The Salisbury Township School District board had a change in venue for the Oct. 18 curriculum and technology meeting.

After touring the Lehigh Career & Technical Institute, the board met at the campus to hear presentations related to the district’s demographic survey, an assessment survey and a teaching and learning update from administrators.

Superintendent Lynn Fuini-Hetten and Assistant Superintendent Kelly Pauling presented an extensive demographic survey and outlined several programs which have been implemented in an effort to meet the changing needs of the district.

As of Oct. 1, the district had a total student population of 1,517 which includes students who have been placed out of district to meet specific educational needs.

The presentation tracked various subsets of information including ethnicity, economic status, special education/gifted, student mobility and English language learners over a period of seven years in order to understand ways in which the district is changing – all in an effort to meet the needs of students and their families.

Data from the survey shows the district is becoming increasingly more diverse; one-third of district families are designated as economically disadvantaged and special education is an area where needs are growing while the gifted population in the district has declined by one-third since 2016.

It was also noted enrollment in charter schools has decreased from a high of 10.4% to 7.6%.

Board members expressed concern over the increase in special education needs and the associated costs as well as the significant decline in gifted students.

Meeting the needs of economically disadvantaged children was also unsettling as Fuini-Hetten indicated the numbers in this category could be underreported as it is incumbent on families to complete free and reduced lunch applications which in and of itself can be a barrier.

Administrators presented assessment data starting with Zach Brem, principal of Salisbury Elementary School. Multiple data sources were reviewed including third and fourth grade Pennsylvania System School Assessment scores, FAST benchmarks, progress monitoring data as well as curriculum based assessments.

In the area of English Language Arts, third grade students scored above the state average. Fourth grade students made a 6.7% improvement over last year but are trending below the state average.

The school as a whole saw fewer English language learners and special education students score proficient or advanced in reading which indicates growth standards have not been met.

In math, SES as a whole is above the state average in math although grade four is just below the state average and third grade students scored above the state average.

With current demographics and pacing of curriculum in mind, specific actions are being taken in the form of adding phonics instruction for grade three, targeted professional development for staff and adding more intervention time in math.

Moving on to Salisbury Middle School, Principal Ken Parliman outlined the multiple data sources reviewed namely, PSSA scores, IXL in reading and math, Algebra I Keystone scores as well as grade level assessment data.

In the area of reading, state growth standards have been met across the board as sixth and eighth grade students have exceeded the state average. Seventh grade students remain below the state average.

Many interventions have been implemented at the middle school which have resulted in significant improvements at each grade level in the math area although grades 6-8 still remain below the state average.

Eighth grade students showed a 15% improvement in science and are at the state average which exceeded the growth standard.

Salisbury High School Principal Heather Morningstar reported on assessments by showing a snapshot of the 11th grade students’ Keystone test scores in literature, algebra and biology. Students can retake Keystone tests several times and the highest score attained in 11th grade is used.

Students scoring proficient/advanced scored above the state average in literature but fell short in algebra and biology.

Academic growth standards were also met in literature and biology while algebra remained below the standard.

Morningstar discussed the effect new graduation pathways may have affected Keystone scores. Last year every student in the graduating class met a graduation pathway but not all pathways require passing Keystone exams so it is difficult to know whether the scores reflect inability or a choice.

The high school is taking several steps to mitigate areas of need by proposing a Foundations in Algebra class for regular education students who do not yet have the algebra readiness skills for success at the high school level.

Interventions such as Keystone labs and remediation will continue and benchmark assessments through Linkit! will be added. Aligning current content to the new science standards is also expected to help performance in biology.

During a teaching and learning update, administrators recognized several current and former high school students who recently earned the distinction of AP scholars. Among them are Gavin Cerco, Han Kloosterman, Jacob Knerr, PJ Juhasz, Noah Kichline, Jackson Kramp, Olivia Ringholm and Elizabeth Sterner.

On Oct. 18, an ESL cultural celebration was held at SHS for families in ESL to celebrate diversity and growth. Families took part in many activities and shared foods representative of their culture.

English language classes are available for parents and guardians Wednesday evenings at the high school. The classes are taught by ESL teachers Kathy McNally and Wendy Hauser and are open to any member of a district family.

Also in the planning stages is an on-demand video translation service to help the district better communicate with families in both written and spoken forms. The service would charge for minutes used and would be helpful in a number of instances especially IEP meetings and parent conferences so information can be translated accurately.

Morningstar detailed a new grant funded project in collaboration with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit dealing with screening students for mental health issues. Project AWARE is a HIPAA compliant screener requiring active parental consent to be administered to screen for suicidal behaviors and other mental health concerns and provide families with resources for identified needs.

Administrators have been discussing using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds for after school math tutoring targeting fifth grade students. Two groups of students would attend twice weekly sessions beginning Nov. 6 in an effort to boost skills. No plans have been finalized at this time.

Pauling closed out the teaching and learning presentation by announcing she and Brem will be giving a presentation for other districts detailing the Salisbury Township School District’s intervention program, self assessment and professional development work.

The next meeting of the curriculum and technology committee will take place in January 2024. New meeting dates will be approved in December after the elections.