Alignment Audit · board kit

Millcreek Township School District

PA · score 54/100 · full report · Model Policy Manual

Press release

Millcreek Township School District, PA. EarthPilot's Alignment Audit has scored the written policies of Millcreek Township School District at 54 out of 100.

The audit read 257 sections of board policy and checked them against the research evidence in 57 domains. No domain fully met the evidence. 25 domains partly met it, 5 conflicted with it, and 27 were silent.

Three conflicts stand out. Section 204 Attendance conflicts with the evidence on chronic absence response. No rigorous US study shows that fines, prosecution or court referral improve attendance, while early, supportive, family-facing responses cut chronic absence by roughly 8 to 23 percent at modest cost. Section 233 Suspension and Expulsion conflicts with the evidence that out-of-school suspension lowers the suspended student's own math and reading achievement, and that reforms ending suspension for minor nonviolent conduct raised achievement and attendance where a replacement behavior system was in place. Section 124 Alternative Instruction Courses conflicts with the evidence on dual enrollment and early college, which two lottery-based randomized studies link to higher high school graduation, college enrollment and degree completion.

The policies are silent on early literacy instruction and K-3 reading screening, on high-dosage tutoring, and on tiered positive behavior supports and restorative practices. Each has randomized trial evidence behind it.

The full report, with every receipt and a recommended clause for each finding, is public at /d/millcreek. The scoring model is documented at /manual.

Contact: EarthPilot, Alignment Audit. Report: /d/millcreek.

Memorandum to the Board

To the Board of School Directors, Millcreek Township School District

I am a resident of the district, writing to share the results of EarthPilot's Alignment Audit of our policy manual, scored on 2026-11-03. The audit read 257 sections and checked them against 57 domains with clear research guidance. The district scored 54 out of 100. No domain met the research, 25 partly met it, 5 conflicted with it, and 27 were silent.

I would ask the Board to take up three sections first. Section 204 Attendance conflicts with the research on chronic absence: no rigorous US study shows that fines, prosecution or court referral improve attendance, while supportive, family-facing responses cut chronic absence by roughly 8 to 23 percent at modest cost. Section 233 Suspension and Expulsion conflicts with evidence that out-of-school suspension lowers the suspended student's own math and reading achievement; reforms that ended suspension for minor nonviolent conduct raised achievement and attendance in New York City and Chicago, while cuts without a replacement behavior system did harm. Section 124 Alternative Instruction Courses could do more with dual enrollment and early college, which two lottery-based randomized studies link to higher graduation, college enrollment and degree completion.

I respectfully request that the Board place the attached proposed clauses on a future agenda for first reading.

Proposed motions (44)

Each motion amends the named section or adds a new policy, in the district's own format. Numbers in rewritten clauses were checked against the model clause and the existing section.

Motion 1. Chronic absence response: Amend 204 Attendance

Current language. Last RevisedFebruary 23, 2026 Purpose The Board recognizes that attendance is an important factor in educational success, and supports a comprehensive approach to identify and address attendance issues.

Why. Missing 10 percent or more of school days lowers achievement and engagement from kindergarten on, and the share of students chronically absent nearly doubled after the pandemic. Controlled studies show that early, supportive, family-facing responses (mailed and texted attendance information, caseworkers who remove material barriers, structured adult mentoring) cut chronic absence by roughly 8 to 23 percent at modest cost, while no rigorous US study shows that fines, prosecution or court referral improve attendance.

How the Board will know it worked. Percent of enrolled students missing 10 percent or more of enrolled days (the state chronic absence measure in the EDFacts or state report card file), by school, grade and subgroup; the share of identified students who received a documented two-way family contact within 10 school days; and the number of truancy referrals filed, each tracked monthly and reported quarterly. Target: Within 1 year every school reports the share of identified students contacted within 10 school days rising each quarter, with zero truancy referrals filed without a documented contact, plan and barrier assessment; within 1 to 3 years the chronic absence rate falls below the baseline in every school and subgroup, with a reduction in the range of 8 to 15 percent of the baseline rate consistent with the family-contact and caseworker studies. The Superintendent reports to the Board each quarter and publishes the figures on the district website within 30 days of each report; the Board reviews the annual chronic absence rate against the baseline at the end of each school year.

Eklund K, Burns MK, Oyen K, DeMarchena S, McCollom EM (2022). Addressing chronic absenteeism in schools: a meta-analysis of evidence-based interventions. School Psychology Review 51(1):95-111. doi · Li D, Singh S, Jeldi N, Chang S, Zhu M, Dailey K, Karabukayeva A, Cai C (2026). What works to keep students in school? A meta-analysis of interventions to reduce school absenteeism. Behavioral Sciences 16(5):697. doi · Rogers T, Feller A (2018). Reducing student absences at scale by targeting parents' misbeliefs. Nature Human Behaviour 2(5):335-342. doi

Motion 2. Early literacy instruction and K-3 reading screening: New policy (academics and access)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. Systematic, explicit phonics instruction in K-1 raises word reading, spelling and comprehension by a moderate amount (about 0.4 SD) and is the only reading-disability treatment whose efficacy is confirmed in randomized trials; curriculum-based screening in K-2 predicts later reading well enough to find at-risk readers early. State 'science of reading' laws raise high-stakes elementary reading scores by a small amount so far, mainly where the policy is comprehensive, and the gains on low-stakes NAEP are not yet statistically clear.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of K-3 students screened within the first 30 school days; share of flagged students beginning a documented intervention within 15 school days; percent of K-3 reading teachers and principals with completed structured-literacy training; third-grade state ELA proficiency rate and subgroup gaps. Target: Within 1 year, every K-3 student is screened within the first 30 school days and every flagged student begins a documented intervention with written parent notice within 15 school days; within 2 years of hire, every K-3 reading teacher and elementary principal completes the structured-literacy training; third-grade state ELA proficiency rises and subgroup gaps narrow over 1 to 3 years. Director of Curriculum reports to the Board each November and each June, by school and subgroup, with the third-grade state ELA results included in the June report.

Ehri LC, Nunes SR, Stahl SA, Willows DM (2001). Systematic phonics instruction helps students learn to read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel's meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research 71(3):393-447. doi · National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read. NIH Publication 00-4769. link · Galuschka K, Ise E, Krick K, Schulte-Korne G (2014). Effectiveness of treatment approaches for children and adolescents with reading disabilities: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. PLoS ONE 9(2):e89900. doi

Motion 3. Suspension and expulsion: Amend 233 Suspension and Expulsion

Current language. Last RevisedFebruary 27, 2023 Purpose The Board recognizes that exclusion from the educational program of the schools, whether by suspension or expulsion, is the most severe sanction that can be imposed on a student and one that cannot be imposed without due process.

Why. Out-of-school suspension lowers the suspended student's own math and reading achievement (Philadelphia student panel with instrumental variables), and attending a school with a one standard deviation higher suspension rate raises the chance of adult arrest and incarceration by 15 to 20 percent (North Carolina boundary-change natural experiment). Reforms that ended suspension for minor nonviolent conduct raised achievement and attendance in New York City and Chicago, while reforms that cut suspensions without a replacement behavior system lowered achievement and raised absences for most students in Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

How the Board will know it worked. Out-of-school suspensions per 100 students and instructional days lost, by building and by race, disability, sex and English-learner status; share of suspensions for subjective or nonviolent categories (defiance, disrespect, dress code, tardiness, attendance); risk ratios for Black students and students with disabilities; attendance and achievement of non-suspended peers in buildings that reduce suspensions. Target: Within one year of adoption, zero out-of-school suspensions recorded for defiance, disrespect, dress code, tardiness, truancy or other attendance conduct, and no single suspension exceeding five school days outside the state and federal exceptions; within 1 to 3 years, every building's risk ratio for Black students and for students with disabilities at or below 2.0, with suspensions per 100 students and days lost declining each year while attendance and achievement of non-suspended students in those buildings hold steady or improve. Monthly principal reports to the Superintendent; an annual Superintendent report to the Board by September 30 covering the prior school year, published publicly, with the corrective plan for any building above a 2.0 risk ratio; Board review of the policy at a public meeting each October.

Bacher-Hicks A, Billings SB, Deming DJ (2024). The school-to-prison pipeline: long-run impacts of school suspensions on adult crime. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 16(4):165-193. doi · Lacoe J, Steinberg MP (2019). Do suspensions affect student outcomes? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 41(1):34-62. doi · Sorensen LC, Bushway SD, Gifford EJ (2022). Getting tough? The effects of discretionary principal discipline on student outcomes. Education Finance and Policy 17(2):255-284. doi

Motion 4. Dual enrollment and early college: Amend 124 Alternative Instruction Courses

Current language. Authority The Board may grant credit toward high school graduation for course work successfully completed through approved summer school, correspondence courses, distance education, online courses and dual enrollment, in accordance with this policy.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Delegation of Responsibility The building principal shall be responsible for reviewing and approving student applications for earnin

Why. Two independent lottery-based randomized studies of early college high schools (North Carolina, followed 17 years, and the AIR national study, followed six years past graduation) find higher high school graduation, college enrollment, and degree completion, with very large effects on associate degrees and bachelor's gains for low-income and first-generation students. A Tennessee RCT of a dual-credit math course shifted students from remedial to precalculus and AP math and from two-year to four-year colleges, though it did not raise overall college enrollment. The What Works Clearinghouse rates dual enrollment as having positive effects on degree attainment, credit accumulation, and completing school.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of graduates who earned at least one transferable college credit in high school and share who earned 12 or more, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, income, English learner status, and disability status, plus dual-credit pass rates, share of credits that transferred, early college enrollment and completion, and postsecondary enrollment of participants versus non-participants from the National Student Clearinghouse. Target: Within 1 year every high school offers no-cost dual-credit courses and all eligible students receive written notice by March 1; within 3 years the share of graduates earning at least one transferable credit and the share earning 12 or more rise each year in every student group, gaps for low-income, first-generation, English learner, and disability-status students narrow, and postsecondary enrollment of dual enrollment participants exceeds that of non-participants. Director of College and Career Readiness to the Board by November 1 each year, posted publicly with the state report card and National Student Clearinghouse data, with the Board reviewing progress against the baseline at that meeting.

Edmunds JA, Unlu F, Phillips V, Glennie E, Mulhern C (2024). The Impact of Early Colleges on Postsecondary Performance and Completion. AERA Open 10. doi · Edmunds JA, Unlu F, Furey J, Glennie E, Arshavsky N (2020). What Happens When You Combine High School and College? The Impact of the Early College Model on Postsecondary Performance and Completion. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 42(2):257-278. doi · Edmunds JA, Unlu F, Glennie E, Bernstein L, Fesler L, Furey J, Arshavsky N (2017). Smoothing the Transition to Postsecondary Education: The Impact of the Early College Model. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness 10(2):297-325. doi

Motion 5. High-dosage tutoring: New policy (academics and access)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. Across 96 randomized trials, tutoring raises achievement by about 0.29 SD, with the largest effects when teachers or paraprofessionals tutor, sessions run at least three days a week, and tutoring happens during the school day. Post-pandemic programs run at district scale have produced much smaller gains (0.04 to 0.09 SD in reading and no math effect in Nashville), and a 263-trial reanalysis puts the realistic effect of large, test-targeted programs at 0.16 to 0.22 SD.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of students below benchmark on the interim assessment who received tutoring at least three sessions a week for at least ten weeks during the school day, by school and student group; sessions delivered versus scheduled; share of sessions with the student's assigned tutor; interim assessment growth of tutored students compared with matched non-tutored students. Target: Within one year, every student identified below benchmark is enrolled and the share receiving at least three sessions a week for at least ten weeks during the school day rises each reporting period, with no student group lagging the district rate; within 1 to 3 years, tutored students show growth on the interim assessment greater than matched non-tutored students in both reading and mathematics. Superintendent reports to the Board by December 15 and June 15 each year, disaggregated by school, race, ethnicity, income, English learner status, and disability status, with any school below the dosage standard named and its corrective schedule attached.

Nickow A, Oreopoulos P, Quan V (2024). The Promise of Tutoring for PreK-12 Learning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence. American Educational Research Journal 61(1):74-107. doi · Nickow A, Oreopoulos P, Quan V (2020). The Impressive Effects of Tutoring on PreK-12 Learning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence. NBER Working Paper 27476. doi · Kraft MA, Schueler BE, Falken G (2026). What Impacts Should We Expect From Tutoring at Scale? Exploring Meta-Analytic Generalizability. Review of Educational Research. doi

Motion 6. Tiered positive behavior supports and restorative practices: New policy (discipline and climate)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. School-wide PBIS has the strongest evidence of any discipline framework: a meta-analysis of 29 group studies including seven RCTs finds small-to-medium reductions in discipline referrals and gains in achievement, and the five-year Maryland RCT found children in PBIS schools 33 percent less likely to receive an office referral with fewer suspensions. Restorative practices are promising but mixed: the Pittsburgh RCT cut days lost to suspension 36 percent against 18 percent in controls and narrowed racial gaps, but did not improve achievement and worsened it in grades 6 to 8, while the Maine middle school RCT found no significant intent-to-treat effects.

How the Board will know it worked. Office discipline referrals and out-of-school suspensions per 100 students by building and student group; annual Tier 1 fidelity score on the Tiered Fidelity Inventory; share of buildings with functioning Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams; referral risk ratios for Black students and students with disabilities; student and teacher climate survey results. Target: Within 1 year, every building completes a fidelity assessment and has functioning Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams; within 3 years, every building scores 70 percent or higher at Tier 1, office referrals and out-of-school suspensions per 100 students decline from baseline in every building, and no building has a referral risk ratio above 2.0 for Black students or students with disabilities. Superintendent reports to the Board and publishes on the district website by September 30 each year, for the prior school year, by building and by race, disability status and sex, including fidelity scores, restorative practice use and outcomes, and a corrective plan for any building over the 2.0 risk ratio threshold.

Lee A, Gage NA (2020). Updating and expanding systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the effects of school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports. Psychology in the Schools 57(5):783-804. doi · Bradshaw CP, Mitchell MM, Leaf PJ (2010). Examining the effects of schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports on student outcomes: results from a randomized controlled effectiveness trial in elementary schools. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions 12(3):133-148. doi · Bradshaw CP, Waasdorp TE, Leaf PJ (2012). Effects of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports on child behavior problems. Pediatrics 130(5):e1136-e1145. doi

Motion 7. Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS / RtI): New policy (academics and access)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. The components of a tiered system work when they are done well: K-3 supplemental reading interventions average about 0.4 SD across dozens of rigorous studies, early K-2 screeners predict later reading, and a randomized trial shows that starting intervention immediately after screening beats waiting a semester (d = 0.36). The one large evaluation of RtI as schools actually ran it (Balu et al. 2015, 146 schools in 13 states) found that first graders just below the cutoff who were pulled into Tier 2 or 3 scored lower in spring than peers just above it, with no effect in grades 2 and 3.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of at-risk students with Tier 2 or Tier 3 intervention logged within 15 school days of screening, share of Tier 2 students exiting to Tier 1 within a semester, screening participation each window, progress-monitoring frequency, and special education referral and identification rates by school and race. Target: By the June report of year one, every school screens all K-8 students within the first 30 school days of each window, every at-risk student has intervention logged within 15 school days, every Tier 2 and Tier 3 student is progress-monitored at least every two weeks, and the share of Tier 2 students exiting to Tier 1 within a semester rises each year over the first 3 years with no school showing referral or identification rates by race that diverge from its share of enrollment without a documented review. Director of Student Services reports to the Board each December and June, by school and race, with the June report comparing spring outcomes of students placed in Tier 2 or Tier 3 against students just above the cutoff to check for the negative grade 1 pattern found in the national evaluation.

Balu R, Zhu P, Doolittle F, Schiller E, Jenkins J, Gersten R (2015). Evaluation of Response to Intervention Practices for Elementary School Reading. NCEE 2016-4000. National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education. link · Gersten R, Jayanthi M, Dimino J (2017). Too much, too soon? Unanswered questions from national Response to Intervention evaluation. Exceptional Children 83(3):244-254. doi · Fuchs D, Fuchs LS (2017). Critique of the national evaluation of Response to Intervention: A case for simpler frameworks. Exceptional Children 83(3):255-268. doi

Motion 8. Family engagement and two-way communication: Amend 908 Relations With Parents/Guardians

Current language. To ensure that the best interests of each student are served in the educational process, a strong program of communication and cooperation between home and school must be maintained, and parental involvement encouraged.

Why. Randomized trials show that specific, frequent, two-way teacher-to-family communication about a child's own effort, attendance and missed work raises engagement and achievement: daily teacher messages increased homework completion 40 percent, weekly one-sentence notes cut course failure 41 percent, automated missed-assignment alerts cut course failures 27 percent, and parent-school meetings in France reduced truancy and discipline sanctions by about 0.15 SD. Meta-analyses of family-school partnership programs find small to moderate positive associations with achievement (r about 0.12 for involvement overall; about 0.3 SD for structured programs), strongest for communication about schoolwork and parental expectations rather than attendance at events.

How the Board will know it worked. Percent of enrolled students whose family received at least two logged, individualized two-way contacts in the school year (one by October 31, one by March 31), by school and subgroup; plus share of families enrolled in alerts and reachable by verified phone, conference participation rate, and family survey response rate and agreement with 'the school tells me how my child is doing' Target: Every school reaches a majority of students with two logged two-way contacts in year one and raises that share each year through year three, with the gap between the lowest and highest subgroup narrowing each year; all families enrolled in alerts by default with a verified phone on file by the end of each August; survey response rate and agreement with 'the school tells me how my child is doing' rising each year Superintendent's annual report to the Board by November 30, by school and subgroup, published on the district website, with a mid-year check at the March 31 deadline

Kraft MA, Dougherty SM (2013). The effect of teacher-family communication on student engagement: evidence from a randomized field experiment. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness 6(3):199-222. doi · Kraft MA, Rogers T (2015). The underutilized potential of teacher-to-parent communication: evidence from a field experiment. Economics of Education Review 47:49-63. doi · Bergman P (2021). Parent-child information frictions and human capital investment: evidence from a field experiment. Journal of Political Economy 129(1):286-322. doi

Motion 9. Classroom temperature, ventilation and indoor air: New policy (health and wellbeing)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. Heat cuts learning: across 10 million PSAT retakers, each 1 degree F hotter school year reduced that year's learning by about 1 percent in schools without air conditioning, and air conditioning offset nearly all of it; hot school days fall hardest on Black and Hispanic students and explain roughly 5 percent of the racial achievement gap. Poor ventilation costs attendance and scores: in 162 California classrooms each additional 1 L/s per person of outdoor air cut illness absence 1.6 percent, a 140-classroom study found math scores rose 0.5 percent per L/s-person up to the 7.1 L/s-person standard and a further 0.5 percent per degree C cooler within 20 to 25 C, and a double-blind crossover experiment found 3 to 7 percent more correct answers when outdoor air rose from 1.7 to 6.6 L/s-person.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of classrooms with mechanical cooling, instructional hours above 78 F by building, share of occupied classroom hours with CO2 above 1,000 ppm, measured outdoor air rate per person at commissioning, illness absence by building, and number of heat-related early dismissals Target: Within 1 year every classroom has a continuous CO2 monitor and no building exceeds 1,000 ppm for more than 10 percent of occupied hours in any month; within 3 years the share of classrooms without mechanical cooling and the instructional hours above 78 F fall each year, no student is taught at or above 88 F, and illness absence by building declines Annual report from the Director of Facilities to the Board by September 30, with monthly CO2 exceedance rates by building available to the Board on request

Park RJ, Goodman J, Hurwitz M, Smith J (2020). Heat and learning. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 12(2):306-339. doi · Park RJ (2022). Hot temperature and high-stakes performance. Journal of Human Resources 57(2):400-434. doi · Park RJ, Behrer AP, Goodman J (2021). Learning is inhibited by heat exposure, both internationally and within the United States. Nature Human Behaviour 5(1):19-27. doi

Motion 10. Secondary school start time: New policy (time and schedule)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. Adolescent circadian timing shifts later, and middle and high schools that start at or after 8:30 a.m. get measurably more sleep from students; a Seattle district-wide delay of nearly an hour produced 34 more minutes of sleep per night, a 4.5 percent rise in median grades and better attendance, and a Florida time-zone natural experiment found each hour of later start relative to sunrise raised adolescent math scores by 0.08 SD. Meta-analyses and a Cochrane review agree on the sleep and attendance effects; achievement effects are positive but smaller and less consistent.

How the Board will know it worked. Percentage of secondary students (grades 6 through 12) whose instructional day begins at or after 8:30 a.m., plus median school-night sleep hours reported by secondary students on the district climate survey and chronic absence and first-period tardy rates by building Target: 100 percent of secondary students begin instruction at or after 8:30 a.m. by the start of the school year following the first March 1 report, with any named noncompliant building in compliance within one school year; median school-night sleep hours rise and chronic absence and first-period tardy rates fall in every converted building by the second annual wellness report The Superintendent reports to the Board by March 1 each year in the schedule report and annually in the student wellness report, with figures broken out by building

Adolescent Sleep Working Group, Committee on Adolescence, Council on School Health, American Academy of Pediatrics (2014). School start times for adolescents. Pediatrics 134(3):642-649. doi · Dunster GP, de la Iglesia L, Ben-Hamo M, Nave C, Fleischer JG, Panda S, de la Iglesia HO (2018). Sleepmore in Seattle: Later school start times are associated with more sleep and better performance in high school students. Science Advances 4(12):eaau6200. doi · Heissel JA, Norris S (2018). Rise and shine: The effect of school start times on academic performance from childhood through puberty. Journal of Human Resources 53(4):957-992. doi

Motion 11. Access to extracurricular activities, athletics and the arts: Amend 122 Extracurricular Activities

Current language. Last RevisedJanuary 26, 2026 Prior Revised Dates11/23/2020 Purpose The Board recognizes the educational values inherent in student participation in extracurricular activities and supports the concept of student organizations for such purposes as enriching the educational experience, building social relationships, developing interests in a specific area, promoting civic engagement and gaining an un

Why. Causal studies find that participation pays: Houston's randomized arts-access initiative (42 schools, more than 10,000 students) reduced disciplinary infractions, raised writing achievement and increased empathy and, for elementary students, school engagement and college aspirations; Title IX's forced expansion of girls' sports raised women's college attendance and employment (Stevenson); German sports-club participation improved grades and health. Longitudinal work (Fredricks and Eccles) links breadth of participation to higher GPA, college enrollment and lower risk behavior. Fees are the main access barrier: average required fees in 2018 to 2019 were $161 for sports, $86 for arts and $46 for clubs, lower-income students are twice as likely not to participate, and only 7% of parents have ever requested a waiver.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of students in each school participating in at least one school-sponsored activity, disaggregated by free-and-reduced-lunch status, race and grade, drawn from student information system activity rosters; share of waiver-eligible students who actually received a waiver; share of elementary students receiving weekly arts instruction. Target: Within 1 year, 100% of free-and-reduced-lunch, foster and homeless students carry an active waiver flag and 100% of elementary schools provide 60 minutes per week each of visual art and music; within 3 years, the gap in participation rates between free-and-reduced-lunch and non-free-and-reduced-lunch students narrows each year from the baseline, with no subgroup's rate falling. Superintendent reports to the board by November 1 each year, in public session, with the data posted on the district website; the board's annual fee schedule review follows the report.

Bowen DH, Kisida B (2023). Investigating the Causal Effects of Arts Education. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 42(3):624-647. doi · Fredricks JA, Eccles JS (2006). Is extracurricular participation associated with beneficial outcomes? Concurrent and longitudinal relations. Developmental Psychology 42(4):698-713. doi · Stevenson B (2010). Beyond the Classroom: Using Title IX to Measure the Return to High School Sports. Review of Economics and Statistics 92(2):284-301. doi

Motion 12. Math acceleration, eighth grade algebra, and tracking: New policy (academics and access)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. The evidence favors objective, transparent placement into accelerated math with instructional support, and cuts against both extremes. Placing moderately prepared students into Algebra I in eighth grade without extra support lowered their pass rates and later math course completion in North Carolina and reduced tenth grade math scores in California's push for algebra for all; placing students by an objective prior-achievement rule in Wake County removed race and income from placement decisions, and a randomized Dee and Huffaker study found that putting below-grade-level ninth graders into Algebra I with teacher training raised grade 11 math achievement by up to 0.2 SD. Delaying algebra for everyone, as San Francisco did, cut AP math participation 15 percent at first and left ethnoracial gaps unchanged.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of students meeting the published placement criterion who are placed in the accelerated course, and share of eighth graders completing Algebra I with a passing end-of-course score, each disaggregated by race, ethnicity, income, English learner status, and disability status, plus the Algebra I repeat rate. Target: Within 1 year, every student who meets the published criterion is placed unless a parent opts out in writing, and Algebra I is offered in grade 8 at every middle school; within 3 years, the share of eighth graders completing Algebra I with a passing end-of-course score rises for every student group with no increase in the Algebra I repeat rate for any group, and the gap in criterion-meeting placement rates between student groups closes to zero. The Superintendent reports to the Board by October 15 each year, with every measure disaggregated by race, ethnicity, income, English learner status, and disability status, and with placement appeals and overrides listed by school.

Dougherty SM, Goodman JS, Hill DV, Litke EG, Page LC (2015). Middle School Math Acceleration and Equitable Access to Eighth-Grade Algebra: Evidence From the Wake County Public School System. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 37(1S):80S-101S. doi · Dougherty SM, Goodman JS, Hill DV, Litke EG, Page LC (2017). Objective course placement and college readiness: Evidence from targeted middle school math acceleration. Economics of Education Review 58:141-161. doi · Clotfelter CT, Ladd HF, Vigdor JL (2015). The Aftermath of Accelerating Algebra: Evidence from District Policy Initiatives. Journal of Human Resources 50(1):159-188. doi

Motion 13. Access to rigorous coursework (automatic enrollment, AP, IB, dual credit): New policy (academics and access)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. When districts automatically place every student who meets an objective readiness threshold into the next advanced course, with parent opt-out instead of opt-in, advanced course enrollment rises and gaps by race and income narrow without lowering grades or graduation; Washington's Academic Acceleration policies raised the chance of taking any advanced course by about 5 percent district-wide and more among proficient students who had been passed over. Effects on later college enrollment and persistence from the high school version of the policy are null so far.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of students meeting the readiness threshold who are enrolled in the corresponding advanced course the next term, disaggregated by school, race, ethnicity, income, English learner status, and disability status, plus AP, IB, and dual-credit participation and pass rates by group and opt-out counts by school. Target: By the first October 15 report, every eligible student not covered by a written opt-out is enrolled in the corresponding advanced course, and by the third annual report the enrollment rate among eligible students no longer differs by race, ethnicity, or income, with advanced course completion and exam pass rates by group holding steady or rising rather than falling. The Superintendent's annual report to the Board by October 15, published on the district website, with the eligible, enrolled, and opted-out counts and completion and exam pass rates disaggregated by school, race, ethnicity, income, English learner status, and disability status, cross-checked against the state report card and College Board and IB data.

Austin M, Backes B, Goldhaber D, Li D, Streich F (2025). Leveling Up: An Academic Acceleration Policy to Increase Equity in Advanced High School Course Taking. American Educational Research Journal 62(1):136-179. doi · Austin M, Mbekeani P, Backes B, Chen B, Goldhaber D (2026). High School Academic Acceleration and Early Postsecondary Outcomes: Evidence from Washington State. CALDER Working Paper 341-0826. link · Dougherty SM, Goodman JS, Hill DV, Litke EG, Page LC (2015). Middle School Math Acceleration and Equitable Access to Eighth-Grade Algebra: Evidence From the Wake County Public School System. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 37(1S):80S-101S. doi

Motion 14. New teacher induction and mentoring: New policy (staffing and instruction)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. The one large randomized trial (Glazerman et al. 2010, 1,009 teachers in 17 districts) found that two years of comprehensive induction raised student achievement in the teachers' third year (+4 percentile points reading, +8 math; about 0.11 and 0.20 SD) but one year did not, and neither version changed retention. Nationally representative surveys and a field experiment on structured peer pairing find that first-year mentoring, common planning time and collaboration predict lower attrition and that pairing low-performing teachers with high-performing colleagues raised their students' achievement by about 0.12 SD.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of first-year and second-year teachers assigned a trained same-subject or same-grade-band mentor before the first student day; mean mentor contact hours per inductee per month; one-year, three-year and five-year retention of new hires by school and by induction participation Target: Within 1 year, every inductee has an assigned trained mentor before the first student day and every year-one mentor pair logs weekly contact; within 3 years, one-year and three-year retention of new hires who completed induction is higher than the pre-policy baseline and no lower than for new hires who did not participate Director of Human Resources to the Board by October 31 each year, with Board review of program funding at the November meeting

Glazerman, S., Isenberg, E., Dolfin, S., Bleeker, M., Johnson, A., Grider, M., & Jacobus, M. (2010). Impacts of Comprehensive Teacher Induction: Final Results from a Randomized Controlled Study. NCEE 2010-4027. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences. link · Ingersoll, R. M., & Strong, M. (2011). The Impact of Induction and Mentoring Programs for Beginning Teachers: A Critical Review of the Research. Review of Educational Research 81(2):201-233. doi · Ronfeldt, M., & McQueen, K. (2017). Does New Teacher Induction Really Improve Retention? Journal of Teacher Education 68(4):394-410. doi

Motion 15. Physical restraint and seclusion: New policy (discipline and climate)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. No outcome study shows that restraint or seclusion improves behavior or learning; the GAO found hundreds of allegations of abuse and death linked to their use in schools between 1990 and 2009, with untrained staff and non-aggressive children with disabilities as the recurring pattern. In 2021-22 about 105,700 students were restrained or secluded, and students served under IDEA were 14 percent of enrollment but 76 percent of those physically restrained and 68 percent of those secluded. A systematic review of 15 studies finds that school-wide prevention approaches reduce the frequency of restraint, but none is an RCT.

How the Board will know it worked. Incidents of physical restraint, mechanical restraint and seclusion per 100 students, by building and by disability status, race and sex, from the district incident log reconciled to the Civil Rights Data Collection submission; injuries to students and staff; share of incidents with same-day parent notification; share of incidents involving a student with no behavior intervention plan. Target: Zero seclusions, mechanical restraints, chemical restraints and prone or supine restraints from the first quarterly report onward; physical restraints per 100 students declining each year for 3 years against the baseline year; 100 percent of incidents with same-day parent notification and a written report within two school days by the end of year one; the share of restraints involving students with disabilities moving toward their share of enrollment over 3 years. The Superintendent reports to the Board each quarter and publishes on the district website by September 30 for the prior school year the number of restraints by building, disability status, race and sex, the number of injuries, the share with same-day parent notification, and the district's Civil Rights Data Collection submission, with a note explaining any difference between the log and the submission; a zero submission from a district with special education programs is flagged for Board inquiry.

US Government Accountability Office (2009). Seclusions and Restraints: Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private Schools and Treatment Centers. GAO-09-719T, May 19, 2009. link · US Government Accountability Office (2019). K-12 Education: Education Should Take Immediate Action to Address Inaccuracies in Federal Restraint and Seclusion Data. GAO-19-551R, June 18, 2019. link · US Government Accountability Office (2020). K-12 Education: Education Needs to Address Significant Quality Issues with its Restraint and Seclusion Data. GAO-20-345, April 21, 2020. link

Motion 16. Lead in school drinking water: New policy (health and wellbeing)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. Lead harms learning at every measured level: in Rhode Island, each 1 ug/dL lower average preschool blood lead cut the chance of scoring substantially below proficient in third-grade reading by about 1 percentage point on a 12 percent base, Swedish and North Carolina natural experiments find the same for school grades, crime and suspensions, and Flint's water crisis lowered math achievement and raised special education classification district-wide. Lead in school water is common: in seven state testing programs 13 to 81 percent of tested schools had at least one outlet above 5 ppb, and 37 percent of US districts that tested found elevated lead, but no study links school-water lead itself to achievement, so testing policy rests on the blood-lead evidence plus prevalence data.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of drinking and cooking outlets tested within the last 3 years, share of tested outlets at or above 5 ppb, days between a result at or above 5 ppb and outlet shutoff, number of NSF/ANSI 53 filtered bottle-filling stations per building floor, and share of families notified within 30 days, all drawn from the district's published results and the annual Board report. Target: 100 percent of drinking and cooking outlets tested by June 30, 2027 and retested within every 3 year cycle thereafter; every outlet at or above 5 ppb out of service within 24 hours of the result; 100 percent of results posted and families notified within 30 days; at least one filtered station on every floor of every building by the end of year one; and the share of outlets at or above 5 ppb falling each cycle toward zero. The Director of Facilities reports to the Board by September 30 each year, with results posted by outlet on the district website within 30 days of receipt and the filter replacement log attached.

Aizer A, Currie J, Simon P, Vivier P (2018). Do low levels of blood lead reduce children's future test scores? American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 10(1):307-341. doi · Aizer A, Currie J (2019). Lead and juvenile delinquency: New evidence from linked birth, school, and juvenile detention records. Review of Economics and Statistics 101(4):575-587. doi · Gronqvist H, Nilsson JP, Robling PO (2020). Understanding how low levels of early lead exposure affect children's life trajectories. Journal of Political Economy 128(9):3376-3433. doi

Motion 17. Language access for families: New policy (family and community)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. Federal civil rights law (Title VI, the Equal Educational Opportunities Act and Lau v. Nichols) requires districts to communicate with limited-English parents in a language they understand, and IDEA requires native-language notices and interpreters for special education. Nationally representative data show that immigrant parents report the most barriers to school involvement and that English ability predicts how involved they are; the largest communication RCT that improved attendance (131,312 students) delivered its notices in five languages, and a vendor-funded matched study of a translated two-way messaging platform reports attendance gains concentrated among English learner and Latino families.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of families with a recorded home language other than English who received each required notice category (enrollment, discipline, special education, attendance, health, emergency) in their preferred language, share of interpreter requests fulfilled within five school days, and conference and IEP meeting participation rates of limited-English families compared with all families. Target: Within 1 to 3 years, the share of required notices delivered in the family's preferred language rises each year, every interpreter request is fulfilled within five school days or sooner where a legal deadline applies, and the gap in conference and IEP participation between limited-English families and all families narrows year over year. The language access coordinator reports to the Board by October 31 each year in a public written report, broken out by language, with interpreter fulfillment times, participation rate comparisons and complaints received.

Turney K, Kao G (2009). Barriers to school involvement: are immigrant parents disadvantaged? Journal of Educational Research 102(4):257-271. doi · Kim Y (2009). Minority parental involvement and school barriers: moving the focus away from deficiencies of parents. Educational Research Review 4(2):80-102. doi · Cheatham GA (2011). Language interpretation, parent participation, and young children with disabilities. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education 31(2):78-88. doi

Motion 18. Grading practices (zeros, late work, minimum grades, standards-based grading): New policy (academics and access)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. Grades measure a mix of academic mastery and behavior and vary widely from teacher to teacher. The causal evidence favors two things: higher grading standards raise learning (Algebra I students of tougher graders learn more and keep the gain in later courses), and a standards-based system with formative feedback and reassessment for full credit raised ninth-grade math test scores by 0.33 SD in a cluster RCT. The specific rules districts fight over, no zeros, 50-percent floors and late-work penalties, have almost no outcome research; the one study of a minimum-grade policy is from a single school.

How the Board will know it worked. Correlation between final course grades and end-of-course or state test scores by school and course; spread of failure rates across teachers of the same course; share of students with a D or F who passed the end-of-course exam and vice versa; count of grading appeals; share of courses with a published grading plan within ten school days. Target: Within 1 year, 100 percent of courses have a published grading plan within the first ten school days and all same-course sections in a school use a common scale and weights; within 1 to 3 years, the grade-to-test correlation rises and the spread of failure rates across teachers of the same course narrows in every school and course relative to the baseline, and the share of students with a D or F who passed the exam, and with an A or B who failed it, falls each year. The Director of Assessment reports to the Board each August, by school and course, with the first report due in the August following adoption and the baseline comparison carried forward in every later report.

Brookhart SM, Guskey TR, Bowers AJ, McMillan JH, Smith JK, Smith LF, Stevens MT, Welsh ME (2016). A century of grading research: Meaning and value in the most common educational measure. Review of Educational Research 86(4):803-848. doi · Kramer SL, Posner B, Browman A, Lawrence N, Cardichon J (2024). The impacts of a standards-based grading system emphasizing formative assessment, feedback, and re-assessment: A mixed methods, cluster randomized control trial in ninth grade mathematics classrooms. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness 18(1):56-87. doi · Gershenson S, Holt SB, Tyner A (2024). Making the grade: The effect of teacher grading standards on student outcomes. Contemporary Economic Policy 42(2):305-318. doi

Motion 19. Student data privacy and vendor contracts: Amend 216 Student Records

Current language. The right to request that information not be provided to military recruiting officers.[16] Special Education Records “Special Education, Gifted Education and Chapter 15/Section 504 Service plan documents which include but are not limited to: Permission to Evaluation (Consent), Permission to Evaluate (Request), Permission to Re-evaluate (Consent), Permission to Re-evaluate (Request), Gifted Written

Why. Audits find that most school-assigned apps send student data to third parties (Internet Safety Labs: 96% of apps used in a sample of 663 US schools; Human Rights Watch: 146 of 164 government-endorsed products worldwide, 89%, engaged in practices that risked children's rights), and breaches are frequent and large (99 K-12 breaches reported to the GAO sample 2016 to 2020; the December 2024 PowerSchool breach reached tens of millions of student records). There is no outcome research showing that any particular policy reduces harm; the standard rests on federal and state law and professional consensus.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of software products in use that collect student PII with a signed data privacy agreement on file containing all five required terms, plus days from confirmed breach to family notification and share of FERPA parent requests fulfilled within the statutory window Target: 100% of products in use have a compliant signed agreement by the end of year one and at every September 30 report thereafter; every confirmed breach is reported by the vendor within 72 hours; the public list is updated within 30 days of each change; 100% of teachers complete annual training Privacy Officer presents to the Board by September 30 each year, with the public approved-software list and breach log posted on the district website

Federal Trade Commission (2022). Policy Statement of the Federal Trade Commission on Education Technology and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. Adopted May 19, 2022. link · Human Rights Watch (2022). How Dare They Peep into My Private Life? Children's Rights Violations by Governments that Endorsed Online Learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic. link · Internet Safety Labs (2022). 2022 K-12 EdTech Safety Benchmark: National Findings, Part 1. December 13, 2022. link

Motion 20. Bullying prevention: Amend 249 Bullying/Cyberbullying

Current language. Retaliation Reprisal or retaliation relating to reports of bullying or participation in an investigation of allegations of bullying is prohibited and shall be subject to disciplinary action.

Why. Whole-school anti-bullying programs reduce bullying perpetration by about 19 to 20 percent and victimization by about 15 to 16 percent on average across roughly 100 evaluations, with RCT-only estimates smaller (d about 0.15) but still showing mental-health gains. Written policies matter too: students in states whose anti-bullying laws contain the core US Department of Education components had 24 percent lower odds of being bullied and 20 percent lower odds of cyberbullying, and enumerated policies that name sexual orientation and gender identity are associated with lower suicide-attempt risk among LGB youth.

How the Board will know it worked. Annual student-reported bullying victimization prevalence on the fixed Olweus Bullying Questionnaire item, by school, grade and demographic group, plus number of reports received, number investigated within the two-school-day and ten-school-day deadlines, number substantiated, and share of students who say they would report. Target: Within 3 years of the baseline administration, district-wide student-reported victimization prevalence falls by at least 15 percent from baseline, consistent with the 15 to 16 percent victimization reduction in program meta-analyses, and in every year 100 percent of logged reports show an investigation begun within two school days and an outcome documented within ten school days, with the share of students who say they would report rising each year. The Superintendent's annual written report to the Board by October 1, presenting prevalence by school, grade and demographic group, reports received, reports investigated within deadline, reports substantiated, and the three-year trend, with the Board recording whether the target was met in its minutes.

Gaffney H, Ttofi MM, Farrington DP (2019). Evaluating the effectiveness of school-bullying prevention programs: An updated meta-analytical review. Aggression and Violent Behavior 45:111-133. doi · Gaffney H, Farrington DP, Ttofi MM (2019). Examining the effectiveness of school-bullying intervention programs globally: a meta-analysis. International Journal of Bullying Prevention 1(1):14-31. doi · Gaffney H, Ttofi MM, Farrington DP (2021). What works in anti-bullying programs? Analysis of effective intervention components. Journal of School Psychology 85:37-56. doi

Motion 21. School-based mental health, counseling and suicide prevention: Amend 819 Suicide Awareness, Prevention and Response

Current language. Last RevisedNovember 28, 2023 Purpose The Board is committed to protecting the health, safety and welfare of its students and the school community; promoting healthy development; and safeguarding against the threat or attempt of suicide.

Why. Mental health services delivered in school by school staff reduce student mental health problems (Hedges g = 0.39 across 43 controlled trials with 49,941 elementary students; g = 0.76 for targeted services), and placing licensed clinicians in schools raised treatment use 8 percent and cut self-reported suicide attempts about 15 percent across 263 Minnesota schools. Counselors have causal effects: an additional counselor reduces disciplinary incidents and raises achievement (Carrell and Hoekstra), individual counselors move graduation and college attendance as much as teachers do (Mulhern), and one more high school counselor raises four-year college enrollment by up to 10 points in a regression-discontinuity design. Universal suicide prevention programs that teach help-seeking (YAM in the SEYLE trial, SOS) roughly halve new suicide attempts, but the largest Sources of Strength trial found no overall reduction and harm where fidelity was poor.

How the Board will know it worked. Students per school counselor, school psychologist and school social worker by building; share of students screened and share of referred students who begin services within 30 days; time to first appointment; number and share of students served by an on-site licensed clinician; student survey items on depression, suicidal ideation and attempts; suspension rate; suicide prevention fidelity checks. Target: Every building at or below 250 students per counselor, 500 per school psychologist and 250 per school social worker within three years of the first March 1 plan; every school with a licensed clinician on site weekly by the end of year one; every referred student offered an initial appointment within 10 school days; share of referred students beginning services within 30 days rising each year; self-reported suicide attempts and suspension rates declining over 1 to 3 years with every program component passing fidelity checks. Director of Student Services to the Board by November 1 each year, with the funded staffing plan from the Superintendent by March 1 each year; the ratio, clinician access, screening and referral figures are broken out by building and the survey and suspension items are compared with the baseline year.

Sanchez AL, Cornacchio D, Poznanski B, Golik AM, Chou T, Comer JS (2018). The effectiveness of school-based mental health services for elementary-aged children: A meta-analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 57(3):153-165. doi · Golberstein E, Zainullina I, Sojourner A, Sander MA (2024). Effects of school-based mental health services on youth outcomes. Journal of Human Resources 59(S):S256-S281. doi · Carrell SE, Hoekstra M (2014). Are school counselors an effective education input? Economics Letters 125(1):66-69. doi

Motion 22. School resource officers and school policing: Amend 705.1 Use of Force

Current language. It is the intention of the district to provide protection by utilizing armed School Resource Officers (SRO) and School Security Officers (SSO).

Why. The strongest causal studies agree that placing police in schools increases suspensions, expulsions, police referrals and arrests, with the largest increases for Black students, male students and students with disabilities; a Texas quasi-experiment ties federal school-police grants to a 6 percent rise in middle school discipline, a 2.5 percent drop in high school graduation and a 4 percent drop in college enrollment. Safety effects are mixed: a national regression discontinuity finds SROs reduce some violence but not gun incidents, while a matched COPS-grant study finds no safety gain and more recorded drug and weapon offenses.

How the Board will know it worked. Annual counts and rates per 1,000 students of school-based arrests, citations, law-enforcement referrals and uses of force, by school and by race, disability status and gender; share of referrals arising from non-criminal code-of-conduct matters; out-of-school suspension rate by school; perceived-safety items on the climate survey; complaints against officers. Target: Within 1 year of adoption, the share of law-enforcement referrals arising from non-criminal code-of-conduct matters falls from baseline and continues to fall each year; within 3 years, arrest and referral rates per 1,000 students decline from baseline overall and for Black students, male students and students with disabilities, with the gap between those groups and the district rate narrowing each year, while perceived-safety items do not decline. The Superintendent reports to the Board by October 15 each year and publishes the report on the district website; the Board reviews it in a public meeting before voting on renewal of any officer assignment or memorandum of understanding.

Sorensen LC, Avila-Acosta M, Engberg JB, Bushway SD (2023). The thin blue line in schools: new evidence on school-based policing across the U.S. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 42(4):941-970. doi · Gottfredson DC, Crosse S, Tang Z, Bauer EL, Harmon MA, Hagen CA, Greene AD (2020). Effects of school resource officers on school crime and responses to school crime. Criminology and Public Policy 19(3):905-940. doi · Weisburst EK (2019). Patrolling public schools: the impact of funding for school police on student discipline and long-term education outcomes. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 38(2):338-365. doi

Motion 23. High-quality instructional materials and adoption: Amend 108 Adoption of Textbooks

Current language. Last RevisedOctober 22, 2018 Authority The Board shall, by an affirmative vote of a majority of the full Board, adopt all textbooks used for instruction in the district’s educational program.

Why. Which textbook a district adopts can move achievement as much as many costlier reforms: in California the best-performing elementary math series outscored its rivals by 0.05 to 0.08 SD at near-zero marginal cost, a randomized IES trial found differences of 4 to 7 percentile points between first and second grade math curricula, and a field experiment giving teachers high-quality off-the-shelf lessons raised math achievement by 0.06 SD at about 6 dollars per student. Effects depend on the specific materials and their use with aligned professional development; districts' formal adoption processes rarely examine evidence of effectiveness.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of core programs on the public inventory that have an independent quality rating and were adopted through the published process, share of classrooms using the adopted core program as primary, curriculum-specific professional development hours per teacher in adoption year, and achievement and growth in each subject for three years after each adoption. Target: Within 1 year, the full inventory is posted and every new adoption follows the published process with a semester pilot in at least two schools and at least 20 hours of professional development per teacher in the first year; within 3 years of each adoption, the share of classrooms using the core program as primary rises from baseline and achievement and growth in that subject improve relative to the pre-adoption year. Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum reports to the Board by August 31 each year, with the inventory posted on the district website.

Koedel, C., Li, D., Polikoff, M. S., Hardaway, T., & Wrabel, S. L. (2017). Mathematics Curriculum Effects on Student Achievement in California. AERA Open 3(1). doi · Koedel, C., & Polikoff, M. (2017). Big bang for just a few bucks: The impact of math textbooks in California. Evidence Speaks Reports 2(5). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. link · Jackson, C. K., & Makarin, A. (2018). Can Online Off-the-Shelf Lessons Improve Student Outcomes? Evidence from a Field Experiment. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 10(3):226-254. doi

Motion 24. Behavioral threat assessment: Amend 236.1 Threat Assessment

Current language. [1] Authority The Board directs the Superintendent or designee, in consultation with the School Safety and Security Coordinator, to establish a threat assessment team and develop procedures for assessing and intervening with students whose behavior may indicate a threat to the safety of the student, other students, school employees, school facilities, the community and others.

Why. Schools that use the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG, formerly the Virginia guidelines) resolve student threats with far less exclusion: in a randomized trial, threatened students in CSTAG schools were about one third as likely to receive a long-term suspension (OR 0.35) and four times as likely to receive counseling, and statewide Virginia comparisons show lower odds of suspension (OR 0.59) and law-enforcement action (OR 0.47) than under generic threat procedures, with almost no threats carried out and no racial disparity in outcomes among assessed students.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of assessed students who received out-of-school suspension, expulsion, alternative placement or law-enforcement referral versus the share who received counseling and a support plan, and the referral rate per 1,000 students by race, disability status and gender compared with enrollment. Target: Within 1 to 3 years, the share of assessed students receiving counseling and a support plan rises each year while the share receiving out-of-school suspension, expulsion, alternative placement or law-enforcement referral falls each year; every substantive case has a written plan; team training completion is 100 percent; the referral rate by race, disability status and gender matches enrollment with no group gap; and assessed threats later carried out stay near the published level of about 1 in 100 or below. Superintendent to the Board by September 30 each year, as the clause requires, with a one-page comparison to the prior year and to the published CSTAG figures.

Cornell DG, Allen K, Fan X (2012). A randomized controlled study of the Virginia Student Threat Assessment Guidelines in kindergarten through grade 12. School Psychology Review 41(1):100-115. doi · Maeng JL, Cornell DG, Huang FL (2020). Student threat assessment as an alternative to exclusionary discipline. Journal of School Violence 19(3):377-388. doi · Cornell D, Maeng JL, Burnette AG, Jia Y, Huang F, Konold T, Datta P, Malone M, Meyer P (2018). Student threat assessment as a standard school safety practice: results from a statewide implementation study. School Psychology Quarterly 33(2):213-222. doi

Motion 25. Career and technical education pathways: Amend 115 Career and Technical Education

Current language. Last RevisedJanuary 26, 2016 Authority The Board shall provide a program of career and technical education in order to:[1][2][3][4][5] Prepare students for employment as skilled workers or technicians in recognized, new and emerging occupations.

Why. Structured CTE pathways, meaning multi-year sequences with employer partners, work-based learning, and a credential, raise graduation and earnings in causal studies: the MDRC career academies RCT found earnings 11 percent higher eight years after high school (17 percent for young men), Massachusetts and Connecticut regression-discontinuity studies find 7 to 10 point gains in on-time graduation and, in Connecticut, 32 percent higher quarterly earnings for men, and New York City's lottery-based P-TECH evaluation found associate degree completion up 5 percentage points with dual enrollment more than doubled. Effects come from depth in one field, not scattered introductory courses, and are concentrated among young men.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of graduates who completed a CTE program of study (two or more courses in one pathway) and earned an industry-recognized credential or 12 or more aligned college credits; share of concentrators with a paid work-based learning placement; concentrator graduation rate; and employment or postsecondary enrollment of the prior cohort, each by school and student group Target: Within 1 year every high school offers at least two qualifying programs of study and the structural elements (partner, dual-credit agreement, placement, credential preparation, fee payment) are in place; within 3 years the share of graduates who are concentrators with a credential or 12 aligned credits, the share of concentrators with a paid placement, and the concentrator graduation rate rise above baseline in each student group, and completers of every retained program show an employment or enrollment advantage over non-completers in the prior cohort Annual report to the Board by December 1 from the Director of Career and Technical Education, using Perkins V accountability data and state wage and Clearinghouse matches, disaggregated by school, race, ethnicity, income, English learner status, disability status, and sex, with a close-or-redesign recommendation for any program showing no completer advantage for two consecutive years

Kemple JJ, Willner CJ (2008). Career Academies: Long-Term Impacts on Labor Market Outcomes, Educational Attainment, and Transitions to Adulthood. MDRC. link · Dougherty SM (2018). The Effect of Career and Technical Education on Human Capital Accumulation: Causal Evidence from Massachusetts. Education Finance and Policy 13(2):119-148. doi · Brunner EJ, Dougherty SM, Ross SL (2023). The Effects of Career and Technical Education: Evidence from the Connecticut Technical High School System. Review of Economics and Statistics 105(4):867-882. doi

Motion 26. English learner programs and reclassification: Amend 138 Language Instruction Educational Program for English Learners

Current language. In order to identify which students are potential English Learners, the Home Language Survey shall be completed for each student upon enrollment in the district, and shall be maintained as part of the student's education records.[4][11][12] EL students shall be appropriately placed in accordance with the LIEP within the first thirty (30) days of the school year, or within fourteen (14) days of enr

Why. Lottery studies show dual-language immersion raises English reading achievement (Portland: +13 percentile points by grade 5 and +22 by grade 8, with no loss in math or science; Charlotte: +0.04 to 0.05 SD per year in math and reading for English learners and non-learners alike) and raises the share of English learners reclassified by grade 6. Regression-discontinuity studies of reclassification show that the rule matters more than the label: reclassifying students on a single lenient test score harmed later outcomes, while multi-measure criteria that keep supports in place removed the harm, and timely reclassification before the grade 5 and grade 8 transitions improved on-time graduation.

How the Board will know it worked. Annual reclassification rate by years in program and program model; number and share of long-term English learners (6 or more years); ELA and math achievement of former English learners tracked for four years after reclassification; share of English learners enrolled in grade-level core courses and advanced courses; dual-language seats offered versus applicants. Target: Within 180 days, zero English learners placed in a course below grade level solely on the basis of English learner status and zero reclassifications resting on a single test score; within 1 to 3 years, the share of long-term English learners (6 or more years) declines each year from baseline, the reclassification rate rises from baseline, former English learners show no decline in ELA and math achievement across the four monitored years, and every grade level with 20 or more English learners sharing a home language has a dual-language or bilingual program or a Board-reviewed reason it does not. The Director of Multilingual Programs reports to the Board by October 15 each year, disaggregated by school, program model, home language and years in program, and posts the report with program models and exit criteria on the district website; the Board compares each measure against the baseline year and the prior year.

Steele, J. L., Slater, R. O., Zamarro, G., Miller, T., Li, J., Burkhauser, S., & Bacon, M. (2017). Effects of Dual-Language Immersion Programs on Student Achievement: Evidence From Lottery Data. American Educational Research Journal 54(1_suppl):282S-306S. doi · Bibler, A. (2021). Dual Language Education and Student Achievement. Education Finance and Policy 16(4):634-658. doi · Umansky, I. M., & Reardon, S. F. (2014). Reclassification Patterns Among Latino English Learner Students in Bilingual, Dual Immersion, and English Immersion Classrooms. American Educational Research Journal 51(5):879-912. doi

Motion 27. Instructional coaching and professional development: Amend 333 Professional Development

Current language. Authority Continuing professional study and inservice training for administrative, professional and support employees are prerequisites for professional development, enhanced ability to complete responsibilities and maintaining certification.

Why. A meta-analysis of 60 causal studies finds that one-on-one instructional coaching improves teaching practice by 0.49 SD and student achievement by 0.18 SD, far more than the one-off workshops that make up most district professional development, which show no achievement effect in large randomized trials. Effects shrink as programs scale (programs over 100 teachers: 0.34 SD practice, 0.10 SD achievement) and depend on coaches observing real lessons and giving specific feedback in cycles over a year.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of eligible teachers (first three years of service or rated below effective) receiving at least eight logged coaching cycles per year, coach caseload per full-time coach, share of PD hours delivered as single-session workshops, change in observed instructional practice scores of coached teachers, and student growth of coached teachers versus comparable uncoached teachers. Target: By the end of year one, every eligible teacher has eight logged cycles, no full-time coach serves more than 20 teachers, and single-session workshops are no more than 25 percent of district PD hours; by the end of year two, observed instructional practice scores of coached teachers rise over their pre-coaching scores and student growth of coached teachers is at or above that of comparable uncoached teachers, with both measures improving year over year. Annual report from the Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning to the Board by September 30, disaggregated by school, reviewed by the Board before adoption of the following year's budget.

Kraft, M. A., Blazar, D., & Hogan, D. (2018). The Effect of Teacher Coaching on Instruction and Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of the Causal Evidence. Review of Educational Research 88(4):547-588. doi · Allen, J. P., Pianta, R. C., Gregory, A., Mikami, A. Y., & Lun, J. (2011). An Interaction-Based Approach to Enhancing Secondary School Instruction and Student Achievement. Science 333(6045):1034-1037. doi · Kraft, M. A., & Blazar, D. (2017). Individualized Coaching to Improve Teacher Practice Across Grades and Subjects: New Experimental Evidence. Educational Policy 31(7):1033-1068. doi

Motion 28. Generative AI use by students and staff: Amend 815.1 Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Education

Current language. Purpose The district recognizes the potential that Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) offers in enhancing educational opportunities, streamlining operations and preparing students for a future that demands adaptability, critical thinking and digital literacy.

Why. Design determines the effect. In a field RCT with nearly 1,000 high-school math students, unrestricted GPT-4 access raised practice scores (+48%) but cut unaided exam scores by 17% relative to no access; a version with guardrails that withheld answers removed the harm. A college physics RCT found a purpose-built AI tutor produced about double the learning gain of active-learning classes in less time, and an essay-writing RCT found gains persisted a week later only when students used the model as a tutor rather than to write for them. The K-12 evidence base is still one school, one subject and a few weeks.

How the Board will know it worked. Unaided assessment results in courses using each approved AI tool versus matched courses, together with the share of approved tools configured to withhold direct answers, the share of courses with a written AI-use expectation on the syllabus, and the number of AI-related integrity cases overturned. Target: Within 1 year, every tool on the approved list has answer-withholding on for student practice use, every course states an AI-use expectation by the tenth instructional day, and unaided assessment results in courses using approved tools are no lower than in matched courses, with no integrity finding resting on detection software alone; sustained in years 2 and 3. Chief Academic Officer reports to the Board by October 1 each year; the Board records whether the no-deficit condition was met for each tool and whether any tool was removed from the list as a result.

Bastani H, Bastani O, Sungu A, Ge H, Kabakci O, Mariman R (2025). Generative AI without guardrails can harm learning: Evidence from high school mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122(26):e2422633122. doi · Kestin G, Miller K, Klales A, Milbourne T, Ponti G (2025). AI tutoring outperforms in-class active learning: an RCT introducing a novel research-based design in an authentic educational setting. Scientific Reports 15. doi · Contractor Z, Reyes G (2026). Experimental Evidence on the Learning Impact of Generative AI. arXiv:2607.08849 (also NBER / IZA DP 18792). link

Motion 29. Community schools and integrated student supports: Amend 146 Student Services

Current language. Last RevisedFebruary 23, 2015 Authority The Board directs that every six (6) years, the district shall develop a written plan for implementing a comprehensive and integrated K-12 program of student services, based on the needs of students.

Why. Quasi-experimental evaluations of the two largest community school systems find consistent gains in attendance and behavior and smaller, slower gains in achievement: New York City's 2014 initiative cut chronic absence by 7 to 8 percentage points, raised graduation 4.9 points over three years and credits earned by 1.3 per year, reduced disciplinary incidents in elementary and middle schools, and raised grade 3-8 math by 0.13 SD only in year three with no ELA effect; California's 2022 grantee cohort cut chronic absence about 30 percent and suspensions about 15 percent relative to matched schools with math +0.06 SD and ELA +0.05 SD in the first year. Longitudinal studies of City Connects, the best-studied integrated-support model, show higher middle-school test scores and roughly half the odds of high school dropout for students served in elementary school.

How the Board will know it worked. For each designated school: full-time coordinator in place, signed lead partner agreement, share of identified student needs matched to a service within 30 school days, and chronic absence, suspension and course-passing rates compared with the three most similar district schools. Target: By the first December 31 report, every designated school has a full-time coordinator and a signed lead partner agreement and has matched 90 percent of identified needs to a service within 30 school days; within 1 to 3 years, chronic absence and suspension rates at designated schools fall relative to their comparison schools, with a direction of improvement in course-passing rates. Superintendent's written report to the Board by December 31 each year, one page per designated school showing staffing, agreement status, the 30-school-day match rate, and the three-school comparison on attendance, suspension, course-passing and state assessment results, with the per-pupil cost shown in the annual budget.

Johnston WR, Engberg J, Opper IM, Sontag-Padilla L, Xenakis L (2020). Illustrating the promise of community schools: an assessment of the impact of the New York City Community Schools Initiative. RR-3245-NYCCEO. RAND Corporation. doi · Swain W, Leung-Gagne M, Maier A, Rubinstein CF (2025). Community schools impact on student outcomes: evidence from California. Learning Policy Institute. doi · Heers M, Van Klaveren C, Groot W, Maassen van den Brink H (2016). Community schools: what we know and what we need to know. Review of Educational Research 86(4):1016-1051. doi

Motion 30. Gifted and advanced learner identification: Amend 114 Gifted Education

Current language. Last RevisedFebruary 23, 2015 Authority In accordance with the Board's philosophy to develop the special abilities of each student, the district shall provide gifted education services and programs designed to meet the individual educational needs of identified students.

Why. Replacing teacher or parent referral with universal screening of every student, with no change in the eligibility cutoff, raised gifted identification in Broward County from 3.3 to 5.5 percent of second graders, with the largest gains for low-income, Black, Hispanic and English learner students who had been systematically under-referred. Black students with the same test scores are referred less often than White students, especially by non-Black teachers, which is why referral-based systems miss them.

How the Board will know it worked. Percentage of each grade 2 and grade 6 cohort screened, and the representation index (share of identified students in a group divided by that group's share of enrollment) for students by race, ethnicity, income, English learner status, and disability status Target: 100 percent of each grade 2 and grade 6 cohort screened in year one, and the representation index for every student group reaches at least 0.8 within 3 years, with the identification rate for low-income, Black, Hispanic, and English learner students rising each year until that threshold is met Annual report by the Director of Advanced Academics to the Board by November 1, disaggregated by school, race, ethnicity, income, English learner status, and disability status, with the same counts filed to the state gifted data collection and the federal Civil Rights Data Collection

Card D, Giuliano L (2016). Universal screening increases the representation of low-income and minority students in gifted education. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113(48):13678-13683. doi · Grissom JA, Redding C (2016). Discretion and Disproportionality: Explaining the Underrepresentation of High-Achieving Students of Color in Gifted Programs. AERA Open 2(1). doi · McBee MT, Peters SJ, Miller EM (2016). The Impact of the Nomination Stage on Gifted Program Identification: A Comprehensive Psychometric Analysis. Gifted Child Quarterly 60(4):258-278. doi

Motion 31. Grade retention and promotion: Amend 215 Promotion and Retention

Current language. Authority It shall be the policy of the Board that any child considered for retention be screened and go through the Instructional Support Team (IST) process.

Why. Regression discontinuity studies of test-based third-grade retention paired with intensive reading intervention (Florida, Indiana, Mississippi) show large short-run reading gains, with Indiana and Mississippi gains persisting into middle school. Long-run evidence is split: Florida retainees reached high school with higher GPAs and less remediation and no graduation penalty, while a 2026 Texas study finds retained third graders were 9 points less likely to graduate and earned 19 percent less at 26, and retention in later grades (Chicago grade 8, Louisiana grade 8) raises dropout and juvenile crime.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of retained K-3 students whose retention record shows a completed intervention plan, written parent notice at least 90 school days before year end, a good-cause exemption review where required and an individual reading plan dated before the first day of the repeated year; number of students retained in grades 6 through 8 on the basis of test scores; reading proficiency and attendance of retained students one and three years after retention compared with barely promoted peers; discipline incidents of retained students. Target: By the end of year one, every retained K-3 student has a complete intervention record, parent notice, exemption review and individual reading plan, zero students in grades 6 through 8 are retained on test scores alone, and no student is retained more than once in K-3; within 1 to 3 years, retained students' reading proficiency rises relative to barely promoted peers and their attendance and discipline do not worsen relative to those peers. The Superintendent presents the retention report to the Board each September, with the compliance measures for the prior year's retentions and the reading proficiency and attendance of students retained two years earlier, disaggregated by grade, school, race, disability and EL status, and the Board reviews any school with incomplete records or a subgroup retention share above its enrollment share at that meeting.

Schwerdt G, West MR, Winters MA (2017). The effects of test-based retention on student outcomes over time: Regression discontinuity evidence from Florida. Journal of Public Economics 152:154-169. doi · Hwang NY, Koedel C (2023). Helping or hurting: The effects of retention in the third grade on student outcomes. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 47(1):65-88. doi · Slungaard Mumma K, Winters MA (2023). The Effect of Retention Under Mississippi's Test-Based Promotion Policy. Working paper, Wheelock Educational Policy Center, Boston University. link

Motion 32. Hazing and athletics safety: Amend 247 Hazing

Current language. Last RevisedOctober 21, 2024 Purpose The purpose of this policy is to maintain a safe, positive environment for students and staff that is free from hazing.

Why. Hazing is common in high school (48 percent of students in groups report hazing activities, 17 percent of grade 6 to 12 athletes in one survey, and only 14 percent of hazed students call it hazing), but no controlled study shows that any hazing policy or program reduces hazing; the evidence supports clear definitions, mandatory reporting and consent-does-not-matter language as a standard. For concussion, state remove-from-play and return-to-play laws produced a rise in reported concussions (better identification) followed by falling recurrent-concussion rates about 2.6 years after passage, and mandated preseason heat-acclimatization rules cut exertional heat illness in football by roughly half.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of coaches, sponsors and student participants with current hazing training; hazing reports and substantiated cases per season by team or group; climate-survey item on initiation experiences; concussions per 1,000 athlete-exposures and share with documented written clearance before return; exertional heat illness and cardiac events per season; share of venues with a rehearsed emergency action plan and an AED within three minutes. Target: Within 1 year, 100 percent of coaches and sponsors trained before the season, 100 percent of venues with a rehearsed emergency action plan and an AED within three minutes, and 100 percent of concussion returns with documented written clearance. Reported concussions and hazing reports are expected to rise in the first 1 to 2 years as identification improves; within 3 years, the recurrent-concussion rate and exertional heat illness count per season should decline from the year-one baseline, consistent with the 2.6-year post-law decline and the roughly 0.45 incidence rate ratio seen for heat rules. Athletic Director to the Board by July 31 each year, with the Superintendent presenting the climate-survey initiation item and any substantiated hazing cases in the same report.

Hoover NC, Pollard NJ (2000). Initiation Rites in American High Schools: A National Survey. Alfred University. link · Allan EJ, Madden M (2008). Hazing in View: College Students at Risk. University of Maine. link · Allan EJ, Madden M (2012). The nature and extent of college student hazing. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health 24(1):83-90. doi

Motion 33. Lockdown and active shooter drills: Amend 805 Emergency Preparedness and Response

Current language. [3][5][6] Definitions School security drill – a planned exercise, other than a fire drill or natural disaster drill, designed to practice procedures to respond to an emergency situation that may include, but is not limited to, an act of terrorism, armed intruder situation or other violent threat.

Why. Announced, procedure-only lockdown drills paired with training raise students' and staff's sense of preparedness and correct execution (classroom procedural accuracy up 27 percentage points after training) without raising measured anxiety, and students in one district reported less fear and lower perceived risk after drills. High-intensity simulations with actors, gunfire or deception are a different intervention: a 114-school interrupted time series of 54 million social media posts found anxiety and stress up 42 percent and depression up 39 percent after active shooter drills, and the American Academy of Pediatrics calls for ending children's participation in high-intensity drills and prohibiting deception.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of drills that are announced and procedure-only; share of observed classrooms executing the lockdown procedure correctly; drill-related preparedness and anxiety items on the annual climate survey; counseling contacts in the week after each drill; parent notification compliance. Target: Within one year, 100 percent of drills in which students participate are announced, procedure-only and preceded by parent notification, with zero simulation-style drills; from year one to year three, the share of classrooms executing the procedure correctly rises each year while drill-related anxiety items on the climate survey do not rise and post-drill counseling contacts do not increase. Annual report from the Director of Safety to the Board by June 30, with drill counts and types by school, procedural checklist results, post-drill counseling contacts, climate survey drill items and parent notification compliance.

ElSherief M, Saha K, Gupta P, Mishra S, Seybolt J, Xie J, O'Toole M, Burd-Sharps S, De Choudhury M (2021). Impacts of school shooter drills on the psychological well-being of American K-12 school communities: a social media study. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 8:315. doi · Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association (2020, updated 2024). The Impact of Active Shooter Drills in Schools. link · Schildkraut J, Nickerson AB (2020). Ready to respond: effects of lockdown drills and training on school emergency preparedness. Victims and Offenders 15(5):619-638. doi

Motion 34. Personal phones during the school day: Amend 237.1 Personal and Mobile Devices (BYOD)

Current language. All confiscated personal devices shall be delivered to the building principal's office as soon as possible for return to the student at the end of the school day or to the student's parent/guardian for a third and subsequent offense.

Why. Banning phone possession during the school day raises test scores modestly, with the gain concentrated among lower-achieving students (England: +0.07 SD overall, about +0.14 SD for the lowest quintile). Norway's middle-school bans cut bullying for both sexes and improved girls' grades, academic-track placement and mental-health care use, with no average effect on boys; the pooled effect across five European studies is small (d = 0.16) and larger for social wellbeing than for achievement.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of classrooms observed with phones stored in the semester walkthrough sample; device-violation referrals per 100 students by school and grade; student survey item on in-class distraction; and the state assessment trend for the lowest-achieving quartile compared with the district average. Target: Within 1 year, the share of classrooms with phones stored rises and device-violation referrals per 100 students fall from the first semester to the second; within 1 to 3 years, the student distraction item improves and the lowest-achieving quartile's state assessment trend closes toward the district average rather than widening, with no first or second offense resulting in exclusion from instruction in any year. The Superintendent presents the annual report to the Board by October 1 each year, disaggregated by school and grade, and the Board reviews the lowest-quartile achievement trend at the same meeting once state assessment results are available.

Beland LP, Murphy R (2016). Ill Communication: Technology, distraction and student performance. Labour Economics 41:61-76. doi · Abrahamsson S (2026). Smartphone Bans, Student Outcomes and Mental Health. Journal of Human Resources, 0224-13403R2 (online first). doi · Kessel D, Hardardottir HL, Tyrefors B (2020). The impact of banning mobile phones in Swedish secondary schools. Economics of Education Review 77:102009. doi

Motion 35. Recess: New policy (health and wellbeing)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. Daily recess is associated with better classroom behavior and attention: in a national sample of 11,000 third graders, children with at least one daily recess of 15 or more minutes had better teacher-rated class behavior, a within-subject experiment found fourth graders more on task and less fidgety on recess days, and a cluster-randomized trial of a structured-recess program (Playworks) in 27 to 29 schools reduced teacher-reported bullying and exclusion and cut transition time back to learning. The AAP and CDC state that recess is a necessary break and should not be withheld as punishment or to complete work.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of K-5 students scheduled for at least 20 minutes of daily recess per the certified master schedules, and the count of recess removals logged in the student information system by building and reason Target: Within 1 year, 100 percent of K-5 students in every elementary building have at least 20 minutes of scheduled daily recess, and all logged recess removals cite an immediate safety risk, with the count of removals declining year over year in years 1 to 3 Superintendent reports to the Board by November 1 each year with recess minutes by building, recess removals by building and reason, and correction plans for any building below 20 minutes

Council on School Health, American Academy of Pediatrics (2013). The crucial role of recess in school. Pediatrics 131(1):183-188. doi · Barros RM, Silver EJ, Stein REK (2009). School recess and group classroom behavior. Pediatrics 123(2):431-436. doi · Jarrett OS, Maxwell DM, Dickerson C, Hoge P, Davies G, Yetley A (1998). Impact of recess on classroom behavior: Group effects and individual differences. Journal of Educational Research 92(2):121-126. doi

Motion 36. Special education placement and inclusion: Amend 113 Special Education

Current language. A student who requires special education shall receive programs and services according to an individualized education program (IEP).

Why. Receiving special education services causally raises achievement and attainment for students with disabilities (Texas: removing services lowered high school completion and college enrollment; NYC and Texas: entering special education raised test scores by roughly 0.1 SD), and large correlational and meta-analytic literatures find that students with disabilities who spend most of the day in general education classrooms do better academically with no detectable cost to their peers (d = 0.35 for students with general learning difficulties; peers d = 0.12 to null). Co-teaching shows a medium positive effect in a 2021 meta-analysis. The causal evidence on placement itself, as opposed to services, is thin and contested, so the best-supported policy is a documented, data-driven least restrictive environment decision for each student rather than a placement quota in either direction.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of students with IEPs in general education 80 percent or more of the day, 40 to 79 percent, and under 40 percent, disaggregated by school, disability category, race and English learner status; achievement and growth of students with disabilities on state tests versus peers; graduation, dropout and suspension rates of students with disabilities; share of IEPs documenting consideration of supplementary aids and services before a more restrictive placement; share of co-taught sections staffed by a certified special educator for the full period. Target: Within 1 year, every reviewed IEP recommending a setting below 80 percent general education documents the supplementary aids and services considered and the supporting data, every co-taught section is staffed by a certified special educator for the full period, and every assigned teacher completes 12 hours of training; within 3 years, the share of students with IEPs in general education 80 percent or more of the day rises and the achievement gap, dropout rate and suspension rate for students with disabilities fall from baseline, with no decline in peer achievement. Director of Special Education reports to the Board by November 1 each year, by school, disability category, race and English learner status, with the Board comparing each year's figures to baseline and to the state's Indicator 5 targets.

Hehir, T., Grindal, T., Freeman, B., Lamoreau, R., Borquaye, Y., & Burke, S. (2016). A Summary of the Evidence on Inclusive Education. Cambridge, MA: Abt Associates, for Instituto Alana. link · Cole, S. M., Murphy, H. R., Frisby, M. B., Grossi, T. A., & Bolte, H. R. (2020). The Relationship of Special Education Placement and Student Academic Outcomes. The Journal of Special Education 54(4):217-227. doi · Gilmour, A. F. (2018). Has Inclusion Gone Too Far? Weighing Its Effects on Students With Disabilities, Their Peers, and Teachers. Education Next 18(4). link

Motion 37. Vision screening and eyeglasses: Amend 209 Health Examinations/Screenings

Current language. Last RevisedNovember 24, 2025 Prior Revised Dates04/26/2021 Authority In compliance with applicable law and regulations, and Board-approved health and safety plans, the Board shall require that district students submit to health and dental

Why. Screening every student and then delivering eye exams and free glasses on site improves reading: the Baltimore cluster randomized trial of 2,304 students in grades 3 to 7 found a 0.09 SD reading gain after one year, with gains of 0.28 SD for students in the lowest baseline quartile and 0.25 SD for students in special education; rural China trials found math gains of 0.11 to 0.16 SD from free glasses. The gains fade by the second year unless glasses are replaced and wear is followed up, and screening alone, without exams and glasses, does nothing for achievement.

How the Board will know it worked. From the school nurse's referral log and the district benchmark assessment: share of students screened each year by grade; share of referred students examined within 60 days and fitted with glasses within 90 days; share still wearing glasses at the semester classroom check; reading growth of students who received glasses versus their prior-year growth. Target: By the end of year one, every student in the designated grades is screened, every student who fails screening is examined within 60 days and fitted with glasses within 90 days, and the share wearing glasses at each semester check rises from the first check onward; by the end of year two, reading growth of students who received glasses exceeds their own prior-year growth, with the largest gains among students in the lowest baseline reading quartile and students in special education. Coordinator of Health Services to the Board by December 15 each year, by school and by grade, with the semester wear-check results and the 60-day and 90-day delivery shares shown separately so the Board can see whether the follow-up that sustains the effect is happening.

Neitzel AJ, Wolf B, Guo X, et al. (2021). Effect of a randomized interventional school-based vision program on academic performance of students in grades 3 to 7: A cluster randomized clinical trial. JAMA Ophthalmology 139(10):1104-1114. doi · Glewwe P, Park A, Zhao M (2016). A better vision for development: Eyeglasses and academic performance in rural primary schools in China. Journal of Development Economics 122:170-182. doi · Ma X, Zhou Z, Yi H, et al. (2014). Effect of providing free glasses on children's educational outcomes in China: Cluster randomized controlled trial. BMJ 349:g5740. doi

Motion 38. School nurses and health services: New policy (health and wellbeing)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. A full-time registered nurse in every school pays for itself: the Massachusetts cost-benefit study found $2.20 in avoided medical costs, teacher time and parent lost wages for every $1 spent. Schools that add a full-time nurse show lower illness absence, with the clearest gains for students with asthma (23 percent fewer days missed with a full-time versus part-time nurse in Toledo; fewer illness absences and emergency visits after San Jose added full-time nurses), but the attendance evidence is quasi-experimental, integrative reviews rate it weak, and no study shows a nurse effect on test scores.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of school buildings with a registered nurse on site every full school day, and number of days any building lacked an RN, from the district staffing roster; illness-related absence rate for students with asthma, diabetes, seizure disorders and food allergies, from the student information system; count of emergency 911 calls from schools. Target: 100 percent of buildings have a full-time RN on site every day students are present, with zero uncovered days, within 1 year of adoption; illness-related absence for students with chronic health conditions declines from the baseline within 2 years and does not rise thereafter. Coordinator of Health Services reports to the Board by October 15 each year: nursing staff by building, workload and acuity results, days each building lacked an RN on site, illness-related and chronic absence for students with chronic health conditions, 911 calls from schools, and Medicaid reimbursement received.

Wang LY, Vernon-Smiley M, Gapinski MA, Desisto M, Maughan E, Sheetz A (2014). Cost-benefit study of school nursing services. JAMA Pediatrics 168(7):642-648. doi · Telljohann SK, Dake JA, Price JH (2004). Effect of full-time versus part-time school nurses on attendance of elementary students with asthma. Journal of School Nursing 20(6):331-334. doi · Rodriguez E, Rivera DA, Perlroth D, Becker E, Wang NE, Landau M (2013). School nurses' role in asthma management, school absenteeism, and cost savings: A demonstration project. Journal of School Health 83(12):842-850. doi

Motion 39. Seated lunch time: New policy (health and wellbeing)

Current language. None; the manual is silent.

Why. Children with fewer than 20 minutes seated to eat consume less of their lunch, especially fruit and vegetables: in a randomized crossover trial, 10 minutes of seated time versus 20 cut fruit consumption by 11 percentage points and vegetables by 14 points, and observational cafeteria studies in Massachusetts and California show the same pattern at scale. CDC guidance is at least 20 minutes seated after being served.

How the Board will know it worked. Seated lunch minutes per lunch period by building, measured from the time the last student in line is served to the end of the period, from the master schedule plus a cafeteria line-time observation each semester; the share of buildings meeting 20 seated minutes; fruit and vegetable plate-waste or production-record data from food service. Target: Every building and every lunch period provides at least 20 seated minutes for lunch and 10 for breakfast by the start of the next school year, with the count of buildings below 20 minutes at zero in each annual report thereafter and fruit and vegetable plate waste moving down from baseline over 1 to 3 years. Annual wellness report presented to the Board no later than its first regular meeting in October, showing seated lunch minutes by building and lunch period, the number of buildings not meeting 20 minutes, a dated correction plan for each, and fruit and vegetable plate-waste or production-record data.

Burg X, Metcalfe JJ, Ellison B, Prescott MP (2021). Effects of longer seated lunch time on food consumption and waste in elementary and middle school-age children: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open 4(6):e2114148. doi · Cohen JFW, Jahn JL, Richardson S, Cluggish SA, Parker E, Rimm EB (2016). Amount of time to eat lunch is associated with children's selection and consumption of school meal entree, fruits, vegetables, and milk. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 116(1):123-128. doi · Gosliner W (2014). School-level factors associated with increased fruit and vegetable consumption among students in California middle and high schools. Journal of School Health 84(9):559-568. doi

Motion 40. Physical education minutes and activity policy: Amend 246 School Wellness

Current language. Last RevisedSeptember 27, 2021 Prior Revised Dates10/22/2018 Purpose The Millcreek Township School District recognizes that student wellness and proper nutrition are related to students' physical well-being, growth, development and readiness to learn.

Why. Meta-analyses of experimental studies find that physical activity delivered through physical education improves classroom behavior and academic outcomes, with the gains concentrated in programs that raise the quality and intensity of PE lessons (cognition g 0.38, academic performance g 0.15) rather than in simply adding minutes (academic g 0.09, not significant). Instrumental-variable estimates using state PE mandates show more PE time increases physical activity and lowers obesity among fifth-grade boys without crowding out test scores. SHAPE America's standard is 150 minutes per week in elementary and 225 in secondary school.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of grade levels in each building scheduled for at least 150 minutes per week of PE (K-5) or 225 minutes per week (6-12); share of PE sections taught by a certified physical educator; observed share of PE lesson time in moderate-to-vigorous activity; count of waivers, substitutions and disciplinary withholdings. Target: By the September 30 certification in year two, every grade in every building is scheduled for at least 150 minutes (K-5) or 225 minutes (6-12) of PE per week, every PE section is taught by a certified physical educator, waivers, substitutions and disciplinary withholdings are zero, and the observed share of lesson time in moderate-to-vigorous activity is at least half in each building and rising from baseline in each later year. Superintendent's annual PE report to the Board by December 1, built on the Director of Curriculum's September 30 certification, with minutes by grade and building, certification share, observation results, waiver and withholding counts, and a dated correction plan for any shortfall.

Garcia-Hermoso A, Ramirez-Velez R, Lubans DR, Izquierdo M (2021). Effects of physical education interventions on cognition and academic performance outcomes in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine 55(21):1224-1232. doi · Alvarez-Bueno C, Pesce C, Cavero-Redondo I, Sanchez-Lopez M, Garrido-Miguel M, Martinez-Vizcaino V (2017). Academic achievement and physical activity: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics 140(6):e20171498. doi · Singh AS, Saliasi E, van den Berg V, et al. (2019). Effects of physical activity interventions on cognitive and academic performance in children and adolescents: a novel combination of a systematic review and recommendations from an expert panel. British Journal of Sports Medicine 53(10):640-647. doi

Motion 41. Teacher evaluation and feedback: Amend 313 Evaluation of Employees

Current language. Temporary Professional Employees Each temporary professional employees shall be evaluated by an appropriate supervisor and notified of individual progress and status at least twice each year during the first three (3) years of employment.[2] Administrators responsible for supervising temporary professional employees shall make every effort to assist such staff members in improving deficiencies dis

Why. Well-run evaluation with trained observers and substantive feedback can improve teaching: Cincinnati teachers' students gained about 0.1 SD in math in the years after a rigorous peer evaluation, and Washington DC's IMPACT raised the performance of low-rated teachers by 0.27 SD and pushed the lowest performers out, with their replacements raising achievement. But the 2010s wave of state evaluation reforms, taken as a whole, produced precisely estimated null effects on achievement and attainment, rated fewer than 1 percent of teachers below proficient, and reduced the supply of new teachers.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of teachers who received at least two observations with at least one unannounced, median days from observation to written feedback, share of evaluators passing calibration, share of below-effective teachers with a growth plan within 20 school days, distribution of summative ratings by school and evaluator, and correlation between ratings and student growth Target: Within 1 year every teacher has at least two observations with at least one unannounced, median days to written feedback is five school days or fewer, every evaluator conducting observations has passed the annual calibration exercise, every teacher rated below effective has a written growth plan within 20 school days and eight coaching cycles the following year, and no single measure exceeds one third of any rating; within 3 years ratings show a positive correlation with student growth and the share rated below proficient exceeds the under 1 percent pattern of the statewide reforms Annual report from the Director of Human Resources to the Board by August 31, covering ratings by school and evaluator, calibration results, observations per teacher and share unannounced, median days to feedback, rating to growth correlation, and retention by rating level; Board reliability review each year and an external review every five years

Taylor, E. S., & Tyler, J. H. (2012). The Effect of Evaluation on Teacher Performance. American Economic Review 102(7):3628-3651. doi · Dee, T. S., & Wyckoff, J. (2015). Incentives, Selection, and Teacher Performance: Evidence from IMPACT. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 34(2):267-297. doi · Adnot, M., Dee, T., Katz, V., & Wyckoff, J. (2017). Teacher Turnover, Teacher Quality, and Student Achievement in DCPS. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 39(1):54-76. doi

Motion 42. Student searches and due process in discipline: Amend 226 Searches

Current language. The Board reserves the right to authorize its employees to inspect a student's locker at any time, based on reasonable suspicion, for the purpose of determining whether the locker is being used improperly for the storage of contraband, a substance or object the possession of which is illegal, or any material that poses a threat to the health, welfare or safety of the school population.[2] Delegati

Why. This domain is governed by constitutional standards rather than outcome research: Goss v. Lopez requires notice and an opportunity to respond before any suspension of ten days or less, New Jersey v. T.L.O. permits school searches on reasonable suspicion when justified at inception and reasonable in scope, and Safford v. Redding holds that a search of a student's underwear requires suspicion that the item is dangerous or hidden there. The one federal randomized trial of random drug testing found lower self-reported use among tested students (16 versus 22 percent) with no spillover to untested students, while national correlational studies find no association between testing and student drug use.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of suspensions with a documented pre-removal conference (charge, evidence and student response) and same-day parent notice; share of expulsion hearings with timely written notice, an independent hearing officer and a written decision within five school days; number of searches logged with a written basis, by building, race and disability; number of strip searches; manifestation determinations completed within ten school days; complaints and appeals and their outcomes. Target: Zero strip searches in every year; every exclusion over ten days has written notice at least five school days before the hearing and a written decision within five school days after it; every manifestation determination completed within ten school days; the share of suspensions with a documented pre-removal conference and same-day parent notice rises each year, with the gap between buildings and between student groups narrowing, as shown in the September 30 report within 1 to 3 years. Superintendent's annual report to the Board by September 30, disaggregated by building, race and disability status, with the discipline record audit results attached.

Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975). Supreme Court of the United States, decided January 22, 1975. link · New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985). Supreme Court of the United States, decided January 15, 1985. link · Safford Unified School District #1 v. Redding, 557 U.S. 364 (2009). Supreme Court of the United States, decided June 25, 2009. link

Motion 43. Dress codes and uniforms: Amend 221 Dress and Grooming

Current language. Last RevisedApril 27, 2026 Prior Revised Dates02/27/2023 Purpose The Board recognizes that each student's mode of dress and grooming is a manifestation of personal style and individual preference.

Why. The best causal evidence on uniforms (school fixed effects in a large urban district) finds a modest attendance gain in secondary grades and no effect on achievement or discipline, and national longitudinal data show no behavior or attendance advantage; the evidence that dress rules improve learning is weak. The evidence on enforcement is clearer: GAO's national review found dress codes restrict items typically worn by girls more than boys, strict enforcement in more than four in five predominantly Black schools against about one third of predominantly white schools, informal class removals in 44 percent of codes, and body-measuring rules in 60 percent; Black girls receive disproportionate office referrals for dress code and other subjective infractions.

How the Board will know it worked. Dress code interventions, class removals and suspensions per 100 students by building, race and sex, drawn from the student information system log that includes informal removals; instructional minutes lost to dress code enforcement; share of code rules that are gender-specific or require measuring a student's body; parent and student complaints about dress enforcement. Target: Zero class removals, send-homes, suspensions or activity exclusions for dress code violations in every year after adoption; zero gender-specific rules and zero body-measuring rules in the district and building codes within 90 days; and no student group's dress code intervention rate exceeding twice the rate for white or male students in any building by the end of year one, holding in years two and three. Annual report to the Board by September 30 covering the prior school year, presented by the Superintendent, with the count of rules revised or repealed and the number of complaints received, and posted publicly with the Board minutes.

Gentile E, Imberman SA (2012). Dressed for success? The effect of school uniforms on student achievement and behavior. Journal of Urban Economics 71(1):1-17. doi · Brunsma DL, Rockquemore KA (1998). Effects of student uniforms on attendance, behavior problems, substance use, and academic achievement. Journal of Educational Research 92(1):53-62. doi · Ansari A, Shepard M, Gottfried MA (2022). School uniforms and student behavior: is there a link? Early Childhood Research Quarterly 58:278-286. doi

Motion 44. Homework: Amend 130 Homework

Current language. Last RevisedJanuary 25, 2010 Purpose Homework assignments should complement the school instruction.

Why. Homework has a small to moderate positive association with achievement in secondary grades and little or none in elementary grades; the relation runs through how often and how well homework is assigned, not how many hours students spend on it. Beyond roughly ten minutes per grade level per night the returns flatten, stress rises, and the benefit accrues more to higher-income students.

How the Board will know it worked. Share of students in each grade band whose reported nightly homework time exceeds the policy limit (ten minutes per grade level in grades 3 through 8, two hours in grades 9 through 12), from the annual March student and family survey; share of courses with homework weighted above ten percent of the grade; homework completion rate gap by free-lunch status. Target: By the second May 31 report, no school reports average nightly time above the grade-band limit, no course weights homework above ten percent of the grade, and the share of high school students reporting more than two hours per night falls each year compared with the prior survey; the completion gap by free-lunch status narrows year over year within 1 to 3 years. Superintendent reports to the Board by May 31 each year with survey results by grade band and free-lunch status, homework grade weight by course, the list of schools exceeding the limit, and the correction directed at each.

Cooper H, Robinson JC, Patall EA (2006). Does homework improve academic achievement? A synthesis of research, 1987-2003. Review of Educational Research 76(1):1-62. doi · Fan H, Xu J, Cai Z, He J, Fan X (2017). Homework and students' achievement in math and science: A 30-year meta-analysis, 1986-2015. Educational Research Review 20:35-54. doi · Bas G, Senturk C, Cigerci FM (2017). Homework and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review of research. Issues in Educational Research 27(1):31-50. link

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Policies that conflict with the evidence: 204 Attendance (chronic absence response); 233 Suspension and Expulsion (suspension and expulsion); 124 Alternative Instruction Courses (dual enrollment and early college); 918 Title I Parent and Family Engagement (family engagement and two-way communication); 122 Extracurricular Activities (access to extracurricular activities, athletics and the arts). Nothing in the manual on: early literacy instruction and k-3 reading screening, high-dosage tutoring, tiered positive behavior supports and restorative practices, multi-tiered systems of support (mtss / rti), classroom temperature, ventilation and indoor air, secondary school start time, math acceleration, eighth grade algebra, and tracking, access to rigorous coursework (automatic enrollment, ap, ib, dual credit), new teacher induction and mentoring, physical restraint and seclusion, lead in school drinking water, language access for families, grading practices (zeros, late work, minimum grades, standards-based grading), student data privacy and vendor contracts.

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