Board presses for answers after spike in suspensions and attendance dip, Erie High singled out

Board members asked district staff for targeted analysis after a first‑semester data review showed declines in regular attendance and large counts of suspensions at multiple schools.

During the presentation staff clarified metrics: "regular attendance" measures students present for 90 or more of the enrolled school days used in the state’s Future Ready Index, while average daily attendance captures daily counts. Staff said the attendance comparison uses the same point in the school year for 24–25 and 25–26.

Directors pressed for school‑level graphics. "Is there a way to see a side‑by‑side comparison of the trends, school by school with suspensions compared to attendance?" a board member asked; staff agreed to prepare visuals. Directors singled out Erie High: several members described the high‑school discipline counts as alarming and said that the data support earlier concerns raised about the building. One director urged the district to accelerate previously filed resolutions and planned reviews. Another suggested programmatic options, including removing ninth grade from Erie High as a structural change, while staff responded that the upcoming review will provide detailed building‑by‑building data (classroom counts, square footage, ratios) to support possible options.

On suspensions the staff clarified that the suspension figures count incidents, not unique students, and that out‑of‑school suspensions can be as short as one day; expulsions may last up to one school year. Directors asked for disaggregated reasons for elementary suspensions and for suspensions-to-attendance comparisons to be presented at a future meeting.

No vote was taken; the board asked staff to provide the requested visualizations and deeper breakdowns in upcoming reports.