Dr. Clinton Koulentes, the district administrator presenting the MTSS academic support update, told the board that the district is expanding both universal (Tier 1) and targeted (Tier 2) interventions to raise student achievement and reduce failing grades.

Koulentes said MTSS is an operating framework — "not a program" — designed to provide individualized supports at the level students need. He described the district’s "Ready to Learn" initiative to manage cell phones and refocus instructional time, and said district survey data show a 17‑point rise in favorable responses to the question "During the past two weeks, how often did you pay attention in class?" (from about 72% historically to 89% currently).

District leaders described specific steps now in place: co‑teaching sections that pair general education teachers with special education or English‑learner educators; inclusion facilitators who coach teachers on individualized strategies; two full‑time math tutors embedded in the MASH/workshop and ARC programs for sustained drop‑in and assigned tutoring; and three new certified interventionists (English, math and science) who consult with course teams to provide reteaching, reassessment and occasional pre‑teaching of upcoming concepts.

Koulentes said the interventionists focus primarily on freshmen and sophomores and work with teachers to create targeted reteaching lessons rather than serving as one‑off tutors. He described PAWS, a daily academic period for students needing more intensive executive‑functioning support, and executive‑functioning coaches who meet one to three times per week with students on organization and study skills. Literacy and numeracy intervention periods are also available when data show more significant skill gaps.

The administration supplied early outcome data showing the percentage of D and F grades at progress periods across the last five years. Koulentes cautioned that causation has not been established, but said Libertyville currently shows its lowest percentage of D/Fs in the recent record and Vernon Hills shows an improvement from last year. He emphasized expanded staffing across periods 1–8 so interventions are available across the school day.

Board members asked for clarification about identification and timing. Koulentes said building intervention teams meet every other week to review grades, attendance and behavior data and to connect students to supports; teachers can also assign students directly to math tutors. The presenters flagged a data‑coding discrepancy between buildings in how workshop/ARC visits were tallied and said they are investigating the difference.

Board discussion praised the additional full‑time math tutors and large peer‑tutor corps; questions focused on earlier identification of at‑risk cohorts (for outreach to feeder districts), better data visualization of progress periods, and program expansion. No formal action was taken; board members asked that the administration return with clarified usage data and further disaggregation by grade and course.