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Grandville board approves three‑year Branching Minds MTSS license, largely grant‑funded
Summary
The Grandville Public Schools Board approved a three‑year, $48,540 initial site license for the Branching Minds MTSS data platform, with $41,855 covered by a state grant (97J). Staff said the platform will consolidate assessment and behavior data, provide teacher dashboards and early‑warning indicators, and be evaluated before any renewal.
The Grandville Public Schools Board of Education on Monday approved a three‑year site license agreement for the Branching Minds MTSS (Multi‑Tiered System of Supports) data platform, with an initial cost of $48,540 that includes a $1,600 one‑time connection/setup fee. District staff said about $41,855 of the first‑year cost will be covered by a state grant (code 97J), with remaining costs covered through existing grant allocations.
District presenter Scott (speaker 2) told the board Branching Minds will pull assessment and behavior data from multiple sources — Acadience/"Acadians," NWEA, PowerSchool grades and SEL screens such as SRSS — into a single dashboard for system, building and classroom views. "It pulls all that together for us and makes everything more efficient," Scott said, describing teacher dashboards that staff said are designed to be non‑evaluative and supportive. Scott added the system supports real‑time early‑warning indicators (attendance, behavior, grades) and configurable cut scores for identifying students at risk.
Superintendent Roger Barra (speaker 6) and other board members pressed staff on integration and training. Barra said the district negotiated a referral discount structure that could reduce future costs and that the district will evaluate implementation over three years: "If by year 3 it's as good as we think it is, then we'll come back." Board members asked whether the integration workload would fall to district staff; Scott replied Branching Minds handles most of the technical setup and the district will leverage lessons learned from Oak Ridge, which has piloted the product.
Board members also discussed teacher adoption and monitoring. Scott said the platform is intended to save teachers time by consolidating reports and enabling progress monitoring of interventions. A board member asked whether use would be mandatory; Scott replied, "No," and emphasized the plan to start with district and building teams and scale training to teacher representatives.
After discussion about costs, data sources, training and the program evaluation plan, the board voted to approve the three‑year agreement. Staff said the project will be integrated into the district's MTSS updates and that the administration will report back on implementation and midyear results.
