School leaders and district supervisors told the board that a partnership with WestEd has built leadership capacity, improved instruction-focused routines and increased staff stability at Erie High School and East Middle School.

Dawn Orlando, executive principal at Erie High School, described implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs), standardized meeting agendas, trained facilitators and a culture of data-driven instruction. “I can't do this alone,” Orlando said, emphasizing shared leadership and the training of 21 vital facilitators who lead lesson tuning and data analysis.

East Middle School Principal Matt Koval credited WestEd with two priority outcomes: improved systems and structures and better staff morale and culture. Koval said building-wide calendaring, active hallway supervision and routine PLC cycles increased operational consistency and reduced disruptions. He reported a positive change in a staff call survey and said 95% of teachers returned to the school this year after a staffing-agreement vote intended to stabilize the staff.

Megan Halloran, K–8 content supervisor, said WestEd coaching sharpened school-improvement planning, walkthrough practices and coaching for principals and assistant principals. District leaders told the board that the structures and language developed during the WestEd engagement are intended to be spread across other schools through the district’s leadership and coaching routines.

Board members asked whether the WestEd work should have produced earlier changes in assessment metrics; district leaders said the systems are taking root and that instructional shifts at scale take time to yield measurable student gains. Dr. Gibbs said the practices “have to continue to evolve” and framed WestEd work as building essential capacity that now must be sustained and monitored.