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Lebanon SD 9 reports Division 22 compliance, cites reading gains and attendance challenges
Summary
At its Oct. 9 meeting the Lebanon Community School Board heard an annual Division 22 compliance report and an update on the Student Investment Account, which the district said supported early literacy gains while attendance fell to about 59% against a 61.7% target.
The Lebanon Community School Board on Oct. 9 received its annual Division 22 compliance and integrated guidance reports, with district staff saying the schools are in compliance with Oregon's Division 22 rules and citing gains in early literacy alongside continuing attendance and mental-health staffing challenges.
Presenter (district staff) told the board the district is "in compliance with all of the standards" for the 2024'25 cycle and said a compliance shortfall cited last year under the Menstrual Dignity Act has been resolved following follow-up with the state. "Our third-grade reading scores, while they're not where we want them to be, they continue to increase steadily every year and are above the state average," the presenter said.
Why it matters: The integrated guidance covers the Student Success Act funding streams (often referred to as the Student Investment Account and, for high school supports, Measure 98). District leaders said 2024'25 grant totals for these programs amount to roughly $3.3'$3.4 million and support dozens of staff positions the district otherwise could not fund.
The district also reported attendance as a central concern. The presenter said the district's goal for "regular attenders" was 61.7% but that the rate decreased to about 59% this year. Board members pressed where attendance problems were concentrated; the presenter said attendance shortfalls are districtwide (K'12) and that Oregon no longer funds attendance officer positions previously used for family support and chronic absence interventions. "Access to mental health for our students is very challenging," the presenter added, citing statewide shortages that affect local service availability.
Board members discussed class-size provisions added in the recent collective bargaining agreement, including a threshold (noted in the meeting as 24 students in many grade-level categories) and a "menu" of supported options when a teacher exceeds that threshold (for example, adding an instructional assistant, extra grading time or other agreed supports). The presenter said the agreement also included a documentation form to record what supports each educator is receiving.
On assessments, the district reviewed SBAC (state) and MAP (district-formative) results for 2023'24 and 2024'25, noting pockets of significant growth (for example, Cascades third-grade math proficiency rising from 38.7% to about 50% with 90.9% participation). The presenter said participation varies because parents may opt students out of state testing, which can affect school-level percentages, and said the district will review winter MAP results and return with updated data in a future meeting.
What happens next: Staff said they will bring updated winter assessment data back to the board and continue to monitor attendance and mental-health staffing; a facilities work session was also scheduled before the next regular meeting to dig into capital issues.
Quotes from the meeting are taken from district presenters and board members as recorded in the meeting transcript. Vote counts were not associated with these discussion items.
