Superintendent Cole opened a committee-of-the-whole presentation on the district's spring 2025 accountability results, telling the board the year began well with site visits and an “outstanding day” at schools but warning that changes to the state accountability system will make future targets harder to meet. "We really need to begin having conversation around our accountability system," he said, noting third-grade DIBELS results were still embargoed and that the district plans a multi‑meeting review of the new Grow, Achieve, and Thrive framework.

Why it matters: LEAP performance drives a large share of school accountability scores — at the elementary level the assessment index can account for roughly 70 percent of a school's rating — and the state will shift points away from "basic" in the new formula, increasing the pressure to raise mastery and advanced performance. Ms. Okonski, a district assessment lead, told the board that "for a K‑8 school the assessment index is very significant" and warned the November SPS release will omit basic-level points that had been counted for 2024–25.

Presenters and staff repeatedly linked attendance to learning loss. Adam Smith and other staff showed district analyses that chronic absence remains well below pre‑COVID levels in many schools, and Smith summarized the finding bluntly: "Students who miss fewer days, they perform better." The presentation showed 99 percent participation rates for LEAP test windows (grades 3–8) but stressed that high test‑window attendance has not translated into consistently high year‑round presence.

Board reaction and direction: Board members pressed for operational metrics and accountability. Board member Martin asked for a simple, recurring attendance report for every meeting so the board can track weekly or monthly changes; Superintendent Cole agreed to provide monthly updates. The district said it will set a baseline metric for principals, run a consecutive-absent report from the student information system (JCampus) and include attendance among quarterly critical conversation reviews for about 20 priority schools.

Planned actions and follow-up: Staff described several concrete steps already underway: redeploying central staff to school-based cohorts that include child welfare and attendance specialists; reintroducing hard-copy daily absence lists at some campuses to trigger outreach; realigning funds to support high-priority schools; and monthly data reporting to the board. They also said principals will be expected to own daily attendance data rather than rely solely on attendance clerks.

Context and next steps: The district warned that under the new accountability formula many students in the basic and approaching-basic bands would not earn assessment points, and that growth calculations will change. Staff promised ongoing presentations, additional slides at the next regular meeting and a schedule of data updates to the board so trustees can “inspect what we expect.” Ending: The board asked staff to return with specific attendance metrics, evidence of outreach effectiveness and updates on how cohort teams and high-priority supports affect absenteeism and assessment growth.