Morris School District reviews midyear progress, greenlights consent motions and readies Sept. 2026 referendum

The Morris School District Board of Education met in December to hear a midyear progress update from administration, receive committee reports and approve a slate of grouped motions covering minutes, policy, curriculum and business matters.

Daisy, a senior class representative, opened the substantive portion of the meeting with a student-government report on athletics, music and community service. "My name is Daisy, and I ... am one of the senior board reps," she said, noting the student holiday gift drive had collected more than 300 gifts and that the "Night in the Cold" fundraiser drew about 200 participants and raised over $2,500 for Homeless Solutions.

The superintendent’s midyear presentation centered on the district’s five-year strategic plan and the administration’s action steps to raise academic achievement and reduce subgroup achievement gaps. The presentation introduced targeted literacy work and assessment changes: the district is rolling out CKLA in K–2 classroom settings (monolingual and bilingual), piloting third-grade CKLA at Alexander Hamilton and Normandy Park, and shifting some literacy progress monitoring to DIBELS, with a midyear benchmark scheduled for January.

Director-level presenters described math and intervention goals, including a target that more than 80% of eighth-grade students will…