Maize USD 266 desires to remain competitive with Wichita metro area school districts and businesses in areas of employee compensation. This will assist in the recruitment and retention of highly qualified staff members. An analysis of salary and wage comparison by employee groups is needed.  

Maize USD 266 has committed funding for additional school resource officers (SROs) and secured a grant for behavioral health liaisons through the Mental Health Intervention Team grant. These positions support students both at school and at home by connecting families with community-based resources. The district also committed ESSER funding to hire an Executive Director of Heath, Safety, and Prevention who has expertise to support crisis response as well as the intervention and prevention of violence in schools. Research demonstrates that an interconnected approach of providing mental health supports can positively impact negative behaviors and school safety.  Consideration of additional personnel, training, and resources will be discussed to ensure the highest quality of support for student safety.

Maize USD 266 is excited to offer a new reading curriculum for grades kindergarten through 12, adopted in May 2022. Time and resources have been allocated for professional development to support teachers in becoming fluent and proficient in the delivery of lessons. Reassessing implementation needs in the spring would be beneficial. When planning for resources, it is important to consider research-based curriculum options through a scheduled rotation for each academic area. It is also important to consider the needs of tiered support resources during a curriculum adoption. For the 2022-23 school year, teachers will review math curriculum options in grades 7 through 12.

Maize USD 266 offers a tiered system of support to ensure students are provided opportunities for flexible and differentiated learning. It is best to review student achievement data and align instruction accordingly, providing the most intense support for students with the highest level of need. This includes developing research-based interventions, individualized instructional strategies, and a scheduling structure to maximize time for small group intervention. Student participation and teacher individualization of instructional needs increases with a smaller number of students; therefore, the personnel and time in schedules that are needed to best support students can sometimes be a challenge to organize. This year, the vacancy rate for paraprofessionals is adding to that challenge. This area of need can be addressed through item No. 1.      

Maize USD 266 teachers currently identify Kansas priority standards and assess students using individualized growth data (AIMSweb+ and Fastbridge), as well as state assessments. When reviewing student progress, it is important to consider a variety of measures for academic progress. Providing maximum planning time, quality professional learning, and instructional coaching is critical to supporting teachers in this endeavor.  Additional teachers for speciality areas such as Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) and/or Fine Arts would enhance the education of students while providing increased plan time for elementary teachers, which is currently shorter than secondary teachers. In addition, maintaining ESSER-funded positions for reading and math intervention will require budget planning to ensure resources are allocated when ESSER funds are depleted in 2024.   

The district chronic absenteeism rate is 14.76 percent, increasing from 12.19 percent in 2018-19. It is important for students to be in attendance to learn. Further investigation is needed to identify barriers to student attendance, resulting in the increase of chronic absenteeism. This can be accomplished by reviewing attendance codes and discussion with families who have a chronically absent student.