Valley Central officials credit student‑engagement program as suspensions fall

Valley Central School District leaders told the board on Feb. 9 that a multi‑year push to deepen student engagement has coincided with measurable improvements in classroom indicators and a decline in disciplinary removals.

Superintendent Avila introduced the presentation and turned the report over to Dr. Just LeBlanc, who said the district’s work began in 2023 with a focus on classroom discourse, sharing student work and collaboration. "We launched it off in May 2023 and really began to talk about the ABCs of student engagement," Dr. LeBlanc said. He described model‑classroom visits, targeted professional learning and use of learning targets as core pieces of the effort.

Dr. LeBlanc reported gains in district assessment and engagement metrics. Quoting the presentation, he said, "If you see that in ELA that we went up 15 points and grades 3 to 5 and in math 33%." He also said the district has seen "almost a 36% decrease in student suspensions," and described those disciplinary declines as an expected outcome of more engaging instruction and revised behavioral practices.

The consultant emphasized the work is a combination of instructional changes and revised discipline practices: "We're looking at our discipline practices, our behavioral practices to see whether or not they align with our bigger goals around how do we foster engagement, foster sense of connection, and a sense of belonging," he said.

Board members asked for more detail on the suspension figures and whether reduced removals represented categorically different behavior or a change in responses to the same behaviors. Dr. LeBlanc acknowledged more analysis is needed: "It's a complicated question ... we have to still tear apart a lot of that data," he said, and noted the district is examining multiple contributing factors.

What happens next: district staff said they will continue classroom walkthroughs, refine metrics and bring more detailed breakdowns of the suspension data and assessment gains to future meetings so board members can evaluate the causal links and equity impacts.