Thanks to Block Portrait Studios and Clover Montessori School for their support.
Math curriculum review dominated the ISD 197 School Board meeting, but they also discussed policies covering student parking, meals, and micro-purchases.
Math Curriculum Review
District staff gave an update on the multi-year math curriculum review process.
- Why: The state set new math standards for all grades that need to be implemented by the 2027-2028 school year. The district is also on a standard cycle to review all curriculum.
- Timeline: The district is in the third year of this review process. Over the past year, teachers and district staff explored different curriculum options and ultimately decided on new curriculum. The next step is for some teachers to pilot the curriculum over the next year with full implementation in the fall of 2026.
- Commitment: Teachers and staff invested countless hours in exploring state standards, setting priorities, evaluating curriculum, and more.
- Results: The new curriculum includes new digital tools to help show student strengths and weaknesses as learning progresses, as well as pencil and paper options so not all learning is happening on a screen. High school will also be adding another geometry option to help with the transition to algebra II and trigonometry.
Student Parking Policy
The board reviewed a first reading of a new student parking policy that will give the district the power to tow vehicles.
- Why: This is in response to numerous complaints from students who pay for an assigned parking spot, only to find someone using that spot.
- Procedure: The administration will develop a complaint process and procedure to notify students and families, give warning, and eventually escalate to towing if warranted.
- Equity: “There might be community members who see this and their gut reaction is ‘why would you do that?’ Working in a high school, the number of times parking is an issue and completely derails a kid—it’s a lot,” said Board Member Morgan Steele. “If you’re not in the building you’re not seeing kids who are dysregulated because now they’re late for their class or late for a test. Knowing there is clear procedure and consequence is very helpful so students arrive at their best and ready to learn.”
- Next: This policy will move to the consent agenda for future meetings.
Other Items on the Agenda:
- Micro-purchase policy: The board unanimously approved a new policy that increases the purchase threshold requiring competitive bids from $10,000 to $25,000. The change aligns with state law, complies with federal guidelines, and will reduce accounting work for the district. The board did waive their usual practice of giving policy changing multiple readings and passed it in one reading so it could be implemented immediately.
- School meals policy: The board reviewed a new school meals policy that adds language explicitly stating that meals will not be denied students due to unpaid balances. This codifies the district’s standard practice, and has largely been a non-issue since the state’s free meals program. The policy will move to the consent agenda for future meetings.
Engage
- More: Agendas and minutes for ISD 197 School Board meetings are available online.
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