The district’s Education Services Committee reviewed assessment tools and recommended against approving a MasteryConnect purchase at this time while approving two other items including policy modifications and a BrainPOP renewal.

Roxanne Filts, director of teaching and learning, presented edits to Board Policy 5460 clarifying graduation credit language and the route for middle‑school courses seeking high‑school credit. The committee moved to recommend those policy changes to the full Board.

On instructional platforms, committee members and building leaders discussed MasteryConnect as a system intended to identify student mastery of standards and streamline assessment design. Filts and Lincoln High School Associate Principal Ashley Tesmer described MasteryConnect’s alignment to the Forward Exam and its ability to provide student‑level data to target supports.

The committee did not approve a district purchase; reasons included the inability to pilot the program (setup requires significant preparation), questions about cost and rollout, and that the tool has limited use in Wisconsin (presenters noted only one other district in the state currently uses it). The vendor offered free remainder‑of‑year access if the district commits to a two‑year agreement, but committee members preferred additional review and a hands‑on demonstration from the Council for Instructional Improvement before any purchase.

Separately, the committee recommended and the board approved a one‑year renewal of BrainPOP for all elementary schools and the middle school at a cost of $25,555.5, to be paid from a combination of common school funds and curriculum and science budgets.

What happens next: Administration said middle‑school leadership will review MasteryConnect through PLCs and may bring a building‑driven request back to the Board for consideration; committee asked for more demonstration and vetting before any districtwide commitment.