Key strengths

  • Support for professional growth:
    • Teachers appreciate opportunities like mental health sessions and professional development days that allow them to stay updated on best practices, and other initiatives that show commitment to staff wellbeing.
  • Collaborative environment:
    • Collaborative afternoons support teachers to foster teamwork, align strategies for student support, and enable peer collaboration and knowledge sharing.
  • Unified community feel:
    • The district’s small size helps create a sense of community, align efforts to meet student needs, and achieve shared goals.

Key challenges

  • Staffing shortages:
    • Severe teacher and EA shortages have led to resource teachers and librarians being pulled to cover classrooms, which particularly impacts students who need additional support.
      • Insufficient substitute teachers (TTOCs) create additional strain.
  • Delayed assessments:
    • Psych assessments for students are delayed by years, disproportionately affecting those who cannot afford private evaluations. Recommendations from assessments may not be implemented due to a lack of resources.
  • Overcrowding and lack of resources:
    • Teachers face overcrowded classrooms and lack materials like paper, art supplies, and resources for English Language Learners. They note that portables are not a sustainable solution and are poorly equipped.
  • Training and support:
    • Some teachers and EAs report feeling underprepared to manage violent situations and undertrained/under resourced to support students with medical needs.
  • Barriers for English Language Learners and new students:
    • Teachers report a lack of onboarding resources for international or new students, making it difficult to effectively support them in classrooms.

Key priorities

  • Recruit and retain staff:
    • Hire more teachers, EAs, and TTOCs while offering competitive incentives to retain existing staff. Address the high turnover of EAs, which disrupts consistency for students.
  • Improve infrastructure:
    • Build additional schools and reduce reliance on portables. Ensure facilities like libraries and music rooms are accessible to all students and have adequate resources like equipment and books.
  • Streamline assessments and resources:
    • Shorten psych assessment timelines and provide consistent, actionable support. Allocate resources equitably to ensure all students receive necessary support and have their accessibility needs met.
  • Trauma-informed training:
    • Equip teachers with tools to support students living with trauma, imbed trauma-informed principles across the district, and emphasize building trusting relationships with students.
  • Address class size limits:
    • Reduce class sizes to ensure personalized instruction and effective implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).