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Richland schools set MTSS-framed academic goals; board presses for baselines and implementation details
Summary
District administrators presented three MTSS-based academic goals—boost Tier 1 instruction, reduce equity gaps for English learners and special education students, and cut chronic absenteeism—while board members asked for baseline data, concrete action steps, and clarity on the asynchronous learning pilot and high-cap services.
Brian, an administrator presenting the district's academic plan, told the Richland School Board that the district's 2025—126 academic goals are framed around a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). "The three academic goals are to strengthen tier one instruction, raise the number of students making typical growth in literacy and math by three percentage points by June of 2026, reduce equity gaps for English learners and students who receive special education services, and reduce chronic absenteeism by 5 percentage points," Brian said.
Board members pressed for a clearer baseline and concrete action plans. "What is it now?" a board member asked about the '9th-grade on-track' target; Brian responded that finalized state data is still pending and should arrive in the next few weeks. Several board members urged that targets be tied to school-improvement plans and that central-office departments provide explicit supports to schools to avoid each site working in isolation.
The district also previewed two priority projects: a K—12 highly capable services initiative (partnering with Whitworth University) and an asynchronous-learning pilot to expand flexible, credit-bearing high-school courses. Board members welcomed the pilot but asked that stakeholder groups (including free/home-based learning providers) be included and that scheduling and training be resolved before scaling the program.
Board discussion emphasized the need to measure meaningful outcomes beyond single test scores, to understand root causes of absenteeism (including a potentially severe flu season), and to ensure implementation is resourced. "If we do business as usual, we're not going to attain them," one board member said, urging the central office to outline actionable supports and milestones.
Next steps: the board asked staff to supply baseline metrics once state data is finalized, to return with more granular action plans tied to school-improvement strategies, and to report progress at regular board academic meetings.
