priority/CSI designation to inform hearings questions and resource alignment.