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Superintendent Levin sets ambitious math and attendance targets, promises public dashboards
Summary
Superintendent Levin told the North Santiam SD 29J board the district will pursue a districtwide 60% math proficiency target, set reading-growth and attendance goals tied to the 2030 strategic plan, launch public and internal dashboards by June 2026 and warned that federal SNAP/Mediicaid changes could threaten meal funding.
At the Oct. 20 board meeting, Superintendent Levin laid out school- and district-level goals tied to the district's 2030 strategic plan and described new data tools to track progress.
"By June 2026, 60 percent of students at the school ... will meet or exceed grade-level standards in mathematics," Levin said, describing a districtwide achievement target that will be adjusted by grade level. He also said the district's reading-growth goal is that "100% of students ... will grow by 1 or more grade levels in reading as measured by the STAR assessment." Levin described those targets as ambitious and tied to a new process of short Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to test strategies every 2–6 weeks.
Levin said the district will publish both internal and public-facing dashboards for strategic-plan metrics. "We're in the process of figuring out the metrics of those dashboards," he said, and added the plan is to share a draft with the board in April and have public dashboards by June 2026 so the community can track progress and offer feedback.
On attendance, Levin said the district aims to raise its regular-attender average from 62.15% last year to at least 67.15% by June 30, 2026. He also presented interim attendance figures: first-day attendance through Sept. 17 at 94.17% and a September monthly rate near 93.07%, which he said are context for the district's focus on attendance-based culture goals at individual schools.
Board members pressed for baselines and measurement details. One director noted the difference between daily attendance rates and the district’s regular-attender metric and requested a fuller explanation at the November meeting; Levin agreed to provide that reconciliation and additional baseline data. A board member called the district’s approach a "laboratory" in which schools share results so successful practices can scale.
Levin warned the board that possible federal reductions in SNAP and Medicaid eligibility could affect the district’s ability to qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) that funds free school meals. He said the district is approved for free breakfasts and lunches through 2027 and staff will apply early to extend CEP coverage potentially through 2030.
The board received a spreadsheet of school and department goals via email after the meeting and will revisit department-level plans in November. Levin asked board members to send questions and said staff will return with more detailed transfer-in/transfer-out counts and attendance reconciliations next month.
The presentation anchored multiple district- and school-level targets in the district’s five strategic themes and emphasized iterative testing and data transparency as the central implementation approach.
