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Board renews BAR program for grades 6–9 after multi-year review of attendance, discipline and achievement data
Summary
After presentations from school leaders and BAR coordinators, the Clark County Board approved continuing the Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BAR) program for sixth through ninth grades and discussed funding the next phase (tier-two coaching/support) largely from grants and general fund allocations.
School leaders told the Clark County Board of Education that the district’s three-year implementation of the BAR (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) program has coincided with measurable improvements in behavior, connectedness and academic risk indicators at participating schools, and asked the board to renew and expand the program into additional grades.
Presenters from GRC and RDC described curriculum elements called "I times," weekly team meetings to monitor and tier supports, and a community-connect tier for students who need intensive interventions. They cited several district metrics they said improved during implementation: reductions in the portion of students classified as novice on I‑Ready reading and math indicators, fewer discipline incidents tied to the district’s "three D’s" (defiance, disruption, disrespect), declines in substantiated bullying reports compared with previous years, and lower freshman failure rates in the first quarter (presenters showed a decline from about 7.5% to roughly 4.8% in credits failed versus attempted).
Ms. Cook (BAR coordinator/high school assistant principal) and Mr. Schmig (RDC band director and BAR coordinator) described the program's three‑year cadence — coaching, site visits and teacher professional development — and said the district is through the initial implementation phase. They recommended continuing BAR in grades six through nine and discussed a potential "Thrive" maintenance contract (tier two) to preserve coaching supports. Presenters said most of the next-year cost could be covered by remaining grant funds with a limited general-fund contribution.
Board members questioned whether continued coaching would drive further declines in failure and chronic-absence rates; presenters said they were optimistic but did not guarantee further decreases and framed coaching as a leverage point for data-driven interventions.
Motion to continue the BAR program for grades six through nine and to pursue a tier-two maintenance contract passed in the meeting transcript (voice vote recorded in the transcript as "Motion passes four to zero," with later shorthand language reflecting full-board approval in the minutes). District staff said they will identify budget lines for the program and return with a recommended tier and spending plan.
