Like students transitioning to the next grade, the West Linn-Wilsonville School Board hopes to build off of last school year’s successes and learn from its struggles. The board concluded a summer of deliberation and approved its 2024-25 goals during a meeting Monday, Aug. 19.
“Last year, I thought it was really effective how Superintendent (Kathy) Ludwig and (Director of the Superintendent's Office Kelly Douglas) kept track for us in a running document that we had about our progress on these goals. It allows us to stay laser-focused on the items that are in our purview as policymakers and so, moving forward, we would continue to communicate these goals as we work through the steps to accomplish them,” said school board member Kristen Wyatt during the meeting.
The board approved its four goals alongside a schedule for tracking progress and dividing time throughout the school year.
The 2024-25 goals are as follows:
Research, develop and adopt an anti-racism policy.Monitor student achievement data through the District Integrated Plan, School Work Plans, school visits, a Winter work session and quarterly Board reports.Value community voice and the authentic engagement of parents/guardians and students through Board-appointed site visits to each school and their respective K-8 PTA/PTO organization meetings or monthly forums, and three board-facilitated student engagement events with students in grades 6, 9, and 13 regarding their transitions to next learning levels (middle, high, post-high).Engage as a board with the Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) and the community on long-range facilities and financial planning to host a Bond Summit in Spring 2025.
The first goal sets a slightly different diversity and equity path for the school district next year. While the school district has historically developed an equity action plan annually, several board members expressed a desire to create and adopt a new anti-racism policy early in the school year.
“I'm very concerned with the racism our students of color are experiencing in our schools, and developing a policy in addition to the administrative rules that we already have is one tool that may be used in recognizing and combating racism,” said board member Maegan Vidal during the meeting.
The second and third goals maintain practices the board developed previously, evaluating student achievement data and utilizing in-person community engagement.
These community engagement events include roundtable meetings with students as well as school board presence at PTA/PTO meetings.
The last goal sets the stage for the capital bond development process in 2025. As the school district looks to the completion of Frog Pond Primary School next year, the long road to a new capital construction bond begins.
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