Van Buren School Board TISA Goals: Reading, Math Scores And Ready Graduates

The Van Buren Board of Education approved its new statewide accountability report Wednesday night.

The report is a part of the TISA formula that requires the board to create a five-year plan for the county’s schools. Director Jared Copeland said the report allows the school board to show how taxpayer dollars are going to student achievement.

“So it’s really just kind of a simple form of how are we mainly going to use our funds to raise reading levels or close gaps or increase career readiness, you know,” Copeland said. “We kind of have some say-so in what our major goals are. It’s just an accountability piece to connect dollars with what we’re doing with them essentially.”

Copeland said the board has three main goals for the plan: raising third grade language arts test scores, increasing math proficiency from third to eighth grade, and increasing the number of high-schoolers who graduate with ready-graduate status. That status means students are properly prepared for life after high school.

Board member Barry Austin said parent involvement is an important part of success with younger students.

“I see so much, and I don’t know how to fix it but I’ll say it, so much of that is in the parents,” Austin said. “If you’re in third grade and your parent’s not home reading to you and doing math, I don’t know myself how to change that.”

Copeland said the board is required to go over the plan every year and adjust it as needed.

In other business, the board approved the purchase of three new vehicles for use by the school district. The board also discussed bids for new electric winches and safety straps for the bleachers at the high school gym, as well a height adjuster for the basketball hoops.

The board will make a decision on the bids once it is decided who will be financially responsible for any future damages to the equipment.