Burlington schools report gains in state performance profiles as absenteeism falls

Corey Johnson, presenting the 2025 Iowa School Performance Profiles to the Burlington Community School District board on Oct. 6, said the district “had an overall average growth of 2.3 percentage points,” the same as the statewide average.

Johnson highlighted that three buildings — Grimes, the high school and Aldo — each moved up one rating category this year. “Grimes had 10 percentage points growth,” Johnson said, calling that “massive growth”; the high school rose by eight points and Aldo by four.

The presentation stressed that reductions in chronic absenteeism were a major driver of improved ratings. “As a district, we reduced [chronic absenteeism] from 42% to 29%,” Johnson said. He noted that policy and coding changes statewide also influenced attendance figures but said Burlington’s drop exceeded the state average change.

Officials also flagged gains at the secondary level: participation in work‑based learning rose from 55% to 75% and the share of graduates earning at least one college credit increased from 39% to 51%. Johnson said Burlington offers more in‑person concurrent‑enrollment options on campus than many districts, and that more than 90% of those courses are taught by district staff.

On a notable program-specific data point, Johnson said enrollment in the EMT pathway rose to six students — after a combined total of one student in the previous four years — and credited investments in career and technical education.

Board members praised staff and building leaders for the trend, and several suggested a deeper data work session to review subgroup performance, grading transitions and longer‑term trajectories. The presentation was provided as information only; board members did not take formal action on the profiles at the meeting.