Principals outline gains and next steps as two Racine schools aim to exit CSI status

Two Racine Unified School District principals told the board on June 15 that recent academic gains and targeted interventions have them hopeful about meeting state improvement benchmarks, while also flagging persistent attendance and behavior challenges as priorities for the coming year.

At Jurst (presentation led by Jason Paproth, directing principal), staff highlighted progress on last year’s School Improvement Plan goals. Paproth said the school increased its rating on multiple continuous‑improvement measures, reporting that it moved from being “accomplished” in three of 13 evaluated areas at the start of 2024–25 to 11 of 13 by year’s end. The school also reported success meeting a teacher‑practice target: final walkthroughs showed over 90 percent implementation of SEAL (social‑emotional learning) practices in classrooms.

“We chose that goal because we are a CSI school,” Paproth said, referring to state criteria for Comprehensive Support and Improvement. He outlined two primary strategies that were implemented this year: structured monthly attendance meetings that include social workers and teacher champions who check in daily with at‑risk students; and a content‑focused SDI model that assigns case managers by subject to deepen staff expertise. Paproth said those interventions contributed to measurable growth in ELA and math and to significant early‑literacy gains after the district expanded full‑day 4K offerings.

The Jurst team also reported that 432 instances of perfect attendance were recorded across quarterly reporting periods and that 24 percent of English‑learner students showed a 0.5 or greater increase in their ACCESS language score this year.

At Schulty, Damon Jackson, the school’s directing principal, described a schoolwide math focus after diagnostic data showed geometry skills as a relative weakness. Jackson said the school implemented morning number talks, teacher‑created geometry assessments tracked three times a year, and cross‑curricular projects (art class assignments that reinforced 2‑D and 3‑D shape vocabulary) to increase student engagement and discourse.

“We are going to move towards departmentalizing in grades four and five,” Jackson said, describing plans to assign specialist math teachers to those grades so students see high‑quality instruction from teachers with stronger math backgrounds.

Jackson and his assistant principals also reported operational growing pains following the school’s expansion to K–8 and the addition of an eighth grade this year. The administrators told the board that the school had higher than expected enrollment, crowded classrooms early in the year, and a rise in behavior incidents as staff adjusted to new procedures. To respond, the school added targeted support roles (youth advocates and an S3 position), increased hallway supervision at passing times and will hold focused summer planning to tighten routines and professional learning community (PLC) work.

Board members pressed both schools on how they evaluate whether changes are effective. In response, Paproth emphasized the PLC and PDSA (Plan‑Do‑Study‑Act) cycles: “We come back to the table and we’re looking at the data. Did it make an impact or not? If it did, let’s keep doing it. If it didn’t, let’s go back to the drawing board,” he said.

Both principals described continued attention to equity‑related attendance concerns. Jackson noted that middle‑school chronic absenteeism among Black students was a stubborn issue — ranges cited in the presentation were near 50 percent at times — and said the school is coordinating with the social worker and community partners to address the varied causes, from housing instability to extended family travel. Administrators said some families enroll children in long‑term programs while traveling internationally and that documentation and coordination through the social worker is used when those absences occur.

Looking ahead, both schools said they will use summer planning and early‑release PLC time next year to be more intentional about data use and teacher supports, and to continue work aimed at exiting CSI status where applicable. The board thanked staff and encouraged focused follow up on staffing, messaging to families, and concrete success metrics to differentiate program effects from ordinary year‑to‑year variation.

The board later moved on to district updates and action items.