District leaders on Oct. 13 presented a new secondary-level theory of action aimed at improving ninth-grade on‑track percentages and tied the strategy to graduation outcomes. The presentation also reviewed the Open Doors Grad Alliance reengagement program, its role as a district option for credit-deficient students and recent state accountability findings.

District staff stressed national research showing early high-school performance predicts graduation: students with a GPA below 2.0 after ninth grade have a low probability of graduating (staff cited a national 18% graduation rate for that group), and students who fail one or more ninth‑grade core classes are substantially less likely to graduate on time. Staff said the district’s preliminary four‑year graduation rate in the current reporting window is about 90.3% (preliminary), continuing enrollment rate is about 5.9%, and dropout rate is about 4.0% pending final OSPI verification.

The secondary theory of action the district presented focuses on strengthening Tier 1 instruction, providing timely interventions, and aligning professional learning across buildings so principals and teachers can identify struggling students early—staff emphasized intervention as early as the fourth week of the school year for ninth graders who are off track. The district described tools and frameworks it is using, including an OnTrack toolkit and a Freshman Success Framework, and said principals are being asked to boil strategies down to actionable "If I do X, then Y will happen" statements for each school.

Open Doors Grad Alliance: Amy (surname not specified) presented results and processes for the district’s Open Doors Grad Alliance program, which the state placed under Tier 3 (comprehensive support) because the program’s graduation rate fell below the state threshold (less than 67% for the reporting cohort). Amy described program mechanics: Open Doors provides flexible, year‑round online credit recovery and outreach to re-engage students who are significantly credit‑deficient; over time the district enrolled 66 students in the program, with 23 graduates and 36% of participants returning to their home high schools. Staff emphasized the program is aimed at students with large credit gaps and that the district prefers to steer students toward diplomas rather than GEDs where possible.

Board members asked how the district tracks students who enter Running Start and other external programs; staff said Running Start communication is a challenge because those students are enrolled in a different institution, and the district is working to improve early alerts from partner colleges (staff cited 184 Running Start students in the past year, 17 of whom were failing one or more classes in a term). The district said it is exploring better referral and follow-up practices, improving interventions prior to referral, and strengthening information handoffs from middle to high school to flag students at risk.

Next steps: staff will finalize a written secondary plan for board review, continue principal leadership labs to translate the theory of action into school plans, and include Open Doors program adjustments in the district’s required school-improvement documentation for that program.