Mankato School Board updates district's goals
Sep. 21—Updates to Mankato Area Public Schools' student achievement and other goals are focused on equity.
The Mankato School Board approved a revised set of "vision cards" Monday night. The documents list district goals in areas ranging from student standardized test scores, to the amount of money in district savings accounts.
The documents will be updated with annual measurements of how close the district is to achieving each goal. In the first iteration some of the measurements weren't calculated due to pandemic disruptions and other new measurements had not yet been determined.
The new vision cards have been in development for a year and reflect the district's enhanced focus on equity for diverse student groups, according to Supt. Paul Peterson.
"A major aspect of the study has been to ensure that the ways success is measured in the system is equitable and inclusive," he said.
Several of the new goals involve closing achievement gaps between white and minority students.
The district aims to reduce the gaps in students meeting state standardized test standards to less than 10 percentage points. Presently the gaps are between 30 and 40 percentage points.
The district is closer to reducing the gap in graduation rates. The difference is under 20 percentage points with a goal to bring it under 10 percentage points.
The new vision goals also seek to reduce the gap between groups of students taking Advanced Placement and other accelerated classes to under 10 percentage points. At the high schools the gap is currently more than 50 percentage points.
The district aims to reduce gaps for groups of students who are suspended or referred to a behavior intervention program. A difference of less than 10 percentage points is sought.
The district is also trying to increase staff participation in equity and behavioral intervention professional development opportunities to over 90%.
Another new goal is to increase the number of staff of color and male staff working in the district to more closely mirror the student population.
School Board member Kenneth Reid said he'd have liked more detailed goals related to recruiting and retaining those staff. But he said he was otherwise pleased with the updates to the vision cards and joined the rest of the board in adopting them.
Another new way the district will measure outcomes is by conducting satisfaction surveys. The district will survey students and families about how happy they are with their school and will survey staff about working conditions. The goal is satisfaction rates of 90% or higher.
Other components of the vision cards and how the district currently measures include:
More than 80% of middle and high school students participate in an extracurricular activity. Current participation rates are 20-40% at the middle schools and 40-60% at the high schools.
An overall on-time graduation rate of 95% or more. The rate has been 85-88% in recent years.
More than 95% of the students who live within the district attend Mankato Area Public Schools and less than 5% choose other educational options. Current enrollment market share is less than 83%.
Cash saved in the district's primary reserve fund equals at least 50 days worth of operating expenses. Less than 30 days were in reserves at the end of the school year.
Referendum-approved property tax collections increase to be closer to the maximum allowed of nearly $1,900 per student.
The district currently collects less than $1,300 per student.
