Kenosha committee reviews new promotion rules under Act 20, flags summer-school and ‘good cause’ details

The Kenosha School District’s Curriculum and Program Committee on Thursday reviewed draft policies 51-18 and 51-19 that spell out how the district will make promotion, retention and acceleration decisions for K–12 students.

Wendy Tindall, the district’s chief academic officer, said 51-18 was written to reflect current practice and the district’s tiered-support system, replacing language that had not been substantially updated in decades. “We updated the process to match what we currently do,” Tindall said, describing stepwise Tier 1, 2 and 3 reviews that teams use to document interventions and monitor progress.

Tindall and other staff stressed that the drafts incorporate state requirements from Act 20 and guidance from the Department of Public Instruction and WASB (the Wisconsin Association of School Boards). The policy language includes “good cause” exceptions for students who should not be automatically retained because of special circumstances: multilingual learners whose language-level data shows the need for additional time, students with significant cognitive disabilities who take an alternative assessment (the Dynamic Learning Map), and students receiving intensive intervention whose programming is judged appropriate but not yet producing full proficiency. “Good cause exceptions are things that you need to consider before you just blanket state the student has not satisfied a third grade reading plan,” Tindall said.

District staff said the policy is intended to ensure that promotion decisions rely on a holistic review of multiple data points rather than a single test score. Chris Keckler, a district administrator, urged consistent application to avoid inequities, noting the emotional and practical sensitivity of retention decisions: “We are very conscientious about that,” he said.

Committee members asked staff to describe how the policy would serve both students who are behind and those who might benefit from acceleration. Staff said the district uses interim assessments (MAP and Aimsweb Plus), annual accountability tests (Wisconsin Forward and the ACT suite), classroom observation and individualized planning to tailor supports. The district is rolling out a new data-management system (NextPath) intended to consolidate years of assessments, attendance and behavior data into a shared dashboard for teachers and parents.

Tindall also warned members of a procedural deadline: the district must adopt a policy consistent with state requirements by July 1. The policy’s requirements include offering intensive summer instruction to students identified under the law; staff said they will review and potentially revise summer-school programming next year to align instruction to students’ needs, noting that this year’s summer school is not affected by the immediate timeline.

The committee requested minor editorial corrections to draft text (capitalization and typographical fixes) and asked staff to circulate corrected language before the board agenda review. No formal vote on adoption occurred at the committee; the matters will proceed to the full board for action.

The board’s next procedural step: staff will update the draft for typos and finalize materials for board consideration ahead of the July 1 deadline.