School board adopts middle school math program

MidSchoolMath addresses a critical time for students in relation to math education.

DAYTON—The Dayton School Board held a work session meeting in the high school library at 6 p.m. on June 7, 2023. School board members present were Jeffrey McCowen, Zac Fabian, and Aneesha Dieu. Superintendent Rich Stewart and Business Manager Jana Eaton also attended. Korinda Wallace attended using Zoom. Grant Griffen was absent.

The only action item on the meeting’s agenda was to approve the adoption of MidSchoolMath (MSM) for the 6-8 grades math curriculum.

Middle school teacher Kristen Frankie gave background on selecting the MSM and Illustrative Math (IM) programs following secondary school’s field testing after both were available for public viewing in the spring of 2022.

Students performed much better in math classes that used MSM instead of IM as the math curriculum, so the selection committee recommended purchasing MSM. Acquiring MSM for six years will cost about $8840 or about $23 for each student using the MSM curriculum. Stewart said the purchase would be made with remaining Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds expiring soon.

The board approved the purchase of the MSM curriculum unanimously.

Hannelee Farrell, Dean of Students, presented the current discipline report. This year, the district introduced a more systematic discipline program that addresses the root cause of student behavior to help prevent misbehavior rather than only reacting to it.

The report showed a general decline in discipline referrals throughout the year, particularly at the high school. Farrell said she and the discipline team will continue refining discipline procedures next year.

District Business Manager Jana Eaton gave the budget report. Since several grants Eaton applied for remain open, she said some budget issues remain unresolved. Eaton expects to have the budget close to completion by the first budget hearing scheduled for June 21, 2023.

The board entered an executive session just before 7:30 p.m. to review “Complaints or charges against an employee or board member; qualifications of an applicant for public employment or public office; or review the performance of a public employee.” The executive session adjourned without action after 45 minutes.