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The school board approved a ceiling for the 2026 property tax levy and reviewed a report on student achievement at last night’s meeting. Discussion focused on interpreting the results of the report and how best to act on the results.
Preliminary Tax Levy
Director of Finance Scott LeSage provided a review of the district’s funding in preparation for setting the tax levy for 2026. The tax levy provides roughly 25% of the district’s funding, with the rest coming from state and federal sources.
- The first step in the process is to vote on a maximum levy increase. Standard practice is to vote for the maximum increase allowable by state laws at this point to provide the district with maximum flexibility going forward.
- Because school funding comes from so many sources and goes through so many bureaucratic delays, it can be hard to have accurate budget numbers for any given year. Some funding sources are based on enrollment, some on district population, and some on property values.
- With all of that uncertainty in mind, LeSage did suggest that the levy could end up being lower than in past years.
- The board voted unanimously to allow the maximum levy increase for now.
- The tax levy will be finalized at a public meeting on December 8.
- That levy would go into effect in January 2026, and the district would start receiving funding at that level at the start of the 2026-2027 school year.
World’s Greatest Workforce Report
Director of Curriculum Cari Jo Drewitz shared an annual report of the district’s goals and achievement levels. The report is structured around five broad goals:
- All children are ready for school.
- All third graders can read at grade level.
- All racial and economic achievement gaps are closed.
- All Two Rivers students graduate high school.
- All ISD 197 graduates are ready for college and/or careers.
These goals are ambitious and ultimately serve as motivators rather than realistic targets. Broadly speaking, the report shows that the district is doing well. They rank at or near the top when compared to similar suburban districts, and they’ve shown improvement across most metrics.
- The early childhood education program continues to grow, and is showing strong results in terms of student readiness across multiple categories. At the end of the year, at least 70% of early education students were achieving at grade level.
- District-wide, ISD 197 ranks first among comparable districts in reading proficiency, with 54% of students at “proficient” or higher, compared to 50% statewide. Improvement was especially strong in kindergarten reading results, going from 36% proficient to 52% proficient from 2023-2025.
- Math achievement was somewhat lower, with 44% of students at proficiency compared to a statewide average of 45%, but this was still good enough to rank second among comparable districts.
- Achievement results for disadvantaged groups have not changed much since last year, and the district is tracking very close to the state average in all of these categories. In short, the achievement gap is not showing signs of closing in ISD 197. While non-white students or those of lower economic status still underperform high-income white students in the district, they outperform their peers in other districts.
- Overall, 90% of students graduated high school in four years, up from 84% the year before, and five points higher than the state average. Broken down by race and other factors, the district’s graduation rate beat the state average in every category.
- The district offers 16 different AP classes, 19 different concurrent enrollment courses, and several other advanced or rigorous classes that offer college credits, professional certifications, or real-world experience while students are still in high school. 38% of students are taking one or more of these advanced courses, up from 35% last year. 70% of ISD 197 graduates go on to college, compared to 62% statewide. As of this year, over 90% of students in rigorous classes are earning a C- or better in those classes.
Superintendent Peter Olson-Skog helped to put these numbers in context.
- Standardized test scores are useful for identifying trends at the population level, but aren’t very useful at tracking individual student or teacher performance. Many schools over-interpret their test scores and use them to rate specific teachers or provide interventions to specific students, and this is a mistake.
- The “proficient” rating on standardized tests is arbitrary. Rather than seeing it as a pass/fail, it’s more useful to look at it in terms of improvement and overall averages.
- Through that lens, the district’s test scores look good. They’re outperforming comparable districts and showing steady improvement year over year.
Other Items on the Agenda
- Strategic plans: Director of Curriculum Carrie Jo Drewitz provided an overview of the district’s strategic implementation plan. This plan outlines specific programs and initiatives the district is undertaking to improve in a number of areas. The three big goals are to provide more social-emotional learning opportunities for students, adjust district policies to put an emphasis on equity for all groups, and to provide students with more career exploration opportunities. The board will review the specifics of these goals and vote on final approval at the October meeting.
- Policies: Two new district policies had their first public reading:
- The district is updating their policy on mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect in order to keep it aligned with state laws and best practices. This update was part of a regularly-scheduled three-year review of all policies.
- The district is updating their attendance policy to keep it in line with state laws, including what counts as an excused or unexcused absence, what consequences schools can impose for absences, and how makeup work should be handled. Several board members raised concerns about equity with this policy, and it will likely be discussed at the October meeting rather than going on the consent agenda.
Engage
- More: Agendas and minutes for ISD 197 School Board meetings are available online.
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