East Liverpool City School District Superintendent Jonathan Ludwig presented the district’s goals, achievements and plans during a recent Board of Education meeting. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

EAST LIVERPOOL –East Liverpool City School District Superintendent Jonathan Ludwig along with other district employees discussed the second phase of the district’s goal, achievements and future plans during last week’s Board of Education meeting.

The plan includes a combination of elements from the Insight Report –recently received after working with the Ohio Department of Education –plus staff feedback and cooperation from the state support team.

According to Ludwig, the main focus this year remains on reducing student absenteeism. Another goal is focusing on English language arts.

The district’s attendance goal is to improve the chromic absenteeism rate of all students to six percent by June 2025.

Attendance district-wide has been on an increase over the past several years. In 2022 the district saw a chronic absence rate of 46.5 percent, in 2023 it was at 43.7 percent and for 2024 it is currently at 39.6 percent.

Chronic absenteeism is based on missing 10 percent of the school year which equals to about 18 days of absence.

The goal for language arts is to improve reading performance as measured by the state report of all students in the district by 10 percent.

Other goals include improving the math performance of all students as measured by the state report by 10 percent and improving the performance of all students by 20 percent in ELA and math using the state report card data.

For curriculum, the district has implemented several programs such as MyView Literacy, a Reading Achievement Team and Reading Achievement Plan, literacy coach and professional development for teachers in the form of Keys to Literacy.

Curriculum plans include expanding ELA to grade five, with possible options to go through eighth grade; having teachers complete additional trainings to deal with Dyslexia and other educational programs; and to expand the literacy coach to LaCroft Elementary and North Elementary.

For career and technical the district offers four courses which students complete over two years for industry-recognized credentials, work-based learning, and developing pathway summaries for all programs.

The plan noted that 97.5 percent of the students in CTE programs graduated on time and 92.2 percent of the CTE students were employed in an apprenticeship, enrolled in the military or post-secondary education.

The district is adding entrepreneurship and engineering for students in seventh to 12th grades.

The district plans to make work-based learning a measurable component in the school report for 2023-2024 and to continue supporting programs while enhancing current offerings with advice from industry professionals and job forecasting.

With five of the eight STEM teams from Columbiana County who qualified for the state robotics competition coming from Westgate Middle School, the district plans to add STEM programming at the elementary level. Each student will have the option to take part in a STEM elective

“We are ahead, we are no longer trying to get a plan together to catch up and I am proud of that,” Ludwig said.

The district has also restructured the engineering program to be more flexible to allow band and choir students the ability to continue with band or choir and participate with STEM.

For special education it was noted that the graduation rate was met but the dropout rate was not met with six students with an IEP dropping out.

The district has professional development, a board-certified behavioral analyst and transition improvement for special education. The plan is to continue updating and developing processes and district -ide forms with a focus on data collection and appropriate documentation.

The district has created a positive behavior intervention and supports at each school. This will be the next major focus after attendance under gets control.

The district added many improvements district-wide in the technological area. Plans include continuing technology integration, Esports programs, digital signage across the district and artificial intelligence (AI)

For communication improvements, the district launched a new website, www.elpottersschool; started a communication student ambassador program, Potter Empowered; Teacher of the month programs; started hosting service learning/district wide community engagement projects; and increased social media presence with new social media spotlight series.

The district plans to continue the momentum of current initiatives while researching options for better engagements with families and staff and developing district newsletters.

Achievements in athletics include a student athlete drug test passage rate of 99 percent; increased participation and attendance in athletic programs; new hires in coaching staff; and working with other schools to solidify conference affiliation.

The district plans to upgrade the Mangano facility; reboot the holiday tournament for boys and girl basketball; and schedule more home events/contests for wrestling and track.

Planned improvements for buildings and grounds include looking into tree removal; foam pads for the high jump pad; the addition of sand to the long jump pit; repainting the track and upgrading the entrance at the Mangano facility.

The district is also looking into options for solar power and a new bus garage.

Additional building improvement plans include coating all the roofs and transition from reactive to proactive maintenance.

For transportation, the district will be adding two school vans to the transportation fleet. It will also look into grants through the state for new buses.

The district is also exploring options for building a new bus garage behind Westgate Middle School and is looking for additional substitute bus drivers.

For food service, the district is researching grants for a possible smoothie machine at the high; looking at information on vending machines to help with breakfast participation; and looking into software that will allow students to pre-order meals.

For finance matters, the district has increased the General Fund by $2 million which will help with its five-year plan. A levy renewal is expected for the November election