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The school board heard preliminary findings on an audit, a curriculum update to comply with the READ Act, and progress on superintendent goals.
2023-2024 Audit
The school board heard a presentation on the preliminary findings of 2023-2024 audit. Overall, they expect to receive an unmodified opinion, which is the highest score. However, turnover in the finance department resulted in the audit being late and a couple items missed which were flagged by auditors. The administration hopes to remedy these items for the next audit.
Curriculum Update
District staff gave an update on selecting a new foundational reading curriculum for kindergarten through second grade to comply with the state’s READ Act. They chose the Magnetic curriculum because it requires less teacher prep time, can be implemented with less variability from classroom to classroom, and offers more flexibility. A competing curriculum, UFLI, was perceived to be cheaper, but requires more printing and creating materials that makes the costs comparable.
Other Items on the Agenda:
- Superintendent goals: The board unanimously approved Superintendent Peter Olson-Skog’s report on his goals. The first goal covered the strategic plan and updates were shared at six other school board meetings. The second goal covered staff engagement and feedback and Olson-Skog completed 165 interviews with staff. The final goal was to improve coordination between district staff and principals, and a working group of principals has made significant progress.
- Curriculum policy: The board discussed an update to a curriculum development policy where the only changes were mandated by state law.
Engage
- More: Agendas and minutes for ISD 197 School Board meetings are available online.
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