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Superintendent reports steady budget, new MTSS referral form, fall testing and enrollment gains at West Bath
Summary
The superintendent reported the district's budget and audits are on track, enrollment increased with 17 new kindergarteners, the district rolled out an MTSS referral form and completed fall testing; she also reported nine students met the district's chronic-absence threshold this quarter.
At the Oct. 16 West Bath School Board meeting the superintendent delivered a multi-part district update covering finances, audits, student supports, testing and enrollment.
On finances, the superintendent said the year is about two-thirds complete and that the district had roughly 81% of its budget remaining, though tuition payments for September and October had not yet been made. She said the district's 2022-23 audit is in progress and staff expect the 2023-24 audit to follow.
The superintendent described the community's recent loss and the district's grief-response efforts, thanking parents, staff and community members for support. She also described instructional and extracurricular activities: fifth graders participated in a four-day encampment that included High Elements and estuary studies and have been doing rowing instruction and boat building; kindergarteners (17 enrolled) are scheduled for a pumpkin farm trip later in October.
Operational changes include consolidating gifted-and-talented, RTI and other student-support committees into an MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support) model and rolling out a single referral form for staff to address academic and social-emotional needs. "We rolled out the new referral forms today," she said, adding that a unified process will help staff identify and support student needs.
The superintendent said the district completed fall screening and testing windows and used data during a recent late-start meeting to begin goal-setting for students and staff. She reported that, for the first quarter (July'Sept., 20 school days), nine students met the district's chronic-absence definition (absent more than 10% of school days) and that reasons such as illness were documented.
She also recognized community member Garrett Olson, a parent who served as a chaperone for the fifth-grade trip; she said Olson is an officer with the county sheriff's department and that the department kept him on the payroll for the week he chaperoned.
The superintendent concluded with reminders about the Freedom of Access Act training for board members and noted the board will discuss next steps on the tuition-contract matter at future meetings.
