At its Nov. 17 meeting, the Wallingford School District Instructional Committee reviewed school improvement plans from across grade levels and spent extended time on three themes: an aspirational district goal that 100% of students make growth and have a trusted adult in their building; localized attendance-reduction strategies; and how screening data (DIBELS and i-Ready) and PSAT/SAT cohort reporting will be used to target instruction.

Mrs. Latour explained why the district includes 100% growth and a 100% trusted‑adult target in school plans: "We feel that 100% of our students can make growth towards that benchmark," she said, adding the district expects schools and departments to work "incredibly hard" to meet that aim. Miss Regan and other board members pushed back on the realism of a universal 100% target, calling it a lofty goal and asking for historical benchmarks to frame expectations.

Attendance emerged as a major operational focus. Middle- and high-school administrators described regular attendance committees that meet to review at-risk students, coordinate support through LEAP specialists, involve families, and refer students to counseling or outside providers when needed. A DAG administrator said weekly meetings ‘‘collaborate as a support staff, administration, and our LEAP specialist to identify at risk students’’ and noted that some barriers are logistical, such as transportation for out-of-town agricultural-science students.

High-school administrators said PSAT data has been received and will be shared with department heads to identify skill gaps; they described cohort reporting for students who took all three tests as the main growth metric. District staff clarified that DIBELS is a state-required universal screener for K–3, while i-Ready is a grade‑level diagnostic used to track standards-aligned skills (commonly beginning in grade 3), and that September i-Ready diagnostics will show many students in a preliminary "yellow" band that typically improves with instruction by January.

Elementary principals also described climate and behavior work: a Highland principal reported a staff relaxation room and a student sensory room being piloted and data being collected on effectiveness; Pond Hill described POUNCE/REST behavior-reward programs that yielded more than 500 student nominations last year.

Board members repeatedly stressed the need to align improvement expectations with staffing. Dr. Reed and others asked the board to consider the district's current interventionist staffing levels (about one per elementary, one to two per middle school, and one per high school) as the committee sets goals that demand intensive small-group instruction.

What comes next: administrators said cohort and PSAT breakdowns will be provided to the board as available and that the district will continue to refine improvement plans with those data. Several board members requested that demographic context (for example, percentages of students eligible for free and reduced-price meals) be included in regular updates when discussing outcomes.