[music playing] NARRATOR 1: The following program is a production of Ozarks Public Television.

[music playing] Thanks for joining me for a sense of community on Ozarks Public Television.

I'm your host, Michele Skalicky.

My guest today is Dr. Grenita Lathan, Superintendent of Springfield Public Schools, which is the largest school district in Missouri.

She'll give us an update on construction projects funded by a voter-approved bond issue, talk about some of the top focus areas for the year and what the district offers for kids who are struggling with homelessness.

Please stay tuned.

[music playing] NARRATOR 2: Welcome to "Sense of Community."

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

Dr. Lathan, thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you for having me.

Well, the new school year is underway.

You've been in session for about a month now.

How are things going so far?

We had a great opening to the '24-'25 school year.

On the first day, we had over 23,000 students that returned to our schools.

Now, SPF-- SPS always offers summer programs through the Explore program in June and July.

And students have a wide variety of choices.

I was looking through them.

And there are things like artworks, a fine arts academy, a summer Olympics tour.

There was a bird discovery class.

What was enrollment like for Explore this year?

How popular of a program is it?

And how important is it to keep students engaged over the summer months?

We had over 9,000 students participate in Explore this past summer.

And it was a wonderful experience.

And it's extremely important that students stay connected to their schools and through learning throughout the summer.

But we had an outstanding program and offered, like you said, an array of opportunities and experiences for students this past summer.

MICHELE SKALICKY: And how important is it to keep those kids engaged?

Because I know over the summer, you know, some skills can be lost.

So how do these programs help keep students learning and engaged?

So there's an academic component attached to explorer and also an enrichment component.

And so it's important that students don't-- we call it the summer slide.

Don't experience a rebound or bouncing back from their learning from the previous school year.

So it's extremely important for them to still have educational opportunities throughout the summer.

Now that the new school year is underway, I know there have been some staffing issues in recent years.

I recall some a need for bus drivers, for example.

How is staffing in the district this year?

Overall-- and some of my colleagues and I were talking about this, just this week, that this is a different year.

It's a different year to the field of those positions that, let's say, three years ago, bus drivers, custodians, paraprofessionals, that we have been able to staff those positions.

Now we are still in need of special education, paras, and teachers.

So that's an area.

But, overall, as it relates to our bus drivers, we're in a good place right now.

Why do you think there's a lack of interest in those jobs or people to fill those jobs in special education?

It's just the responsibilities that are required for those jobs.

And those can be difficult jobs as you think about having to work with some of our most challenging students.

And so looking for someone that has that specialized expertise can be challenging.

But we have some outstanding special education teachers and paras in our district.

And I'm very thankful that they have accepted the responsibility to serve in those positions.

Now, construction projects are ongoing within the district, made possible by a voter-approved no-tax increase $220 million bond issue.

Now, those projects include increased security as well as building construction.

What projects have been completed so far?

Excited and, once again, very thankful that our voters approved our 2023 prop, Proposition S. Four of those six storm shelters actually have been completed.

And we actually are hosting the first round of ribbon cuttings or have hosted them.

I guess, that's [laughs] the first round of ribbon cuttings the month throughout the month of September, Mann Elementary School, Pittman Elementary School, Watkins Elementary School, Wilder Elementary School.

Really excited that those storm shelters have been completed.

And we're starting to, like I said, open up those gyms.

MICHELE SKALICKY: I live by Pittman.

And I walk my dog in the woods next to Pittman.

And I've been watching that gym go up.

And I got a peek inside the other day.

It's nice.

Beautiful.

Those gyms are wonderful.

They will provide wonderful learning spaces for our students but also shelter in need for our community in the event that we were to have a tornado.

So how can the public access those buildings in the event of an emergency?

So the information is available on our district website.

And they're able to access that and find out how to report to that particular site in the event.

Of course, announcements are made via, of course, local media in the event we were to have an occurrence.

My house is the one of the only ones in our neighborhood that has a basement.

So people will be going to the storm shelter now-- GRENITA LATHAN: Yes, yes.

--instead of my house.

GRENITA LATHAN: Yes.

But it is nice to have that layer of security, I guess.

GRENITA LATHAN: It is.

It's a blessing to be able to have it across our community, so in various locations.

Talk about some of the building construction.

I know there's going to be a new Pipkin.

A new Reed is being built.

Where does that stand?

We have-- actually, if you want to go right by Reed Academy, the auditorium is going up.

And so we have actually broken ground.

And building is taking place now.

Pipkin Middle School will be built in Midtown, not far from the current location.

And so we will start that construction Spring of '24.

So really excited about that.

Also '20 spring-- let's see, fall of '24, spring of '25, Pershing School also will start that construction there.

And talk about what that means for students, I mean, to have these new buildings, the new technology, the latest, you know, things that have been proven to work as far as, you know, improving education?

So, you know, some of our students right now currently are learning in buildings that are over 100 years old.

And so it's extremely important for our students to be in facilities and our teachers to be able to teach in facilities that are up to date that we don't experience those challenges of flooding and other issues where you have outdated or aging buildings.

I encourage the public to go and visit our new Jarrett Middle School so they can see what one of our new middle schools looks like here in the district.

And like I said, we're really excited about Pipkin, Reed, and also Pershing.

And you made security updates.

Talk about what security upgrades have you made.

And why is that so important in this day and age?

It's so important that our staff and our students feel safe working and receiving their education in our buildings.

And so we've added additional cameras, sensors, protective film on all of our first-floor doors and windows and additional other security measures that we do not share with the public, just to ensure that people are safe when they are in our facilities.

Once these projects that you've talked about are complete, what needs, if any, will be unmet in the district?

Well, we always-- you know, as it relates to needs, there will be a phase one.

We've completed phase one.

We're now in phase two.

There is a phase three that we will be presenting to our voters in several years from now of additional buildings, elementary schools that need to replace-- be replaced and maybe additional storm shelters as well.

You mentioned at a back to school event in August over at Great Southern Bank Arena, for SPS staff, that attendance last year was around 92%, just under.

How does that compare to previous years?

And what is the district doing to try to increase that even more?

GRENITA LATHAN: Well, number one, we say, is attendance is still important.

And we're encouraging our students to attend school every day.

And we were looking anywhere between 89% and 91% in previous years.

And so our goal last year, like you said, was 92%.

It continues to be our goal for '24-25'.

What incentives do you offer?

I know I recall seeing a video of you with Powerade being poured over your head.

First of all, what was it like to experience-- GRENITA LATHAN: It was cold-- --that?

--and sticky.

[laughter] But it was fun, especially because McGregor Elementary students and staff are the ones that poured the Powerade over my head because they had the highest attendance rate all school year last year.

So it's extremely important to be able to have incentives and to encourage and motivate students and staff.

This year I've announced Read to Succeed.

And-- but I did not tell what I would do if we reached that goal.

Read to Succeed, our focus is increasing our math scores for third through eighth grade students by 2% next May.

And so really excited but also just to encourage everyone in our community to read, encourage the love of reading and for students and families to get engaged, read to each other.

And, just, those students can work on their reading skills and their comprehension skills.

Isn't that an area that was down a little bit in this year's or last year's math scores?

GRENITA LATHAN: It was down previously.

We saw some gains last year.

But we still have more work to do.

All right, we'll look forward to hearing more about that.

Some SPS students struggle to get to class or maybe struggle to learn if they are able to get there because of issues they're dealing with at home.

Or maybe they're dealing with homelessness.

So that can impact attendance.

What things does the district offer for students who may be dealing with homelessness?

We have a family support services department, where families can reach out to that department to receive resources and to be actually connected to resources.

For our unhoused families, we can put them in contact with various resources that are available in our city and in our county.

We also have various partners that support our families.

We have wonderful partnerships with Burrell, Care to Learn, community partnerships of the Ozarks.

And so they work with our families to try to connect them with resources.

We also have attendance advisors that actually go out to our homes or wherever our families are located and try to assist with getting them to school and, once again, connecting them with the resources that they need so that they can get to school on time.

Are there very many students that struggle with homelessness in our district?

Well, we have-- you know, let's say, yes, we have students that struggle with homelessness.

But we have students that have also other struggles.

And that's why it's so important to have those various partners that partner with us to ensure that any barrier that our parents and children are facing that they can help us remove those barriers.

Yeah, we talked with Care to Learn last month for SOC.

And, you know, they're doing some amazing things to help out students with basic needs.

How are those needs identified in the Springfield District?

GRENITA LATHAN: We have wonderful nurses and counselors on all of our campuses.

And so they're able to identify those needs.

But, also, all of our staff have been encouraged if they see a need to notify the nurse or school counselor.

And, for example, we have bus drivers that will notify them that they see that students need coats.

Or they need hats.

They need mittens.

And so they contact that school nurse or social worker or counselor, and then they are in turn-- they in turn contact Care to Learn.

Care to Learn has been wonderful to provide us with vouchers and supports for families.

You know, just this week, they were able to secure a bed for a student that was in need of a bed.

And so those are the types of needs that they partner with us to help us meet.

That's great.

I want to move next to talking about the Choice programs, because I know SPS has a lot of different programs now, way more than when my kids were in school a couple of decades-- well, I guess it's been less than that.

[laughs] But there are a lot of options now, like Fly SPS, which, over the summer, they had their first person-- a student, actually go fly, I think, I heard.

The Health Science Academy is another, the AgAcademy How many of those does the district offer?

We offer over nine Choice programs in our district.

Really excited that, like I said, we have that opportunity from basically fourth-- if you think about it, from fourth grade all the way up to 12th grade, there's a place for students to plug in based on their interests.

As you said, with Fly SPS, our students-- several students now have completed their solo flights.

We just started our second class of students.

That is a partnership with Ozarks Technical College and also Premier Flight Center.

Why is it important to have these programs for students that take them out of the regular classroom?

GRENITA LATHAN: Well, you know what?

We are-- we are identified as the district of choice.

And we want our students to have a choice.

Like I said, it taps into-- based on their interests.

And so if I'm interested in aviation, I have an opportunity or if I'm interested in health.

And, you know, we formed the Alliance for Health Care Education in collaboration with Ozarks Technical College, CoxHealth, and Missouri State University.

We announced that last September.

And we are working to address those health care-- create a pipeline for students to go into health care.

And so it's important that we tap into that act.

We have our AgAcademy.

So students that are interested in agriculture-- and it's a different-- people have a different opinion about agriculture, right?

But we want students to explore that.

We have our Academy of Exploration.

So if students are interested in STEM, we have an opportunity there for them.

At our high schools, we have various opportunities and pathways for students around teaching, the teaching profession.

You know, we're always looking for teachers.

We have another partnership with MSU around building future teachers.

So students that are graduates of Springfield Public Schools are able to attend Missouri State University then return back to SPS and teach.

But I'd say any area that a student is interested in, we can help them and open up a door for them in Springfield Public Schools for that.

Are there plans for any others to be added at this time?

We're exploring some things.

And every year, we start-- we look to see what other opportunities we need to provide students.

One of the other ones that I did not mention is we also have Missouri Launch Workforce, which is our virtual career and technical education opportunities.

Thanks to a grant from the governor's office, we were able to launch that last year.

And so that provides online options for students, not only in Springfield but across the state.

Now, Launch, do you have very many people that are go-- that are taking virtual classes as opposed to in seated classes?

Well, we do.

We have more seated, of course, students.

But we do have students that are taking courses through Launch.

We have over 390 partners across the state and over 7,000 students from school districts across the state that are participating in Launch.

About 2,500 of our students, so Springfield students, participate in Launch.

We also have what we call MOCAP.

So they live in another school district's boundaries.

But they are 100% a Springfield Public School student.

So I think we have about 600 of those students.

Wow.

Do you think that having that virtual option increases the chance that a student might graduate?

Yes, SPS's graduation rate is 94.4%.

And so having not only seated options but also virtual options, not only does it help Springfield public schools.

But, once again, those 390 partners across the state, it helps them with their graduation rate also.

Now, at the back to school event for staff, you talked about the top 10 focus areas for the year.

And one of those was school lunches and breakfasts too, the food program at SPS.

And there have been some changes.

What does the school lunch program look like this year?

I know you mentioned less sugar in breakfast.

Yes.

And when we say school lunch Program, really this year was hitting on breakfast.

But it's identified as the School Lunch Program.

But reducing sugar for the items that we present to students at breakfast or during breakfast time-- so you think about the cereals that are offered.

But just reducing the amount of sugar that is presented or given to students at breakfast-- The teachers gave you a round of applause when you announced that, I noticed.

[laughter] Another of the top 10 focus areas is the behavior management flowchart.

Explain what you mean by that.

So we send home on the first day of school our student handbook.

In that student handbook this year, we added a behavior flow chart.

We wanted parents to understand what's the teacher responsibility and also the administrator responsibility and the different types of infractions that that might occur that they know how it would be handled in the classroom and also at the building level.

How is the implementation of the positive behavioral interventions and supports across K through 12 going so far?

So last year was the first year we implemented PBIS district wide.

We are now in our second year.

And we saw positive gains during that first year, especially at the high schools, our high schools, who at first they were not open to implementing PBIS.

But they actually did a great job with implementation.

This year we added additional supports.

Our teachers requested last spring lessons tied to PBIS.

And so we provided those.

So there's a bank of lessons that they can utilize in their classrooms.

We also have what we call a focus room where students have an opportunity to get their behaviors under control so they can step out of classroom.

The teacher assigns them to that particular focus room.

They're able to work with a caring adult in that particular room, get their behaviors under control, and then return back to their classrooms.

So the learning isn't disrupted for-- GRENITA LATHAN: Right.

So they're not-- --all.

--disrupting learning from others.

But they're not ready to learn.

We have a safe place for them to go to work on those replacement behaviors that they need in order to be back in class.

You mentioned boundary changes as well.

Does that refer to Robberson students moving to Boyd and what other boundary changes?

So that was the first step, last year, was the recommendation to close Robberson and students moved to Boyd.

But the next step is looking at the utilization of our campuses.

So, for example, some of our campuses have-- now they've exhausted all the space in that building.

And so we're going to look at moving some students from one campus to another.

And so discussions will actually start with our board in September around those recommendations that we would like to implement for the '25-'26 school year.

I know you're making changes to just sort of streamline things and really focus on just being more financially responsible, I guess.

How is closing Robberson and moving to Boyd, things like that, and also the move, closing Pershing Elementary, and making that all a middle school, impacting the finances of the district?

So in order to be able to, like you said, to be responsible with taxpayers dollars, we have to look at, like I said, the over and under utilization of our buildings.

And some of our buildings were underutilized.

And when you think about underutilization, think about student enrollment.

And so where we see that we can consolidate campuses and consolidate programs, those are recommendations that will be presented to our board of education to ensure that facilities that we have and that we're operating, that we're operating them at anywhere from 85% or more capacity.

Another of the focus areas that you mentioned was standard-based report cards for elementary.

How will that work?

And how does that compare to what was used before?

So if we think about what was used before, it was a letter grade.

As we think about-- standards-based report cards is actually scoring students based on their mastery of a particular objective and being able to share with parents what they were able to accomplish as it relates to a certain rating from a standpoint, are they able to successfully master this particular objective on their own?

Or did they need assistance?

So a parent will know a student's progress on those particular standards.

And so we're rolling that out this fall.

We will spend a lot of time trying to educate parents on how to understand and interpret those particular report cards.

And the district has a new logo.

I wanted to ask about that.

Talk about the new logo and why it was needed.

Well, we had not had a new logo-- it's been 25 years.

And a lot of things have changed about our school district.

A lot has changed just, you know, in our community.

And so we contracted with an outside firm to help us with a new brand and new logo and really excited that we launched it in August.

And our goal here is, like I said, to open the doors and to focus on students futures.

And we're really excited about it.

We heard a lot of buzz about our new logo and the decisions made.

But, you know, all companies go through a branding process.

And I think people forget that we are a business as well.

Our business, though, is ensuring that children are equipped to do what they choose to do beyond high school and that we have to market ourselves.

Like I said, we believe we are, and we know we are the district of choice in the state of Missouri.

And we want people to know that.

And we want them to recognize what that means by our logo.

We're almost out of time.

But I want to ask you, are there any other topics that you think-- that you want to talk about briefly just to let parents know about anything that's happening that we haven't touched on so far?

Yes, our various community engagement opportunities, I think, is important for not only for our parents but the community to know.

I offer office hours, an opportunity for parents and community members to come in and meet with me in small groups.

We have SPS University.

We offer that this fall at Kickapoo High School.

We also have Let's Talk Live, which is an opportunity, once again, for parents to come in and meet with me, ask me questions about what's happening in the district.

And also I have superintendent solutions for parents and teachers.

And that's an opportunity also for them to present some challenges to me and for us to problem solve and develop some solutions.

And if anybody wants to find out more about anything we've talked about today, where can they go?

www.sps.org.

Thank you so much, Dr. Lathan, for talking to me today.

Thank you.

And we want to leave you with where you can find out more.

I'm Michele Schalicky.

Thanks for watching the program.

Until next time, goodbye.

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