Stafford MSD board reviews midyear academic report; leaders outline tutoring, reading campaign and regrouping

The Stafford Municipal School District’s board received a midyear academic progress presentation Feb. 23, 2026, that detailed mixed assessment results across campuses and a set of interventions school leaders say will boost student growth before spring accountability measures. Chair opened the meeting and handed presentation duties to district leaders, who reviewed MAP growth, STAR performance and campus-level plans.

District presenter Dr. Wofford said early-childhood and kindergarten cohorts are making progress on national norms and that kindergarten MAP achievement in reading and math is “well on track” compared with last year. She noted one MAP figure presented as a national placement in the 60s for kindergarten reading.

The district announced a PreK–2 reading campaign called Readers are Leaders. Miss Byrd, the campaign lead, said, “Our goal is for every student in Stafford to be on grade level by the time they reach third grade,” and described monthly reading incentives, logs and campus rewards that earlier engaged about 75 early-childhood students.

On elementary MAP growth, presenters said the district seeks growth above the 50th percentile and aims for higher targets (district speakers cited the 66th percentile as an aspirational growth benchmark). The presentation included teacher-level growth ranges—examples in the slides ranged from roughly the high 70s down to the mid‑30s percentiles for individual teachers—prompting district steps to increase tutorial intensity, contract Region 4 for additional tutorial support, and reorganize some students into ability-grouped pods at grades 3–5 so instruction can be differentiated.

Miss Vanison, middle school principal, described a phased coaching model for math that began with specialists modeling lessons in January, moved to team teaching in February and will shift toward teacher-led instruction with continued feedback in March. “We started the I-do approach in January… In March, we’re gonna shift to the I-do approach to where they’re now being released to do the teaching,” she said, describing an intent to build teacher capacity rather than permanently reassign staff.

School leaders also stressed family engagement and incentives. One presenter described sharing MAP results through ParentSquare with short videos on reading the data, student-led data talks, pizza parties and teacher recognition events intended to drive both student participation and staff attendance.

At the STEM Magnet campus, principal Miss Liang said a sixth-grade decline in math coincided with a teacher’s maternity leave; the campus has scheduled an open house and student-led data conversations and instituted targeted Saturday tutorials to address the gap.

At the high school level, presenters said CCMR (college, career and military readiness) was presented as a district strength and above state averages, though they flagged weakness in English I and Algebra I. To address high-school needs the district described AP pull-outs, SAT preparatory work for juniors, and targeted Friday/half‑day and Saturday interventions.

Miss Panch, director of federal programs, reviewed services for special populations: students with disabilities were said to represent about 10 percent of enrollment and emergent bilingual students about 25 percent; supports listed included specially designed instruction, co‑teaching, IEP accommodations, after‑school tutorials and Summit K–12 online modules for language proficiency.

Trustees asked multiple follow-up questions. One trustee asked whether low-growth teachers were new; leaders replied some were new while others were longer-tenured but struggling and that the district is providing coaching, PD and modeling rather than blanket reassignment. Trustees also pressed for better curriculum alignment between elementary and middle-school math; one trustee cited Bluebonnet (formerly a Carnegie product/Eureka in discussion) and urged greater consistency so student transitions (fifth-to-sixth grade) do not create abrupt learning gaps.

Board members also raised compensation and retention as levers to sustain teacher quality. Dr. Amas (district presenter) emphasized teacher content knowledge and classroom practice as primary drivers of improvement: “Teacher quality is number 1,” he said, and the presentation noted district compensation and retention allotments intended to improve teacher retention.

No formal policy or budget actions were taken during the presentation. The board received the report, discussed next steps (expanded tutorials, ability grouping, parent engagement and monitoring), and was told superintendent-search finalists were expected by early March.

The meeting concluded without further substantive agenda items and adjourned after a formal motion.