MIDDLETOWN— The Middletown Unified School District Board met in public session on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. on the high school campus. The meeting approved the annual update of the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) and the budget for the 2024-25 school year.
The LCAP includes a 3-year timeline for the School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) to meet minimum state standards. In the report, based on the California School Dashboard and local data, MUSD students “Tested 19.8 points below standard in English language arts.” In math, MUSD students were “65.8 points below standard”, while MUSD’s English learner progress slipped 5.2 percent in 2023-24. Finally, testing showed that only 22.1 percent of MUSD’s students are prepared for college and careers.
The results underscore the scope of the task that lies before the newly appointed Superintendent Jeff Crane. The plan points to investment in Renaissance Learning software as driving “a culture of continuous improvement throughout the organization.” The software includes a Reader to address kindergarten through eighth-grade reading level placement “and tracking progress for all students including English Learners, foster youth, students with disabilities, and socio-economically disadvantaged students.”
To improve math scores the district will focus on pedagogy and assessments supplemented by using “collaboration days to analyze the data with grade-level teams.” To address the decline in English learner progress MUSD plans to “better serve our Multilingual Learners (ML) through whole-class pedagogical strategies and individual support.” This will be supplemented by English Language Development (ELD) classes for each site in the district.
School climate, the district’s sixth priority, offered student perspective on their MUSD experience. Superintendent Crane presented the survey, conducted at the fifth, seventh, ninth and 11th-grade levels, for discussion by the board. Among fifth-graders 81 percent “Feel safe at school”, 92 percent report that students are “treated with respect”, 58 percent were “Called bad names or were the target of mean jokes” and 19 percent report that they “Saw a weapon at school”. Seventh, ninth and 11th-graders respectively, reported a sense of “School Connectedness” at 53, 43 and 46 percent; having a “Caring adult relationship” at 56,42 and 55 percent; “School perceived as very safe or safe” at 48, 52 and 43 percent; and “Seen a weapon on campus” at 18, 14 and 14 percent.
The LCAP report includes mention of feedback from students and educators outlining the need for facility upgrades “for a more conducive environment for learning”, “the need for updated ongoing curricular adoption to be current and relevant” and “the need for parental involvement and family engagement.” Awareness of the goal of college and career readiness will begin at the elementary level and continue through high school. Over the next three years the district plans to increase the graduation rate from 83.8 percent to 100 percent, to increase English language learners from 47.2 percent “Making Progress” to 100 percent and to move from 33.8 percent “Chronically Absent” to zero percent.
Crane presented Proposition 28 funding for 2024-25 as offering $213,653 to supplement existing arts programs. The funding will enable hiring a full-time Elementary/Secondary Art teacher, a half-time Elementary Music teacher and a half-time Elementary Computer teacher. Crane also revealed MUSD feedback from the community showed overwhelming support for Art Enrichment classes during the school day.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:56 p.m.
