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Groton School District board meeting, date not confirmed yet

2 h 43 min · 0 public speakers

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 2 h 43 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Groton board reviews reading intervention process and two new grants 7:16

  • The minutes of the prior meeting were approved as modified by consensus. 6:34
  • Presenters also described an $85,000 attendance grant and a $50,000 math tutoring grant, and staff gave an enrollment update. 7:16
  • District staff presented the Tier 2 and Tier 3 reading intervention and pre-referral process to special education, and board members asked questions about it. 24:05
  • A staff member reported that 59 students were identified with a primary disability of dyslexia on October 1, 2025. 1:22:53

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Item by item (9)
  1. Opening and approval of minutes 5:03
    • The meeting was called to order with board members present in person and online. 5:03
    • A speaker said a sentence in the minutes stating a board consensus to return to the old system did not reflect a consensus and suggested striking it. 5:53
    • The minutes were approved as modified by consensus. 6:34
  2. Attendance program grant 6:34
    • A presenter said the district received $85,000 through the Learner Engagement and Attendance Program grant, written for Fitch High School to address chronic absenteeism through home visits. 7:16
    • The presenter said 85% of the money would go to the home visit process and the remaining money, about $12,500, could be used for incentives or other items. 7:16
    • A speaker said the effort would start with 9th graders but could include students in 9th through 12th grade. 12:16
  3. High dosage tutoring grant 14:33
    • A presenter said the $50,000 grant would allow the district to hire one middle school math tutor to work with small groups of 4 students in 8th grade, about 40 to 50 students in all. 15:19
    • A staff member said students would miss a study hall or power-up period rather than a core class. 16:58
    • Ian Thomas raised compensation for certification, and a speaker said that would be an HR decision. 21:09
  4. Tiered reading interventions presentation 24:05
    • Adrian Johnson said the item came from a referral to the board 2 and a half years ago. 24:05
    • A staff member described the tiers, saying Tier 2 typically covers 5 to 15% of students and Tier 3 covers 1 to 5%, and that Tier 3 is not special education. 34:59
    • A staff member said each intervention cycle is 6 to 8 weeks and that initial referrals to the PPT can come from the school team or from parents and caregivers. 1:11:49
  5. Dyslexia data and teacher training 1:22:16
    • A staff member said the district had 59 students with a primary disability of dyslexia on October 1, 2025, 39 on October 1, 2024, and 27 on October 1, 2021. 1:22:53
    • Adrian Johnson asked how many students were receiving Wilson or Spire instruction, and a staff member said that data was not available at the meeting. 1:34:47
    • A staff member said 21 teachers had the 3-day introductory Wilson training and 8 were Level 1 certified. 1:38:22
  6. Enrollment update 2:02:22
    • A staff member said 175 students were currently enrolled at one school as of October 1st. 2:05:26
    • A staff member said the district was down 14 students compared with last year but up 37 students when counting students the district pays for. 2:06:55
    • A staff member said the district typically loses about 10% of students between 8th and 9th grade. 2:09:28
  7. Free and reduced lunch eligibility 2:14:06
    • A staff member said the district had worked with food services to reach families who had not completed lunch applications. 2:14:31
    • One board member said the issue had come up for years and said they would support getting it cleared up in writing. 2:21:40
    • One board member said they were advocating for universal access to food for students and asked for clear answers on the barriers. 2:25:35
  8. Enrollment trends and planning 2:26:08
    • A staff member said 879 students transferred out last year, including 276 who moved out of state and 37 who exited to homeschool. 2:28:56
    • Mitchell Shinbrot asked for a breakdown of how many students the district loses to homeschooling and magnet schools, and a staff member said the district could get those numbers. 2:30:34
    • Mike Whitney said the board needed to grapple with a 5-year plan for decreasing enrollments and how to allocate resources. 2:33:43
  9. Adjournment 2:41:28
    • Andrea Ackerman, EdD made a motion to adjourn, and it was seconded. 2:41:43

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “10-13-26 Groton Board of Education Meeting”