The State Board of Education will meet on Tuesday, October 20th for the first time since the Board elected not to request full funding from the General Assembly, despite recommendations from DESE Deputy Commissioner Dr. Kyle Kruse. At this upcoming meeting, the Board is set to discuss numerous topics that will impact Districts across the state.. You can view the full agenda on DESE's website.
During this meeting, the Board will hear an update from the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force, which is the group formed by Governor Kehoe's executive order that is tasked with developing suggested updates to the state's foundation formula. This update may prove less fruitful than originally planned, as taskforce chairman (Senator Rusty Black) cancelled the meeting originally scheduled for October 19th, which would have provided simulated calculations on the two proposed models for school Districts across the state. Release of the fiscal impact of the calculations for the State, and for each specific District, will now be delayed until after the November 3rd elections.
In addition to that update, the Board is slated to provide an update on the new A-F Grading Framework at Tuesday's meeting. There is still much uncertainty regarding the new system, including details on the calculations, concrete release dates, and data appeals processes. We encourage our stakeholders to ask questions and read up on this new framework, as there will be many different narratives pushed regarding these new grades. Currently, there are scheduled to be three different grades issued over the next 12 months, each of which will include different components based on data from different years. All calculations will center on state testing data and a few other metrics, though the nature of each of these calculations is yet to be released. The first grade release will be generated using 2024-2025 data, and will not include the literacy component of the calculations. We are awaiting details on the timeline for the release of this data.
No matter how confusing this data may be, or what narrative it may portray, our first priority will continue to be serving the children, families, and community. Our goal is to help families understand what the rating tells them, what it does not tell them, and how it fits into the much broader picture of our school.
District representatives from across the State, including Diamond Superintendent Chris Paullus, will be in attendance at Tuesday's meeting to seek clarity on these two issues, as well as to seek information regarding DESE's search for a new commissioner. We encourage stakeholders to engage with the State Board directly, as well as their legislators and the Governor's office.
For questions, email Mr. Paullus (cpaullus@diamondwildcats.org).