RSU 20 board hears NEAS evaluation, adopts four priority areas for 2025–26

Mr. Toothaker briefed the RSU 20 school board on the results of a recent NEAS evaluation, outlining four priority areas the visiting team identified as the district’s focus for the 2025–26 school year. He said the NEAS model uses five standards and that a set of "foundational elements" are binary indicators the school must demonstrate.

The visiting team asked the district to: develop a measurable "vision of the graduate" that communicates what graduates will know and be able to do; create a school‑specific improvement or growth plan informed by reliable, longitudinal data; remodel the school leadership and stakeholder model to better fit the district’s smaller staffing levels; and continue curriculum auditing and cycles of review while making the current curriculum readily accessible to the community (the board discussed using Atlas Rubicon and similar tools).

"When we start this process, those foundational elements are our first level of threshold," Mr. Toothaker said. He told the board the priorities are intended as a work plan for professional time and improvement during 2025–26, not a pass‑fail checklist. "This document here is really a work plan for us to improve," he said, adding that the model is meant to be aspirational and reflective.

Board members asked whether the priorities represented the visiting team’s suggestions, the school’s recommendations, or a combination; Mr. Toothaker said the initial priorities came from the school’s self‑evaluation and the visiting team’s report added specific indicator language and suggested action steps. He explained one item (initially flagged as missing) — access to a written curriculum in Google Docs — was removed as a foundational shortcoming after the school provided access during the review; the curriculum work remains a priority and the district plans to use other platforms to ensure availability.

The visiting team praised the school’s physical plant, the art spaces and library, and the district’s investment in student supports, noting the presence of counselors, social workers and a McKinney‑Vento liaison as notable strengths. The board was told the NEAS team is scheduled to return for a more comprehensive visit in November 2026 to evaluate progress across the full set of standards.

Next steps: the board and staff will develop timelines and specific action steps tied to each priority for incorporation into the 2025–26 professional‑development calendar and documentation that will be shared with NEAS ahead of the next visit.