Orono board OK’s calendar for next school year

Schools across Minnesota continue to implement the Department of Education’s Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act, and Orono schools remain ahead of the curve, though there’s still a long road ahead.

The READ Act, signed by Gov. Tim Walz on May 24, replaces the existing Read Well By Third Grade (RWBTG) program, and intends “to have every Minnesota child reading at or above grade level every year, beginning in kindergarten, and to support multilingual learners and students receiving special education services in achieving their individualized reading goals.”

The bill was signed months after 2022’s state testing scores showed that nearly half of all Minnesota students read below their grade level, and poor scores continued in 2023.

To combat this, the READ Act will necessitate that Minnesota schools focus on what it calls evidence-based reading instruction. This instruction will focus on phonics and phonemic awareness. The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) also lists vocabulary development, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy as areas Minnesota teachers will need to receive training in.

Schools must provide this evidence-based reading instruction by the 2026-27 school year.

As a first step, schools will need to provide this training to kindergarten through third grade teachers, kindergarten through grade 12 intervention teachers, pre-kindergarten program educators, special education teachers, instructional support staff, curriculum directors, and staff who select literacy instructional materials for their district beginning July 1.

All other teachers must complete this training by July 1, 2027.

This training, of course, will take time. Many districts across the state have encountered scheduling issues to fit in the “roughly” 50 hours of training required. Orono has incorporated professional development days in its schedule for years, however, and plans to afford much of the time on those days to engage in READ Act training. Orono did not need to incorporate additional professional development days into future academic years.

This training may come at the expense of other professional development, such as time typically spent on Professional Learning Community(s) (PLC).

Being that READ Act training is asynchronous, the option of conducting summer training will be explored.

Early education teachers will receive training through the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) learning course. Training options for all other teachers will be made available soon.

To this point, Orono has fully complied with READ’s guidance and timelines. Orono will submit its updated Local Literacy Plan by June 15 as devised by its District Literacy Specialist, Beth Pearson.

Orono has also already begun its required screenings with FastBridge, an online assessment tool used to measure students’ reading proficiency. Orono selected FastBridge from two MDE approved screening tools.

Prior to receiving an update on the READ Act, the school board approved the 2025-26 academic calendar. Superintendent Dr. Kristine Flesher confirmed that teachers voted in support of the calendar.