Board reviews comprehensive plan draft; high-school attendance cited at 83.2%

The Fox Chapel Area School District will next week consider approving the district’s comprehensive plan for submission to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and board members pressed administrators for context on attendance and special-education supports.

Mrs. Cooper read the agenda item announcing the comprehensive plan submission. A board member noted that the plan lists high-school attendance at 83.2% and asked what the pre-pandemic benchmark was and what the district is doing to improve attendance. “85.7%,” Dr. Reljak responded, describing the district’s approach to chronic absenteeism: targeted data analysis to identify students with higher absence frequency, a positive behavioral intervention and supports (PBIS) program at the high school, revised attendance letters and efforts to identify and remove barriers that keep students from attending.

Members also sought clarification about MTSS. The superintendent explained that MTSS — multi-tiered systems of support — is a framework used for all students to identify needs and provide interventions or enrichment, not a special-education program. Students with special needs continue to receive individualized education programs (IEPs) based on evaluation reports, and MTSS supports can be one tool among many depending on a student’s needs.

The administration said the comprehensive plan represents the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s required portion of the district’s planning work and that broader community focus-group feedback will be compiled and presented separately to the board later in the school year.