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District cites literacy gains, expands gifted staffing and wins $240,000 CTE grant
Summary
District administrators reported strong K–3 literacy growth tied to an ELG grant, outlined plans to expand student-facing gifted education staff and said the district received a $240,000 CTE grant to expand career-technical offerings including an in-house welding program.
District leaders told the Steamboat Springs School Board on June 16 that multiple benchmark measures show meaningful student growth this year and that the system is preparing to expand gifted services and career-technical offerings.
Dr. Celine Wicks opened the reports segment by highlighting a $240,000 CTE grant "that we are going to be splitting for CTE, and those funds are going to expand the CTE construction program. We're going to finally have our own welding program in house," she said, noting the grant will support local CTE expansion at Steamboat Springs High School.
Kristen Atwood, the district’s director of exceptional student services, presented the gifted-education status report. She said the district has 264 students identified at the gifted level and is shifting to four student-facing full-time-equivalent staff next year, with the gifted coordinator moving to the middle school to support transitions from fifth to sixth grade. "We have 264 students at the gifted level," Atwood said.
Atwood described the district’s identification process as a body-of-evidence approach that includes parent and teacher recommendations plus universal screeners. She explained the district piloted the Naglieri screener but has concerns about validity and is considering returning to the CogAT or using a combination of CogAT plus a Naglieri subtest. Atwood emphasized that identification decisions will include input from newly hired gifted educators and Colorado Department of Education experts.
Tim Ritter presented benchmark and vendor-supplied data tied to the Early Literacy Grant (ELG) and other assessments (DIBELS, iReady, MAPs and NWEA). Ritter reported that "all schools met this goal" tied to grant targets and cited district performance figures, including a referenced K–5 proficiency figure: "55% of our students were proficient," he said. He walked the board through declines in the percentage of students in the “well below benchmark” category and described increased rates of students moving up at least one performance category.
Board members asked about sustaining gains after the ELG grant sunsets; district staff described transition plans that rely on school leadership teams (SLTs), principal and teacher training, and regional supports so improvements can be maintained when grant funding decreases.
Next steps listed by district staff include sharing disaggregated CMAS/PSAT/SAT data in August, curricular adoptions and continued rollout of data-driven action plans. The board acknowledged the reports unanimously and moved on to action items.
