Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
AP participation, new attendance tracking and sudden CSI funding cut shape district priorities
Summary
Administrators reported rising AP enrollment and improved mean scores, explained a new attendance-tracking method (Synergy) that changed how absences are calculated, and described a last-minute Pennsylvania Department of Education CSI funding cut of more than $200,000 that forced elimination of some specialist positions and a targeted room (R3).
District curriculum leaders presented AP equity-and-excellence results for 2024–25, reporting increased course enrollment and higher participation rates: Liberty had 755 students enrolled in AP courses with an 87% exam participation rate; Freedom had 702 AP enrollees and an 84.47% participation rate. Mean exam scores rose modestly (Liberty 2.87; Freedom 3.3). District staff noted the local metric defines "equity and excellence" as 70% of course takers scoring 3 or higher and also described the College Board's APPI measure (percentage of graduates with a 3+ on at least one exam). Administrators credited teacher supports, AP-cohort meetings and partnerships with AP Central resources for progress.
Board members raised the practical cost of AP exams (about $90 per exam) and noted that the district has used Title IV funds historically to subsidize student exam costs; administrators warned that Title IV funding looks uncertain for the 2026–27 school year and that the district will need to plan alternatives to maintain access.
In a related district-budget discussion, administrators reported changes in attendance measurement after adopting the Synergy student-information system. Secondary attendance now treats missing a defined number of periods (for example, two of four high-school periods) as a full-day absence; staff said the 2024–25 data are likely a more accurate reflection of student attendance and reported a district chronic-absenteeism rate of 23.38% for 2024–25. Staff described interventions in place (MTSS, early-warning systems, truancy officers, family outreach) and new analytics to target supports.
Administrators also notified trustees of a sudden reduction of more than $200,000 in Community School Implementation (CSI) funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Education that arrived the Friday before school started. District staff said cuts eliminated a family-development specialist, a transition coordinator, several contracted services and an R3 room (the teacher from that room returned to classroom duties); staff said no classroom teachers were eliminated and class sizes were not increased but that targeted supports for students were reduced. Board members and district leaders discussed steering-committee supports, quarterly data reviews and external partners to sustain progress at Bridal Middle School despite the funding loss.
