Buffalo school leaders set short timeline to refine modest 2024'5 goals after board presses for higher targets

The Buffalo City School District executive affairs committee reviewed staff'proposed annual and multiyear student'outcome goals on Tuesday, pressing the administration to justify modest, data'driven increases and setting a short timetable for revised materials. District staff laid out five one'year goals for 2024'5 with detailed interim measures tied to DIBELS and IReady assessments, and sketched guardrails for the board'commissioned five'year goals (August 2025'August 2030).

Laura (data team) presented numeric proposals for the coming year, including a literacy goal in which the percent of economically disadvantaged grade 4 students proficient on the 2025 end'of'year DIBELS assessment "will increase from 35 percent in June 2024 to 38 percent in June 2025," and a parallel goal to raise grade 3 proficiency from 40 percent to 43 percent. The presentation included interim measures (IReady proficiency, reductions in students "well below average," and course pass'rate targets) and a high'school goal to increase the share of ninth'grade students earning 5.5 credits from 62 percent to 64 percent.

Some board members said the annual increases staff recommended were too small. "Are you sure that they have to be that low?" Board member Paulette Woods asked, noting community expectations that the district set more ambitious targets. Sharon Belton said, "I feel that the goal should be higher," and urged the board not to signal low expectations by adopting minimal gains.

Staff defended the draft targets as grounded in trend data for the district's highest'need cohorts. "We based our numbers on trend data," Laura said, noting the district's "data bible" and the district's choice to focus on economically disadvantaged students and those most dependent on school supports. Administration representatives emphasized the work already in classrooms ' training in Orton'Gillingham and a new Reveal math curriculum ' and the need to set realistic but meaningful stretch goals.

AJ, the board'hired coach, urged the group to tighten the schedule so final five'year goals can influence SY 2025'6 planning. "Adopt its final, five'year goals and guardrails no later than January," AJ recommended, arguing that a January adoption would better align goals with budget and staffing choices for the coming school year.

The board and staff reached several procedural agreements. Staff committed to send a one'page summary of the proposed 2024'5 goals and interim measures to board members (and the cabinet) by the next day; board members agreed to review and return comments by Monday morning. The committee chair asked staff to compile feedback and schedule a special meeting to complete the superintendent's annual evaluation and finalize the one'year goals; staff and consultants discussed an October timetable for a fuller year'long calendar and aimed for January adoption of the five'year plan.

Board members also asked staff to provide context on historical growth rates so the board can evaluate whether this year's recommendations outperform typical trends. Staff said they had already produced a condensed 26'page summary of the larger data report and offered to produce an executive summary for easier public and board consumption.

Next steps: staff will circulate the one'page summary and proposed interims to the board and cabinet; the board will submit comments by the stated deadline and the chair will coordinate a special session for the superintendent's evaluation and to finalize the short'term goals. The district intends to continue developing the five'year guardrails and supporting reporting formats before proposing the final multiyear goals for board consideration in the winter.

No formal vote was taken at the meeting; the discussion produced a schedule of deliverables and a clear expectation of additional iterations before formal adoption.