District curriculum staff used the board workshop to explain how assessments and staffing fit together inside Weston’s multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) and why curriculum-and-instruction leaders (CILs) are critical to Tier 1 instruction.

Tina (curriculum staff) said Weston uses a set of universal and screening assessments — including NWEA for reading and math, DIBELS-8 as a mandated K–3 universal screener, OLSAT/Naglieri for gifted identification and LAS Links for multilingual learners — and that assessment frequency and licensing choices are budget considerations. “We want students that are below the fortieth percentile throughout the year to reduce from the fall to the spring,” Tina said when describing the fall-to-spring progress metric the district uses to judge intervention effectiveness.

Tina described the MTSS staffing model used to determine interventions: Tier 2 groups typically run 3 times a week for 3–5 students; Tier 3 typically involves smaller groups or 1:1 work and more frequent contact (4–5 times per week). The district’s fall snapshot showed roughly 22% of K–5 students receiving literacy intervention and 26% at the secondary level; math showed a lower share in the elementary grades. Tina said social-emotional supports are harder to quantify but are part of a cohesive intervention framework that includes counselors and social workers.

On CILs, Tina asked that the board maintain the current allocation model (0.4–0.8 FTE per CIL in many schools) rather than revert to larger reductions; she described CIL duties as coaching, curriculum writing, data analysis, and leading professional learning. Board members voiced support for CILs but cautioned that the district must monitor student outcomes after last year’s reductions and be prepared to restore FTE if results decline.

Next steps: the administration said it will continue to report progress-monitoring data to the board and make staffing recommendations tied to measured student outcomes; no formal staffing changes were adopted at the meeting.