When that happens, it’ll be clear which districts are prepared and which aren’t. It’ll also be obvious which districts put equity and student needs at the center of tough decisions.

I know, because as the former chief financial officer of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), I grappled with many of these issues after the 2008 global financial crisis. I understand the difficulty of making tough decisions about staff and eliminating programs while prioritizing student success, particularly for students of color and those experiencing poverty.

Preparing for the coming fiscal cliff isn’t the responsibility of chief financial officers alone, since most districts will simultaneously spend the ESSER money even as they look for budget cuts. Because of that, this pending perfect storm will require a partnership of district leaders, school administrators, teachers and families—a community partnership built on trust, respect and transparency.

Facing the financial reckoning

Here are five things districts should consider doing to keep students and their successes at the center of discussions about budget reductions:

1. Inventory district-funded programs, then examine student data. Districts notoriously layer reform on top of reform, creating what I call “school reform lasagna.” After a while, these well-meaning interventions blend together so seamlessly that it’s nearly impossible to know what works and what doesn’t. DCPS’s inventory was illuminating because of administrators’ lack of oversight and the sheer number of programs—programs that in some cases leaders didn’t know the district was funding in the first place.

Once you have the inventory, the next step is to investigate the return on those investments. This could be as simple as comparing dollars spent, students impacted and outcome data, which can provide directional information or more complex academic ROI. What does your data tell you about the areas of greatest student need? Is it middle school math? Social-emotional supports? This data should inform a district’s highest priorities.

2. Engage in strategic abandonment discussions. This is the most difficult work since every program has users and families who won’t want it to end. For example, DCPS freed resources by eliminating a popular but ineffective early-grades reading program. Transparency and communication are key when you are working to end programs.

3. Set your district’s priorities and create (or update) your five-year financial plan. Typically, school districts budget one year at a time, rarely considering the impact of today’s spending decisions on tomorrow’s budgets. Because district revenue has increased over the last decade, districts have been able to get away with the lack of long-term planning. As the fiscal cliff looms, though, that strategy is a recipe for disaster. School systems must begin thinking in the long term.

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I created DCPS’s first five-year financial plan. It provided insight into the “total cost of ownership” of any program—and whether the costs were sustainable based on future revenue projections. It also provided transparency when we had to make hard choices. In fact, long-term financial plans are a tool for engaging community stakeholders in decision-making.

4. Budget for equity. Research is clear that principals have an outsized impact on student outcomes. Exceptional leaders need the resources and autonomy to make decisions on staffing and instruction that best serve their students. In addition, it’s known that money matters for student outcomes. Systems can accomplish two things simultaneously: empowering principals and preparing for fewer resources by implementing student-based, equity-driven systems for funding schools.

5. Innovate and experiment with new school models or staffing approaches. Necessity is the mother of invention. Around the country, districts are piloting different types of school models, such as large multi-teacher classrooms and multi-school leadership teams. These new ideas allow the best educators to reach more students without expanding budgets. They also expand a district or state’s ability to offer student interventions that are flexible, customizable and, most importantly, sustainable. Now is the time for schools to test different approaches and strategies that, if successful, can be scaled district- or even statewide.

These actions build on each other and can’t be rushed. It takes time to work through each step. Wait too long and districts will be forced to resort to seniority-based layoffs and across-the-board cuts. While that’s a plan designed to look like everyone feels the pain equally, this approach typically is felt the hardest by students furthest from educational equity. Districts need to start planning ahead—while they also focus on the here and now.

The post 5 steps districts can take to prepare for a big financial reckoning appeared first on District Administration.

Seven weeks ago, Turnitin launched its preview for its AI writing detection tool. As of May 14, the company has processed at least 38.5 million submissions for AI writing, and, to no surprise, they’re uncovering AI-written text, according to a recent blog post from Turnitin’s Chief Product Officer Annie Chechitelli.

According to the data, 9.6% of their total submissions contain over 20% of AI writing and 3.5% contained between 80% and 100%.

“It’s important to consider that these statistics also include assignments in which educators may have authorized or assigned the use of AI tools, but we do not distinguish that in these numbers,” Chechitelli wrote. “We are not ready to editorialize these metrics as ‘good’ or ‘bad’; the data is the data.”

She also stresses that the data is imperfect. Like with any plagiarism or AI detector, there’s a chance that they’ll mistakenly flag a student’s assignment.

“As a result of this additional testing, we’ve determined that in cases where we detect less than 20% of AI writing in a document, there is a higher incidence of false positives,” she wrote. “This is inconsistent behavior, and we will continue to test to understand the root cause.”

Such mistakes could also leave educators puzzled about how to resolve the issue of suspected cheating by students. Based on feedback from teachers using Turnitin’s AI detector, Chechitelli notes that many simply don’t know how to react and approach students after their assignments are flagged for AI-written text.

Fortunately, the company has published several resources educators and district leaders should take advantage of when considering AI’s capabilities for enhancing student learning—when used ethically—in the classroom. Here’s a look at all five:

• How to approach a student misusing AI: This guide helps educators learn about how to approach this conversation with a student, starting with collecting “clear and definitive documentation.”
• Discussion starters for tough conversations about AI: Discussions surrounding the issue should support honest, open dialogue. Start with addressing the students’ strengths demonstrated in the assignment, their weaknesses and then their apparent misuse of AI.
• How to handle false positive flags: While false positive rates are small, it’s important that educators know how to begin the conversation when it occurs.
• Handling false positives as a student: Before submitting assignments, students should make sure they know the rules regarding AI use and what is and isn’t acceptable.
• Ethical AI use checklist for students: Educators encouraging the use of AI in and out of the classroom should take steps to ensure students are upholding academic integrity by following these guidelines.

The post 5 reasons educators need to have “the talk” with students about using AI for homework appeared first on District Administration.

A March report from EdResearch For Recovery and the Tennessee Education Research Alliance outlines best practices and guidelines for district leaders using data collection to measure and assess their summer programs. Separated into four key focus areas, the report addresses what data schools should be collecting and research-based recommendations to support schools that seek to make the most of their data collection.

Demographics of Summer Enrollment

Questions to ask:

• “Are the students who are enrolling in the program the ones who would benefit the most from the additional academic support and school engagement opportunities?”
• “Which students should we target for additional recruiting efforts?”

Schools should maintain a list for each program or site of every student who signs up, including those who never attend. Then, link enrollment data to the district’s Student Information System (SIS) to ensure enrollment is connected to student-level characteristics.

“Analyzing enrollment, apart from attendance, can help identify barriers in the participation pipeline,” the report reads. “Capturing this year-over-year and tracking no-show rates provides a clearer picture of the percentage of students who enroll in the program and the share of those students who actually attend.”

Summer Attendance Patterns

Questions to ask:

• “What are the broad attendance trends over the course of the program?”
• “Which groups of students are attending more regularly and attending more days?”
• “Which students are not attending regularly and might benefit from support plans?”

Schools must document the programs or sites students attended, including their dates. Similarly, begin linking that data to your SIS.

“Attendance is strongest when programs communicate the benefits of high attendance during recruiting, establish an enrollment deadline, follow-up with reminders about the program, provide transportation, and create an engaging site climate with positive adult-student relationships,” according to the report.

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Teacher, Student and Family  Experiences

Questions ask:

• “Did students have positive experiences in the program?”
• “Do students report higher levels of non-academic outcomes (self-efficacy, connection etc.) at the end of the program?”
• “How do teachers and parents view the quality of the program?”
• “What do parents and teachers see as strengths and areas for growth for the program?”

Using student, teacher and family surveys, schools should administer these before and after the programs to assess changes over time, gain retrospective insight and gather feedback on teachers’ and families’ experiences.

Academic Outcomes

Questions to ask:

• “Did students attending the program improve on targeted academic skills?”
• “Did students who attended the program longer see more academic achievement?”
• “Did summer program participants perform better on benchmark exams compared with non-participants?”

Leveraging available achievement data, including benchmark exams, will help educators better understand how to design programs that provide the most academic benefit for students.

“Ultimately, collecting and examining this data can give school and district leaders a measuring stick with which to assess their progress toward their goals,” the report reads. “It can help ensure that their summer programs are always improving and providing the best possible outcomes for students.”

The post How to improve your district’s summer programs in 4 easy steps appeared first on District Administration.

Anne Staffieri has been chosen as the next superintendent of the San Dieguito Union High School District in California after leading the Escondido Union High School District for the past four years. Staffieri was also superintendent of Ramona USD from 2016-19. A former high school biology and Spanish teacher, Staffieri was named superintendent of the year by the California Continuation Education Association in 2021.

In North Carolina, Dale Cole has been unanimously approved as superintendent of Brunswick County Schools. A 30-year education veteran, Cole is now superintendent of Clay County Schools and has also worked for districts in Hyde and Beaufort counties. He also was voted North Carolina’s principal of the year 2013. In Ohio, Jeff Harrison will take over as superintendent of Brecksville-Broadview Heights City Schools on Aug. 1. Harrison, who has more than 20 years of experience in education, is currently the superintendent of Buckeye Local Schools.

Finally, in the Northwest, Superintendent Kim Spacek is moving from the 200-student Inchelium School District No. 70 in Washington to Mountain View School District 244 in Idaho, the Idaho County Free Press reports.

First-time superintendents take charge

Among the notable first-timers is Suzanne Johnson, who has been selected as the next superintendent of School District U-46, the second-largest in Illinois. Johnson had served five years as the suburban Chicago district’s deputy superintendent of instruction before being named interim superintendent in February.

In North Carolina, Major Warner will replace 10-year veteran David Jeck as superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools in Virginia. Warner, who is now deputy superintendent, helped increase graduation rates and mentor principals and staff as Fauquier County’s chief academic officer. Warner began his career as a school counselor.

In the same state, Nakia Hardy, a deputy superintendent in Durham Public Schools, has been chosen to lead Lexington City Schools. Hardy has previously served as chief academic officer for Guilford County Schools, the executive director for teaching and learning for Baltimore City Public Schools and the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Rockingham County Schools.

In California, Julienne Lee was chosen to lead the Buena Park School District near Los Angeles after having served as associate superintendent of educational services at Fullerton School District, where she oversaw dual-language immersion programs in Spanish and Korean and an award-winning intervention program. Lee has also been a dual-language immersion teacher, a Response to Intervention coach, an assistant principal and a principal.

Also in California, Gilroy USD has chosen as its next superintendent Anisha Munshi, an associate superintendent of professional learning and educational progress at the Santa Clara County Office of Education. Munshi began her career as an elementary school teacher and assistant principal at Gilroy USD.

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And in Texas, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD has made interim superintendent Alejandro Elias its permanent leader. Elias has been the principal of an early college high school and a middle school in the district.

Other recently hired first-time superintendents include:

• Nathan Black, School District of Nekoosa (Wisconsin)
• Tamara Champa, Hastings Public Schools (Minnesota)
• Lisa Fletcher, Transylvania County Schools (North Carolina)
• Consuela Girty, Cherokee Central Schools (North Carolina)
• Elizabeth Kaufman, Mill Valley School District (California)
• Rebecca Kidwell, Seekonk Public Schools (Massachusetts)
• Matthew Neighbors, Galveston ISD (Texas)
• Robert Pappalardo, Apache Junction Unified School District (Arizona)
• Dana Kriznar (interim), Duval County Public Schools (Florida)

The post Several superintendents switch as first-timers join the ranks of K12 leadership appeared first on District Administration.

A new analysis from the educational consultant organization Education Resource Strategies suggests that reports from districts and researchers regarding teacher vacancies are misleading, understating “the actual effects of teacher turnover on schools and students by overlooking the impact of teachers transferring to other schools within their district,” the report reads.

Based on field work with six large school districts, ERS’ original research reveals that more teachers are leaving their schools than ever before. Here’s a look at that data:

• On average, nearly 30% of teachers left their school during the 2021-22 school year compared to 24% before the pandemic. This includes teachers who:
  • Left the district entirely by abandoning the profession or swapping school systems.
  • Left their role but stayed in the district.
  • Took a teaching job in another district (this accounted for nearly one-third of school-level turnover).
• Schools with higher levels of students experiencing poverty lost 34% of their teachers in 2021-22.
• 36% of new teachers left their school compared to 30% before the pandemic.

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To address this issue, the analysis adds, districts must tackle the root cause of it all by redesigning a job that is no longer attractive or sustainable enough to give students the education they deserve. In addition to these findings, the researchers offer four recommendations for district leaders who may be experiencing some of these issues:

• Make teaching more sustainable in high-needs schools: Provide more time for collaboration and reflection and allow teachers to share work while investing in strong leaders to support them.
• Invest in “shelter-and-develop” models for new teachers: This should be the case, especially in high-needs schools. This model helps take the load off of rookie teachers and gives them opportunities to learn with expert support.
• Be adamant about improving teacher pay: Teachers in the early stages of their careers should be provided liveable wages while achieving “meaningful” salary increases. “these increases can also support leadership roles geared toward improving instruction that enables strong teachers to expand their reach and earn more, without leaving the classroom,” the report reads.
• Understand district policies and their “unintended” impact: This includes seniority-based transfer policies that bar principals’ abilities to “make the best decisions for their schools and ‘last in, first out’ policies that lay off teachers based on experience rather than effectiveness,” according to the report. Such policies play a substantial role in teacher turnover in high-needs schools because that’s where you’ll find the highest number of inexperienced teachers.

“Teacher turnover is a pervasive issue that’s only increasing as our nation’s schools come out of the pandemic,” the analysis reads. “But with a strategic focus on supporting teachers—particularly rookie teachers and those in high-need schools—district leaders can work toward stopping the turnover cycle and making the teaching job more sustainable for all educators.”

The post A new look at the teacher shortage—is it worse than we thought? appeared first on District Administration.

The food truck will, of course, be a big part of Lincoln Public Schools’ culinary CTE program. But getting the truck going will require the skills and participation of students studying graphic design, automotive repair, business and law, among other subjects. “This food truck is a mobile classroom that is cross-curricular,” says Filippelli, Rhode Island’s 2023 Superintendent of the Year.

Lincoln Public Schools bought the five-year-old food truck from a restaurant with $125,000 worth of help from the Rhode Island Department of Education. Three graphic design students, including one who is special needs, have designed the wrap to cover the exterior of the truck, now dubbed the “Lion’s Mane” after the district’s mascot. Business and law students will review state regulations to ensure the truck has all the appropriate licenses.

The CTE focus jibes with the “vision of a graduate” framework Filippelli and his team are now finalizing after three years of work. “That’s the curriculum driver for everything we want our little Lions to be when they come to preschool and what we want our seniors to exit as when they graduate,” he says.

That vision, however, goes nowhere without the facilities to support i. Lincoln Public Schools, a suburban district of about 3,200 students, recently completed a $60 million renovation of its high school and is now building a $9 million physical education center. In the fall, voters will be asked to approve a $25 million bond to fund new gymnasiums, makerspaces, STEM spaces and reimagined cafeterias at the district’s elementary schools, where the media centers are also being renovated and updated.

“We’ve got a lot of infrastructure to support the curriculum,” Filippelli explains. “By the time we’re done, we’re probably going to spend close to $100M in renovations. That is really exciting.”

Why you need a second therapy dog

Meeting the social-emotional needs of students and adults presents one of the biggest issues that Filippelli says he and his team are facing as the school year winds down. “Last school year, we were coming out of COVID and we came out pretty strong but this year, getting back into those routines and putting COVID in the rear-view mirror, that really has been a challenge,” he says. “There have been some behaviors that we’ve had to address that just leave you scratching your head.”

The district has used ESSER funds to hire extra social workers and psychologists and ramped up professional development on trauma-informed practices. The district is also now home to a therapy dog, a Labradoodle named Willow. “She has made an incredible difference when it comes time for state testing and finals exams,” Filippelli says. “We’re considering getting a second one because it has made a huge impact to have a therapy dog here.”

Lincoln has not struggled to hire teachers as much as it has in filling administrative vacancies. The district has received about half the applications that it normally gets for an open position.

More from DA: This low-profile staff position can save districts millions each year 

Filippelli is seeing both lower enrollments in college administrative training programs and fewer teachers excited about moving to central office. The pay for a beginning administrator—such as an assistant principal—is not that much higher than for an experienced teacher who also earns a stipend for additional instructional duties. Some educators may not consider the pay increase worth the tilt in work-life balance for an administrator who is obligated to attend school events multiple nights a week, among other duties.

Can schools provide everything?

Filippelli is deeply involved in state and regional school safety efforts, including with SENTRY, a Northeastern University-based think tank that is backed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and is looking into the role artificial intelligence can play in K12 security, among other research. The organization has also analyzed Lincoln’s lockdown drills.

He is also an adjuct instructor in the principal development program at Providence College and often works with state legislators on laws that will impact education, both positively and negatively. He is concerned about a bill that, at a cost of $15 million, would provide universal free meals to all students and the financial strain that could place on the state’s education system.

“Ever since we became mobile hospitals during COVID, parents have this expectation that schools just need to provide everything,” he concludes. “As you provide more, responsibility gets pulled away from parents, and when people have responsibilities pulled away from them, you get used to that really quickly.”

The post How this superintendent is fueling multidisciplinary learning with a food truck appeared first on District Administration.

Authorities did not provide any details about the criminal allegation made against Constant or the investigation, according to The Owensboro Times. Constant became Owensboro’s superintendent in 2020 and has worked for the district since 2011, having also served as assistant superintendent and chief academic officer. He has also worked for the Daviess County School District, the newspaper reported.

In West Virginia, Nicholas County Schools Superintendent Donna Burge-Tetrick resigned along with a school board member in the midst of what the Charleston Gazette-Mail described as seven years of “construction woes” that dogged efforts to recover from disastrous flooding in 2016. Coincidentally, that was the same year Burge-Tetrick was hired as superintendent.

Earlier in May, Nicholas County Schools had opened the second phase of reconstruction with a bid of $148 million, an amount that is $51 million over the funds remaining for the project, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported. The previous rebuilding phase was bogged down by disruptions that included a lawsuit between the district and state board of education in 2018, the newspaper added. Burge-Tetrick will remain on the job until June 30.

And Jason Reynolds, the superintendent of one of Arizona’s largest districts, announced that he will also step down in June, a year before his contract would have expired. Reynolds, who became Peoria Unified School District’s superintendent in 2020, was one of the first leaders to reopen classrooms to in-person learning during the COVID pandemic, according to the Arizona Republic.

The district has endured some controversy this year, notably when the school board voted 3-2 against restricting transgender students from accessing bathrooms consistent with their gender identity, the Arizona Republic reported. Reynold was previously the assistant superintendent of leadership and secondary instruction at Paradise Valley School District, also in Arizona.

More superintendents stepping down

In one of the most high-profile retirements of the last week, Superintendent Mark Henry will retire from Cypress-Fairbanks ISD in Texas in December 2023, after more than 40 years in education and 32 years as a superintendent. Henry also served as superintendent of four other districts: Milford, Collinsville, Sulphur Springs and Galena Park ISD.

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Leaders in a handful of other school districts have announced resignations and retirements in recent days:

• Superintendent Karling Aguilera-Fort is leaving the Oxnard School District (California) for a leadership position at San Francisco USD.
• Superintendent Kelli Bush is resigning from Elizabethtown Independent Schools (Kentucky) on July 1, The News-Enterprise reported.
• Boyd K. English, hired in 2018, is retiring from the Albertville City School System (Alabama).
• Superintendent Tim Johnson will leave the School District of Glenwood City (Wisconsin) on June 30.
• Roger Reed resigned from S&S Consolidated ISD (Texas) on May 27.

The post Kentucky superintendent suspended as two other leaders call it quits appeared first on District Administration.

But that can change.

Three years after its release, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for the first time updated its #StopRansomware guide this week as ransomware and double extortion continue to plague K12 schools.

For some, this may be a much-needed refresher course ahead of the 2023-24 school year considering the number of targeted cyberattacks, experts warned leaders.

In partnership with the FBI, National Security Agency and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the guide reflects on lessons learned over the past several years in addition to some recommendations leaders should consider for keeping their student and staff data secure. The recommendations cover best practices for ransomware and data extortion prevention as well as a checklist district and IT leaders can follow.

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What’s new?

As cyber criminals continue evolving their tactics, it’s imperative for schools to stay one step ahead to mitigate the risk of ransomware. To maintain relevancy and maximize effectiveness, CISA added some of the following changes to its guide:

• For the first time, the FBI and NSA have been added as co-authors for their contributions and insight.
• Implemented recommendations for preventing common initial infection vectors, including advanced forms of social engineering and compromised credentials.
• Updates to recommendations for addressing cloud backups and zero trust architecture (ZTA).
• Expanded its ransomware response checklist to include threat-hunting tips for detection and analysis.
• Mapped recommendations to CISA’s Cross-Sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs).

“This document is a one-stop resource to help organizations reduce the risk of ransomware incidents through best practices to detect, respond, and recover, including step-by-step approaches to address potential attacks,” according to CISA’s website.

The post Here’s what you need to know to prevent and mitigate ransomware in 2023-24 appeared first on District Administration.

For the fourth week in a row, South Eugene High School in Oregon was forced into a two-hour lockdown in response to threats of violence Wednesday morning. According to The Register-Guard, the last three threats the school faced prompted students to evacuate and classes were canceled for the day following the first two reported threats.

Police and the district’s superintendent said they’re incredibly frustrated about the frequency of these security threats.

“Superintendent Dey [Andy Dey] and I are here together, shoulder to shoulder, I think both with various levels of frustration and concern around what’s happening here in South Eugene High School, what’s happened in the greater community,” Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner said during a news conference. “The minute we have to deploy resources here, really this entire city is less safe with limited resources. We’re committed to continue to respond here, in every instance.”

The concerns expressed by Skinner mirror those of Kenneth Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services. In a recent interview with District Administration, he recommended that district leaders communicate with students the consequences of posting anonymous threats targeting their schools as it requires resources and a “massive police response and heightened security at schools.”

Other districts have faced similar threats this week, including Half Moon Bay High School in California where students were evacuated Tuesday morning in response to a bomb threat.

Like most online threats target schools, law enforcement deemed the threat not credible upon investigation but issued an early release for students as the investigation took up most of the day.

In Michigan, law enforcement debunked anonymous threats school officials caught wind of through the state’s OK2SAY threat reporting program. The tips spoke of an unnamed student at Mason Senior High School who made a series of threats toward others in the school.

One alleged threat was about a “hit list” targeting students and teachers, but officials found no evidence that such a list ever existed, according to WTVG.

These types of security scares prompted protests from Erie Mason High School students demanding support from their district’s administration.

“We don’t feel safe in the school,” one sophomore told WTVG. The district’s superintendent Kelli Tuller assures that students are safe, but the constant rumors are creating widespread panic and fear.

“There’s a lot of rumors out there,” Tuller said. “I had shared with them that a letter went out Friday to try and squelch those rumors. Unfortunately, they continue to spiral out of control.”

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Threats driving change

As security threats continue to plague school districts across the nation, lawmakers are hoping to make changes that help schools mitigate the risk.

Oregon legislators are currently considering a bill that would require schools to electronically notify families and employees of threats, the Statesman Journal reports.

House Bill 3584 would require school boards to adopt such policies for notifying parents, guardians and school employees whenever a school goes into lockdown, shelter-in-place, or evacuates, and how it resolves, within 24 hours of the threat.

“For some students, especially re-traumatized students, this is critical,” one parent in the Gresham-Barlow School District told legislators. “We are limited in how we can support our children if the school does not give us adequate communication.”

The Houston Police Department is also ramping up its police presence at schools as the year wraps up, according to Click 2 Houston. As part of Houston ISD’s Project Safe Start 2023 initiative, their goal is to increase safety and security at the end and beginning of the school year.

According to law enforcement, arguments and violence among students tend to ramp up toward the end of the school year, so they want to be proactive.

As for other school districts, ensuring the safety and protection of students is vital to their academic experience. As Trump told District Administration in February during a swarm of swatting hoaxes, here are three ways to mitigate the effects of falsified threats:

• Establish threat assessment teams, protocols and training
• Schools need to identify “heightened security” procedures that they will put in place when they determine threats are not credible and continue on with education while the threats are being investigated to identify the threat maker.
• Schools must have crisis communications plans as well as social media strategies to engage in timely and accurate communications with their school community when they are exposed to such threats.

The post In their final weeks, some schools still face security threats appeared first on District Administration.

“I want our two principals to understand they have the freedom to try something new and just because one attempt didn’t work, that doesn’t in any way hamper my support for them trying something else that’s different,” Perry explains. “We’re going to try something new again.”

The 450-student Arlee Joint School District, which is part of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes is 65% Native American and operates on a four-day school week. The schedule has helped the district attract and retain teachers who are willing to travel to the district from Missoula, which is about 20 miles away and home to the University of Montana.

Trying new things also means replacing outdated facilities with modernized schools. Arlee is now building a new space for grades 3-6 to replace a facility that is nearly more than 90 years old. The $14 million project, which is an extension of the K-2 building, is being financed with ESSER funds and bonds approved by local voters.

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To get those bonds passed, Perry invited community members on some eye-opening tours of the old building. “A lot of community members went to school here,” he notes. “Their memories of what the school looked like 30 or 40 years ago is not what the school looks like now. In their mind, it’s the same school they went to and it was fine.”

The project will feature a larger media center with a maker space and room for Salish language and Indian studies programs. There will also be formal—and creative—outdoor learning spaces right outside elementary classrooms. “We have mountains all around and it’s absolutely gorgeous,” Perry says. “We want our kids outside.”

‘The good that can come from school’

A Montana native, Perry says there is a misconception that education is not highly valued on Indian reservations. Still, a challenge the superintendent and his team face is a side effect of the large number of Arlee students who are being raised by their grandparents.

“Our guardians have a tendency to skip a generation,” Perry says. “Some of the guardians of our current students don’t understand what the landscape of education looks like, that it’s no longer a teacher standing in front of the room and just lecturing and trying to get kids to understand the instruction.”

Staff also sometimes have trouble connecting with guardians who had bad experiences in school. “We get a good amount of pushback from some grandparents when we contact them about issues we may be having with a student,” he says. “Some of those grandparents attended boarding schools and were unbelievably mistreated so they don’t have in their minds the good that can come from school.”

Arlee is also dealing with a severe shortage of classified staff. Recruiting bus drivers, custodians and paraprofessionals has been “10 times harder” than hiring teachers. He has received zero applications this year for vacant bus driver and custodian positions. “With the change in what people can make in other professions, to get someone to be a special education paraprofessional for what we can afford to pay them is almost impossible,” he points out. “We can’t afford to increase pay like a private business can.”

‘We care about them everywhere’

Arlee’s educators are now devoting much of their focus to literacy, particularly reading comprehension, across the K12 curriculum. “We will do all we can to bring in parents, guardians to get them involved, to show how important reading is,” he says. “If we make a concerted effort in that area, I think we’re going to see growth everywhere else.”

Perry also prioritizes staying involved in the day-to-day life of his schools, a task he says is easier in a smaller district. He helps coach high school volleyball, is licensed to cover bus routes, fills in as a substitute teacher and often drives several hours to Arlee’s away games, among other activities. He believes he’s also the first superintendent in decades who has lived in the Arlee community.

“I make sure students know that I’m interested in them 24/7—it’s not just when they’re on their campus. We care about how they’re doing everywhere,” he concludes.

The post How this superintendent is giving his educators the freedom to change K12 education appeared first on District Administration.