• K. Brawley & Dr. Carter shared how we live out our mission and vision in the CMO quarterly walkthroughs.

Dr. Carter and Kristina Brawley shared highlights and bright spots from their CMO quarterly walkthroughs. The student panel was highlighted as a way for students to have a voice and share their lived experiences. They often shared that they feel cared for and that adults are committed to their learning. They spent a lot of time as an academic team making sure that schools were bought into high-quality Tier 1 instruction for all learners. 

Erika ran through the organizational health updates, including progress toward EOY goals. She raised a concern about chronic absenteeism and early literacy numbers. Kristina Brawley mentioned that it's important to intervene early as it relates to chronic absenteeism. They are reviewing the data earlier and more frequently, acknowledging that the numbers are high at the high school. Trey Vernaci mentioned that they are really trying to get to the root of why the students are not coming to school. The schools have also adopted a new alarm system for students who are on the verge of becoming chronically absent. JT mentioned a new survey that should also clue the team in on why students are chronically absent. 

Richard asked Trey to clarify more about the Attend platform, and how the chronic absenteeism affects funding. Trey: The good news is that neither region funds according to attendance, just enrollment. Attend is tied to a tool that we are already using to communicate with families, and this will allow us to flag the dangerous number of absences with families directly. 

Dr. Carter mentioned that looking at the early literacy data from last year, second graders entered at 19% and ended at 53%. We've seen that those third graders entered at 27%, so this could be due to summer slide. We have a consistent new curriculum that we are tracking to see if that improves results. Ashley Harbin asked if we are taking advantage of summer camps. Two summers ago we did a summer boost program, but we no longer have funding for that. This summer we partnered with Jackson Medical Mall and our kids were able to participate for free. This year we have the ability to send 35 kids. 

E. Huffman & R. Pettery asked what we are doing to address around chronic absenteeism and interventions at the high school, specifically around early alert systems and family communications. 

J. Carter shared details on 3rd-grade reading results and comparisons to previous years, and the utilization of summer programming to prevent summer slide. 

• J. Carter shared updates on RSJ academic accountability scoring. 
• J. Carter shared an overview of standards mastery and growth from the last assessment. 
• J. Carter shared moves made to address the observations of scholar habits and specific target standards by elementary and middle school trends. 

Dr. Carter. shared that Mississippi made updates to accountability projections. We were expecting elementary schools to be a B and middle schools to be a C. We have now had to revisit accountability goals so our expectations are aligned to the state's changes. We need to prioritize growth, proficiency, and standards mastery. She also shared that we took the interim assessment in the fall and the mid interim assessment in November, and we have created a tracker for each school that outlines progress to each standard. Scholars did improve from fall assessment (Sept/Oct) to the November assessment. Our middle schools performed higher on power standards, math, and informational text. 

• K. Brawley shared an update on moves made and areas to continue improving on this quarter, noting that interim testing is happening right now. 
• K. Brawley went over last year's academic results and the designated ATSI status for NP & TSI status for LCA. 
• K. Brawley shared what we have been doing in response to subgroup data. 
• R. Pettey asked about root causes and addressing talent turnover. 
• A. Gallimore shared context on shifts and moves made to better move the academic data.
• K. Brawley shared moves, including the direct principal support with principal managers, the curriculum support, and the LMS system. 
• K. Vernon shared how we're looking holistically at talent as we plan for SY27. 
• J. Carter shared feedback and data protocols used to help develop leaders. 
• A. Gallimore asked if the board had any ideas or recommendations on how to celebrate the staff.

Kristina Brawley shared Nashville's results. We are currently taking Q2 and those assessment outcomes will be released in January. They are going to focus on continuous monitoring of subgroup data in intervention plans. They are also vetting an LMS system to ensure timely data is normed in between ongoing assessments. Our renewal process is up (2020-2025) in Nashville. For most years we outperformed peer schools, but for the last year we really struggled, especially with students for whom English is a second language. As a result we are building instructional leadership capacity and prioritizing teacher/leader retention. 

Richard is curious if there are other issues besides staff retention that have led to declines in RSN in the 2024-25 year. Ashley Gallimore mentioned that it went beyond leader or teacher turnover, but also the support staff that we no longer have after losing federal pandemic recovery dollars. Staff ensure that the practices we've always held sacred are still being prioritized. 

Discussion tabled for next meeting.

Discussion tabled for next meeting or via email.