- North Santiam School District
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Signed into law in May of 2019, the Student Success Act is a historic opportunity for Oregon schools to improve outcomes for ALL students.
To view the Student Investment Account Grant Agreement, click HERE
2021-22 SIA Annual Report
What changes in behavior, actions, policies or practices have you observed related to SIA implementation during the 2021-22 school year? How do you see these changes contributing to the goals and outcomes in your SIA plan?
The utilization of the SIA funds has made significant impacts on several key areas in the District. The additional staffing in the areas of Counseling and Behavior Specialists has enabled the district to address the challenges of students' social and emotional needs. This group meets quarterly to analyze and improve our behavior and mental health systems of support. The development of a District-wide Suicide Prevention Plan was a significant accomplishment this year.
The hiring of additional Instructional assistants has assisted schools in accelerating students' learning and maintaining a safer environment on the playground. Although our students still have learning deficits due to the pandemic, our data analysis indicates we are in a good position to reach pre-pandemic levels in the coming years.
Our third-party contracts funded in SIA continue to have significant impacts. The Equity Collaborative continues to be a well-received group to guide distinct activities in the area of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. We hope to continue this relationship this year as we further strengthen our capacity by developing Equity Leadership Teams in each of our buildings with their support. The BERC Group has also given us valuable tools and resources to strengthen our instructional program to meet the individual needs of all students.
Additional Notes:
This summer we had thirty staff attend AVID Summer Institute in Seattle, Washington. This three-day professional learning included opportunities for staff to attend live sessions with facilitators modeling the best instructional and leadership strategies for student engagement. Staff engaged in learning focused on fostering equitable and engaging culture, content-based learning in math, science, and language arts, and transformational literacy practices. NSSD hosted training for 18 teachers to support new staff in learning AVID systems and strategies before the beginning of the year.
All curriculum materials were purchased and distributed for use in the Fall of 2022 during quarter 4. Additionally, Instructional Support and Services Team engaged in coordinating professional development for teachers in content, assessment, and instructional practices embedded within the instructional materials."
What barriers or challenges to SIA implementation have you experienced that are helpful for your community and/or state leaders to be aware of? What adjustments, if any, did you make to your SIA plan as a result of these challenges?
North Santiam School District (NSSD) did not experience any challenges with implementation this year. The activities selected to support SIA outcomes and strategies are embedded in the Continuous Improvement Plans of the District and Buildings. Due to this alignment, the District typically has high fidelity of implementation.
SIA implementation includes ongoing engagement with all students, focal students, families, staff, and community partners. How have relationships with or between those groups changed and/or been maintained throughout this academic year?
The District has a well-established continuous improvement process that gathers input and data from key district stakeholders. This year, North Santiam added Youth Truth parent, student, and staff surveys to evaluate and assist with SIA implementation. Youth Truth data played a large role in assisting our leaders in responding to the unique perspectives of our students, families, and focal groups as they developed their building goals and improvement activities for the 2022-23 school year. The District intends to use the information gathered to target further engagement activities with families. Due to the specificity and correlation of data sets in Youth Truth, the District can easily set priority areas to further engage our families. By utilizing the information in this manner and consistently reporting back to parents, we hope to create a consistent dialogue with families and track growth and improvement.
As you think about what guided your choices and prioritization efforts in this year of SIA implementation, what stands out? How will what you’ve learned this year impact future SIA implementation efforts?
The 20 activities implemented this year are centered around two priority areas, social and emotional health, and curriculum and instruction. We have confirmed that these areas are correctly identified and continue to be top priorities for our stakeholders. Analysis of multiple district data sources has determined that the activities funded in SIA are making a significant impact.
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Legislators designed the corporate activity tax to provide a reliable $1 billion a year dedicated to preK-12 public education. Districts were promised $473 million in July, but that was before the economy took a downturn due to COVID-19.
Even though the four categories listed above remained the same, the dollar amounts were reduced. The NSSD's share of the funding shrank from approximately $1.9 million to $573,000. Budget items were pre-prioritized to fit into the new funding amount and were distributed amongst the following:
- Increased Behavioral Specialist/Student Intervention support
- Core curriculum (Social Studies) purchase
- Provide high-quality and increased access to Counselor support
- Purchase technology to support 1:1 initiatives
- Implement all AVID programs in grades K-8
- Contract with Equity Collaborative to lead district equity systems analysis
The District anticipates receiving approximately $1,400,000 for the 2021-22 school year. In addition to significantly expanding funding in the above areas, the District will be adding additional Instructional Assistants to increase academic supports and increased safety measures.