Lowell Elementary Principal Lynn Borman told the Brainerd Public Schools board the school aimed to lift reading proficiency after ending last year with 63.4% combined third- and fourth-grade reading proficiency on FastBridge and MCA-based measures. "We had an ending place of 70.7% from the previous year, and so we wanted to increase that to 75.5. We fell short of that goal," Borman said, describing a focus on phonemic awareness, phonics instruction and use of FastBridge universal screeners.

Borman said Lowell strengthened its MTSS (multi-tiered system of supports) process and met with 15 students through that process; 10 received a second MTSS review and three proceeded to special-education evaluation and qualified. She described tiered interventions, teacher professional development and a ‘‘goals at a glance’’ visual posted in each classroom to keep staff focused.

At Brainerd High, Carrie Boesser reviewed three past goals — literacy growth for high‑risk 9th–10th graders, improved attendance and clear Tier 1 instruction — and said the district did not meet some targets. On the high‑school literacy goal, Boesser said the effort required looking at each high‑risk student and "unfortunately, they did not" all move out of the high‑risk category. She proposed a revised literacy target for this year: BHS students’ median growth percentiles on the spring FastBridge reading assessment should exceed the fall predicted score by an average of 3 percent.

Boesser also outlined a goal to reduce the percentage of failing grades by 5% compared with the 2021–25 average and described a district requirement for 100% of BHS students to declare a "Warrior Pathway" in the student information system. Departments will plan at least one career or post‑secondary learning activity to support that goal.

Board members asked about grading consistency and how attendance hours were counted at the high school; Boesser said the district has a common grading scale and explained that attendance is recorded by hourly period (seven periods per day) and therefore reported as hours missed. Both principals and board members emphasized MTSS, progress monitoring and targeted teacher practices as the primary levers to improve outcomes next year.

The presentations concluded with administrators offering to provide additional disaggregated data on failures, attendance and how pathways are communicated to students.