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District earns strong federal grant review; administrators outline test-score trends and summer/after-school plans
Summary
Finance staff reported a positive federal fiscal grant review of roughly $3 million, curriculum staff described statewide anomalies in lower-grade VT CAP scores and local interventions, and expanded-learning staff outlined summer programming and ongoing staffing challenges.
Finance and instructional leaders used the meeting to report monitoring results, assessment context, and program plans.
Laura Mallister, director of finance, briefed the board on a federal fiscal grant monitoring review covering roughly $3 million in grants that flow through the district. "They actually stated the Agency of Education stated that we are a model office," Mallister said, praising the district accounting and grant teams for their work and singling out accounting and payroll staff for their efforts.
Kosha Patel, director of curriculum, reviewed recently released VT CAP results and regional comparisons. She said some third- and fourth-grade scores were anomalously low across the state and that the district is responding with local assessments, targeted professional development and strengthened intervention systems. "We are doing better than a couple of our neighboring districts," Kosha said of district-level results in English language arts, mathematics and science, while noting the district will continue monitoring and targeted supports.
Wendy (director-level special-education reporting) encouraged families of students with IEPs to complete a state survey (the district had 32 family responses out of 414 eligible families for the prior year) and highlighted strong compliance for early intervention transitions. Administrators also provided updated preK enrollment and application figures for Swanton, Highgate and Franklin and explained capacity and prioritization approaches.
Bethanne Miller, director of expanded learning, described the summer-program plan (four full weeks, June 29–July 24, 8 a.m.–3 p.m.), a collaborative half-day week with Swanton Recreation, and a new state after-school grant focused on performing arts that will support two districtwide summer productions and targeted outreach to fifth- and sixth-grade students; she also said staffing shortages continue to constrain program capacity and the district may seek grant amendments to raise pay rates to recruit staff.
Provenance: Reports and discussion appear throughout the administrative-report portion of the meeting (transcript segments SEG 999–SEG 1546).
