West Central Area administration reports on testing, curriculum, enrollment and Head Start relocation

District administrators used the board meeting to summarize instructional work, assessment schedules and operational changes affecting the coming school year.

Miss Hendricks reported on recent events and curriculum work: preschool outreach nights, LETRS teacher training nearing completion, grade-level meetings to align ELA and social studies standards and plans for math-standards training in May. She said the district will not purchase a new K–5 curriculum immediately but will identify supplementary resources where gaps exist.

On assessments, district staff reminded the public that reading MCAs are scheduled for April 14–16 and math MCAs the following week, with secondary testing conducted on familiar Chromebooks to ease student administration.

Enrollment and program updates came from Mr. Brownlow, who said current K–12 enrollment figures were down modestly from earlier in the school year (district totals cited in the meeting). Brownlow also described a facility-survey process for staff and residents (responses due May 11, with a board presentation planned for May 20) and announced that Head Start will not be offered in Elbow Lake next year because the program had only six enrolled children locally; available seats will be moved to Fergus Falls.

Brownlow also reviewed several state-level bills of interest to the district (including proposals to restrict student cell-phone and smartwatch use, PSEO funding questions and K–12 forecast adjustments) and flagged a possible 15% increase in employee health-insurance premiums at renewal. He said staff will present options to employees and return to the board with any recommended changes.

The board heard these reports without formal action; several members praised staff work and asked follow-up questions about implementation timelines.