ANNOUNCER: The following program is a production of Ozarks Public Television.

Good evening, and welcome to "Sense of Community."

I'm Michelle Skalicky.

The 2023-2024 school year is about to get underway in the Springfield Public School District.

SPS Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan joins us tonight to discuss what is happening in Missouri's largest school district as classes start back up.

Please stay tuned.

ANNOUNCER: Welcome to "Sense of Community."

"Sense of Community" is a public affairs presentation of Ozarks Public Television.

The Springfield Public School District is the largest district in Missouri.

As of fall 2022, there were 24,625 students in the district.

Add to that the approximately 3,500 staff members and the multiple buildings across the city, and that equates to a big endeavor for anyone to manage.

Today, we're talking to the person who has that job.

Dr. Grenita Lathan is superintendent of Springfield Public Schools.

And today, she joins us to talk about a variety of issues as the new school year gets underway.

Welcome to "Sense of Community," Dr. Lathan.

Thank you.

While students are on summer break, what goes on behind the scenes to get ready for a new school year?

Our team is busy gearing up for the first day of school, which is scheduled for Tuesday, August the 22nd.

We are busy taking care of our buildings, providing training to teachers and principals, and just planning everything for that first day of school.

I know you recently held a big day of training for principals.

What goes on for teachers as well?

We kick off-- actually, as soon as school ends in May, in June, we kick off what we call Lead Forward.

So that's a training for building principals and their leadership teams.

We provide that training in June.

Then in July, we have what we call Learn, Lead, Succeed, which is our kickoff for administrators.

So we provide them not only an academic update or overview but then also operational things they need to know to ensure that their schools run efficiently and effectively for the school year.

Where are you at currently with teacher staffing and hiring?

I know we've heard reports of teachers quitting after the pandemic, and there are being some staffing problems across the country.

How does SPS stand in that?

Right now, most of our vacancies are around special education positions, classroom positions, or resource teachers.

And so we're trying to fill those positions.

I would say building-wise or classroom-wise, we're in good shape, but trying to address not only paraprofessional positions but also custodial positions and special education teacher positions.

Yeah.

I know that I'm always seeing signs around Springfield for the need for bus drivers.

Is that still an issue?

And what are you doing not only to attract bus drivers but also the other positions that you just mentioned?

Always a need for bus drivers.

Right now, we currently run what we call a three-tier system.

So we have three start times in the district.

Our ultimate goal is to get down to two tiers and two start times.

And in order to do that, we need more bus drivers.

We still need about 30, 35 more bus drivers.

But we are in much better shape than we were two years ago, as it relates to not only recruiting and retaining not only teachers but other staff members in the district.

Our board supported a new compensation package for the upcoming school year.

We increased the lowest pay rate for our nutrition services workers.

They were some of our lowest paid hourly employees.

And also a compensation package for our teachers moving forward.

Once you did that, did you see an increase in applications?

Applications for those operational positions, we've seen an increase.

Like I said, classroom-wise, we're in good shape, but we do need special education teachers.

Why is there such a need for special education teachers, do you think?

For us, we've seen a number of increase in the number of students that need special education services or what we call having an IEP, so they need an Individualized Education Plan.

And so we need specialized teachers to be able to support those students.

How does starting teacher pay in the district compare to other districts in Missouri?

Right now, our starting pay for our teachers-- we are competitive as it relates to our peer districts and also as it relates to Southwest Missouri.

I believe we are kind of equal right now with Joplin School District as it relates to having a competitive starting pay for our teachers.

How can someone find out about any open jobs with Springfield Public Schools?

www.sps.org/jobs.

And that shares with them all of the openings in our district.

And let's talk about student enrollment.

What does enrollment in the Springfield Public school district look like this fall?

And how does that compare to last year?

Right now, enrollment has been stabilized.

We're still at 24,600 students.

Hoping to see that number increase as we move forward.

We will gear up this year around a major attendance campaign.

We want to increase the percentage of students that are attending school every day.

If you recall, during the pandemic, we encouraged students to stay home if they were ill or had just any minor symptoms.

And so we want to make sure the focus is back on attending school every day for all of our students.

What will that attendance campaign look like?

So the campaign will-- number one, we're going to engage with our community members and our parents and our students.

We will have incentives around school attendance, recognitions for students, recognition for parents that are getting their students to school on time.

But we want them to know that their future depends on them being in school every day.

How many kids are eligible for free and reduced lunch in the district?

We have about 54% of our students that are eligible for free and reduced lunch meals.

We're trying to work on increasing that number because we know there are more students out there.

But if their parents do not complete the application, we have no way of knowing or addressing that issue.

Do you know offhand what the eligibility, the criteria that they have to meet?

I do not know.

But we can provide that information.

Last Saturday, we had a back-to-school bash where we actually, on site, provided assistance for parents to complete those applications.

We will continue to provide assistance throughout the school year, encouraging parents to complete those forms.

And that back-to-school bash-- you provided a lot of resources for parents and families.

Talk about that.

How many attended?

And what resources were made available?

Really excited that not only members of Team SPS but our community partners, they partnered with us to host this event.

We saw between 3,000 and 5,000 students and families to come through.

They were able to receive backpacks filled with supplies, hygiene kits from Care to Learn.

We also had an opportunity, like I said, for them to sign up for bus transportation if they needed it, to complete applications for free and reduced lunch forms.

Immunizations were administered.

They had an opportunity to connect with other agencies and resources, sign up for before- or after-school care.

They had an opportunity to interact with members of Team SPS.

And also just a fun day.

We had inflatables.

We provided a meal.

But it was a way for us to connect with our families.

It sounds like a good way to get the family involved in getting ready for a new school year.

Yes.

And back to the free and reduced lunch.

If someone hasn't applied yet for the USDA-funded program, can they do so at any time during the school year?

There is a cutoff that we need in order to get the information into DESE, which is our Department of Education.

There is a date where they stop.

And then we will continue.

And so we really want our parents to complete those forms by October 31 so that we can make sure we have the right count of the students that qualify.

Because based on that qualification, we receive additional federal dollars to support students that need resources, whether it's tutorial assistance, but it also funds positions to help work with students, whether it's our attendance advisors, it's tutorials, our coaches that support academic needs for our students.

How can somebody apply?

Is there a link on your website?

There's a link on our website.

I encourage people to go to www.sps.org.

And that information is on our website.

The latest Missouri assessment program data from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education show test scores down significantly in Springfield and in other districts in 2022, 63% compared to 93% in 2018.

And again, SPS is not alone.

How much of an impact did the pandemic have on those numbers and on learning in general?

Well, overall, the pandemic impacted learning for our students.

Even students that were on grade level, there was an impact due to schools being closed, and then students moving to a virtual format.

And so what we did last year is we implemented a universal screener, where we administered assessment to our students three times a year, at the beginning of the school year, the middle of school year, and end of the school year.

That assessment provided us information on where students were when they arrived to school in August and then how they performed throughout the course of the school year.

We were able to use the information from that data to also forecast how students would perform on our state assessment.

So very pleased that we were able to make some gains throughout the past school year.

And we're looking forward to the upcoming school year, where we'll be able to continue to focus on that.

Also that data helped us decide to add learning coaches to all of our campuses for the upcoming school year, based on the support that our teachers will need.

And then in turn, they'll be able to help their students.

All of our buildings will have a learning coach for the upcoming school year.

That's great.

And learning coach-- what will they do?

The learning coaches will support our teachers in literacy and also math and then additional assessments that might be needed.

They will provide professional learning for our teachers and our principals.

They will help them analyze data and then to develop a plan to meet the needs of the students on that particular campus.

One goal you had set for 2022-2023 was to review and revise the SPS strategic plan.

How important is the strategic plan in ensuring kids are getting a good education?

The strategic plan guides all of our work.

Our board actually approved a new strategic plan on December 13 in 2022.

And from that strategic plan, we developed governing priorities that will guide our focus.

Our budget is tied to that strategic plan and those governing priorities.

And so over the course of the next five years, we will focus on ensuring that our students are success-ready.

So everything academically falls under that governing priority.

And we will make the necessary adjustments as needed.

Going back to those learning coaches-- so from that data, we gleaned that we needed additional supports on our campuses.

Also, based on our achievement data, last year, we implemented mandated reading and math courses at our middle and high schools for students that were not on grade level.

We will continue with those courses for the upcoming school year.

So utilizing data to truly drive and inform instruction.

In the spring of 2019, voters approved an $0.18 increase to the debt service levy to fund 39 high-priority projects.

Have all those projects been finished at this point?

We completed those projects at the end of March of this year.

And as you're aware, the voters in April approved another bond, Proposition S for 2023.

Over $220 million will be allotted to projects for the next several years.

And I appreciate the voters and their vote of confidence at over 77% of voters supported that recommendation.

Prop S was promoted as impacting every school in the district.

So what is it funding?

Safety and security measures.

All of our schools-- all of the first floors of all of our campuses will have security film added.

And actually the projects will start-- our board actually approved the projects at the June board meeting.

We are adding fencing to playgrounds around our elementary campuses, additional cameras to support-- to be able to monitor what's going on or occurring on our campuses, six storm shelters at six of our elementary campuses, building a brand new Pipkin Middle School, a brand new Reed Performing Arts Academy, and then renovating Pershing School.

Now, planning and zoning did recommend denying the purchase of the property on East Pythian for Pershing-- or for Pipkin Middle School, rather.

Talk about that and why you think that property would be a good use for a school.

We spent an extensive amount of time looking for a property based on the recommendations that came out of the community task force on facilities based on their recommendations.

Their recommendation was that Pipkin Middle School that sits in the center of our city and our district, that they receive the same type of priority that Jarrett Middle School that was finalized in March.

And so it takes about 10 acres in order to truly have a comprehensive middle school that meets the needs of the students and the staff members in that building.

And so as we searched throughout the city, not only in the attendance zone, but outside of the attendance zone for Pipkin, we were able to locate the property on Pythian.

And so we went through the necessary things that we needed and tasks to look and locate a property.

Any concerns that have been shared will be addressed with the building of that particular property.

We will ensure that we have access to the property and our students and staff have what they need.

But we did go through an extensive process to ensure that we could build on that particular property.

And that is in the Pipkin district.

It's just on the very edge, right?

It is on the very edge, but we also have other property also on that particular street, which is our transportation department.

And like I said, we looked, and we looked, but we believe that our children that attend Pipkin Middle School need the best middle school that we have to offer in Springfield.

And also the Central ball field is out that way, too.

Yes, it is.

Yes.

I know some of the concerns, especially with the Planning and Zoning Commission centered on it not complying with the new ForwardSGF, Springfield's comprehensive plan and being in a neighborhood and walkable.

How will you address concerns of parents who worry about their kids being able to participate in after-school activities?

Thank you for that question.

That was one of the things that we took into consideration.

And we will have an activity bus, a bus that runs after school for students that need transportation and students, like you said, that can't walk.

We will take students to where they need to go.

We will get them to where they need as it relates to getting them home, as it relates to making sure that students can participate in after-school activities.

All of that has been a part of our discussions and will be ongoing as we build a new property and open up the new school.

And with all these construction projects underway, how poised is SPS to meet future needs?

We already-- back in 2019, when the voters approved the previous Proposition S and the projects, it was actually recommended from that task force, a three-phase process.

And so now we're starting phase II.

We would go back and reconvene that committee to look at the phase III projects.

OK.

Some parents have expressed concerns about technology, including Chromebooks issued by the district.

An article in the Springfield "News-Leader" in 2022 in April said you had announced SPS was going to take steps to curb the use of district-issued devices by young students.

What changes have you made in that area since then?

At the time, the district was also launching a large-scale review of the role technology would play in learning.

And what did that review find?

So a twofold question.

Yes.

So last year, we made some changes.

Number one, elementary students did not take a device home every night.

They were able to check out a device if their parent needed that resource at home for their students.

We also, last year, at the beginning of the school year, in August, when we provided training for our teachers and principals, we provided a course on effective implementation of technology in the classroom.

And then throughout the course of the year, we did convene a committee that looked at recommendations.

From that recommendations, it was recommended that we hire two instructional technologists, one for elementary, one for secondary, to be able to work with our principals and teachers to ensure that we were limiting screen time and that when students were on a device, that it was effective, and it was tying back to instruction.

And we'll continue to monitor that as we move forward.

What are the benefits and downsides of using technology to educate kids both in the classroom and at home?

The benefits are immediate access to information.

And it's always a benefit, students being able to be competitive, understand how to use technology as they think about future employment, going to college, or just going out into, like I said, to the world of work.

As it relates to some downsides, we know sometimes that there can be misuse of a device or misuse or going to inappropriate websites.

We have measures in place in our school district to monitor that, down to, even if students are on sites that could be harmful.

Or if students are exhibiting some types of behaviors or concerns, we're able to receive information to be able to go and address that also immediately.

And of course, we also know how important technology is in the world today.

So it just seems like learning that early is important, but learning it the right way.

That's exactly right.

While the bulk of a child's learning takes place in the classroom, what can parents do to help ensure their kids are learning the way they should be?

Number one is contacting their classroom teacher.

And if they are middle or high school, contacting multiple teachers.

But making sure that they're reading the information that teachers are sending home with their students, either through hard copy that's in a book bag or if they're emailing out information.

Contacting the teacher if they have concerns about their student's performance, reviewing students' report cards, reviewing their academic assessments or the reports that we send home as it relates to that student's performance.

Also, if they see signs that students need additional support, like I said, really starting with that classroom teacher, notifying the teacher, working with the teacher to develop a plan, taking advantage of the opportunities when schools host an open house.

We host SPS University in our district.

That's an opportunity for parents and community members to come in and participate in courses and to receive an overview of how to successfully help their child or help a neighborhood child.

How can somebody sign up to be part of SPS University?

They can go to our district website.

They can also contact our community partnership liaison.

And that information is available on our district website.

And she will connect them with the information that they need to get signed up to participate.

Would like to just share our first SPS University will be district-wide.

Our campuses will host it over a two-week period from August the 22nd to September 15.

They can find out information.

And then our district-wide event will be on Thursday, November 16.

How has the interest been for that program?

Great.

January is a little tough because of the weather.

So this year, we are going to host an event in November and then next March.

So we're going to try to get past all of the weather in the winter and then kick off in the fall, like I said, on November 16 and then again in March.

If somebody wants to sign up for the next SPS University, how can they do that?

How can they find out more?

Information on our district website.

There is actually SPS University.

They can go there, and all of that information is there.

We also send that information out to our parents and our staff members.

But information is posted on www.sps.org.

All right.

And I'm curious.

What should parents know as the new school year gets underway?

Just advice from the superintendent of Springfield Public Schools.

Well, number one, all of our student handbooks will be sent home in hard copy to every parent in the district.

We have printed 25,000 copies of that handbook.

That's a lot of copies.

That's a lot of copies.

But we want to make sure we reach every parent, every child, and that they review that with their child.

And we're going to ask them to review it, sign off, and return the document back to us.

What else they need to know is, once again, contact their teacher.

That's the first line of communication with their campus and making sure the teacher knows if that child has any specific needs.

But let us know, also, how we can help them.

We also send out what we call Thought Exchange.

And that is a survey to find out from parents what's working in the district, what recommendations or suggestions, and also be on the lookout.

Every Thursday, we send a weekly update out.

So if a parent is not receiving an email from SPS every Thursday, they need to reach out and let us know.

And most schools will have a "meet the teacher" before the first day of school.

Yes.

It is SPS University and then that particular school names, anywhere between August 22 and September 15.

OK.

So what's new in the district that people may not know about?

What's new in the district is, this year, district-wide, we're going to implement positive behavior intervention support.

Some of our campuses have implemented it in years past, but that is an effort this year, K-12, to address some discipline concerns that we have noticed based on data.

And so we're providing that training.

We've already provided it to our principals and our teachers.

And we will be implementing that district-wide.

Also, all of our campuses will have a focus room, a place where the child can go and to get themselves together and then go back into their classroom.

We want to make sure that when a teacher is teaching, that he or she has what they need to be successful.

But if a student is disruptive or has some specific behavior needs, we can remove them from the classroom.

And that does not stop instruction from happening.

And what is SPS doing to address the mental health needs of students?

We have continued partnerships with our partners around behavioral technicians that are on our campuses.

We have social workers also supporting our campuses and school counselors and additional services that we've provided.

And we're actually bringing those services to our students at the campus.

Well, thank you, Dr. Grenita Lathan, for coming in and talking to us today about the start of the new school year.

And good luck.

Before we go, one last question.

OK. What's it like to oversee the largest school district in the state of Missouri?

Oh, it's a lot of fun, [laughs] except on a snow day.

Yes.

[laughs] It is.

It's rewarding.

Very blessed to live in the Springfield community.

We have some outstanding staff members, partners, parents, and students.

And so it's great.

Well, thank you again, Dr. Lathan, for coming in to talk to me today.

Thank you.

Thanks for watching "Sense of Community."

Here's where you can find out more.

ANNOUNCER: Here is where you can find more information about the topics covered in this program.

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