Rochester board approves Achievement and Integration Plan for submission to Minnesota Department of Education

The Rochester Public Schools board on March 17 unanimously approved a resolution directing the superintendent to submit the district's Achievement and Integration Plan to the Minnesota Department of Education and to implement the plan during the 2026-27 through 2028-29 school years.

Chair Nathan read the resolution, which the board moved and seconded. The motion was called and the chair declared the resolution approved. The transcript records that board members voted in favor and that one director voiced opposition during the roll call, but the final outcome was approval; the meeting record did not include a named roll-call tally in the public transcript.

Superintendent Powell said the plan includes updated baseline data, goals and narrative edits and that the document is a three-year plan. The superintendent and board members discussed a technology-related component that appears in the plan to anticipate potential access to a statutory levy (available to certain large Minnesota cities) that could help replace devices previously purchased with federal pandemic-era funds; district staff said any future device-related request would follow state Department of Education approval processes.

Board members highlighted parts of the plan aimed at increasing access for students enrolled at the Alternative Learning Center and underscored the plan's integration across district strategy and operations. The board scheduled implementation oversight and follow-up as part of the district's regular agenda cycle.

The resolution text read on the record directed the superintendent to submit the plan to the Minnesota Department of Education; the motion to approve passed and the chair stated the resolution was adopted. The transcript does not include a detailed vote-by-name breakdown or recorded tallies in the public reading.