Oshkosh schools update its strategic plan. Here are four key takeaways.

OSHKOSH ‒ The Oshkosh Area School District hosted dozens of interest community members in a public conversation and input session Wednesday about its Continuous Improvement Plan.

OASD superintendent Bryan Davis, other district leaders and Ted Neitzke, the CEO of CESA 6, introduced the plan and invited feedback from the community, including answering questions from the public about how the district compiled the report and what its goals are moving forward.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the meeting.

Report hopes to provide more transparency

The Continuous Improvement Plan shared by the district is a review on how the district is succeeding in following its current strategic plan.

The plan divides four core areas — Learning and Academics, Finance and Operations, Safe and Healthy Schools, and Engagement and Communication — and rates how the district is succeeding based on key performance indicators in those areas.

The plan rates those core areas from five stars for "significantly succeeding expectations" to one star meaning the district "does not meet expectations yet." Davis said the goal of this report is to better articulate the ways the district addresses problems it sees.

"(The improvement plan) will make sure we are measuring the same things from the board room down to the classroom so we are in alignment," Davis said.

Staff engagement in district is one of highest rates in state

Employee engagement was a proud talking point for the Oshkosh school district.

According to the report, the district's fall 2022 Gallup Survey was rated at 47% participation district-wide, which was a big improvement from 28% last year. Additionally, the district reduced the percent of actively disengaged employees from 19% in fall 2021 to 8% in fall 2022.

Neitzke said the high engagement rates of staff were unique in the region, and he praised the way the district leaders are focusing on the people working with its children.

"You are living in a great time of renaissance in the Oshkosh school district," Neitzke said.

Math, reading achievement scores still low from pandemic, but leaders say they are bouncing back

One of the lower scores for the district was in their scores for math and reading achievement.

According to the report, less than 50% of grades three to eight students scored proficient on spring iReady Math and spring iReady Reading diagnostic tests.

Julie Conrad, OASD's Director of Curriculum and Assessment, said before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in 2020, the district was performing better, with 50% to 59.9% of grades three to eight students scoring proficient on those standardized tests, but the disruptions in learning caused a drop, like many areas of the country experienced.

Conrad said new instructional materials added to improve phonics and vocabulary skills among elementary students have shown promising improvements, but it is too early to tell how quickly the effects will be seen in the test scores.

Parents concerned about safety for children in schools

During a few small group conversations, parents stressed concerns about the students' safety in schools.

The district had an "exceeds expectations" rating for its Safe and Healthy Schools core area, but parents expressed their worries about an early February incident where a student brought a gun to Webster Stanley Middle School.

Parents also asked district staff about how the school will address students' mental health, an issue of national concern.

The district noted for the 2022-2023 school year, Social Academic and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener tests, or SAEBRS, which screen students for behavioral problems, showed 77% of students were low risk for behavior issues.

But parents asked how valid the tests could be, and some parents suggested the district try to partner with more local organizations or doctors to help provide more resources to students who may struggle with mental health issues.

This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Oshkosh schools hold public discussion on district's strategic goals