MONROE — The School District of Monroe’s Board of Education went into closed session to discuss the referendum during their regular meeting May 8. The agenda had alloted 10 minutes for the board to come back and give the public an update before adjourning the meeting.

Except that there wasn’t really much of an update, as they were in and out in under three minutes.

“We are waiting on final stipulation to be signed and all of the paperwork to be finalized by the court,” said Rich Deprez, school board president. “Once that is completed, we’ll begin to have meaningful discussions on what’s the next step.”

Deprez said that once the court items are all finalized, the board will call a special meeting on short notice.

“We’ll likely have a special board meeting coming in the very near future. The timing just didn’t quite line up for us,” Deprez said.

The meeting covered grants given out by the Monroe Excellence in Education fund, and the monthly Excellence in Education winners for both students and staff.

The board also discussed and approved open enrollment figures for next school year, 2023-24. Thirty students applied to come in, with 29 approved. Meanwhile, 40 open-enrolled out of the district, though several were Pre-K and Kindergarten. 

“There are a lot of Pre-K and K on this list, but we also have seven that are looking for virtual options in the open-enrollment out,” said Rodney Figueroa, district superintendent. 

This year, 2022-23, there was an exact split between open enrollment in and out, at 35 each. 

District Business Administrator Ron Olson said that families may apply to two or three different districts for open enrollment, and still others choose not to follow that path and stay with the district.

“They’re keeping their options open,” Olson said. Students that leave the district do not have to reapply to return the next year. They are allowed to freely re-enroll in their home district.

“They always have the right to return to their resident district at any point in time,” Olson said. “Some of these families may not even start the year at wherever they applied to, and just start the school year here.”

Sometimes, Olson said, parents might apply for open enrollment because they have employment or are possibly purchasing a home in another district, and transferring their student might make more sense for travel and after school care. Other times, that job or home may fall through, and the family choses to stay in Monroe.

“One common question that comes up, and has come up in the past, is if we surveyed those families to identify their reason for open-enrolling out — because they don’t have to provide one at this phase — historically ... the No. 1 reason cited was convenience because of where they worked. It was geographic,” Deprez said.

Sarah Judd, Abraham Lincoln principal and director of the district’s 4-K program, updated the board on enrollment information for Pre-K. This year, there are 151 students spread across the city in the program, with several classes held with community-based sites, like the YMCA. Last year there were 146 students enrolled. For 2023-24, there are currently 117 students enrolled, with the number of community sites involved shrinking from four to three. Classes will also be five minutes longer, saving enough time for up to six snow days, compared to five days this year — all of which were used.

Judd said more students could potentially enroll as the summer months go on. Shrinking the number of available classes will not affect the program in education either, as classrooms would not be overloaded anyway.

Director of Curriculum Tod Paradis gave an informational update on the English Language Learners (ELL) program, which has seen significant strides this year from last. 

A year ago, about 30% of students in the ELL ACCESS program met the proficient growth mark, with four students able to be reclassified, or testing out of the program. This year, the proficiency growth reached 53% of students, and 21 have met the criteria for reclassification. 

“That’s some really great growth. That team has done fantastic at all levels,” Paradis said.

At the high school level, just one student last year — a freshman — exited the program. But this year, 12 have done so — three freshmen and sophomores, four juniors and two seniors.

“One of the big changes we made last year was moving Hannah Ormson and creating a full-time position at the high school. The work that she and that team has done is paying off,” Paradis said.

ELL students have data collected based on assessments on reading, writing, listening, speaking and an overall literacy score.

Ormson will be leaving the district after the school year, but Paradis said her leadership and the footprint she has made will provide the district in a positive way moving forward.

“Unfortunately we’re losing Hannah, but Hannah has been really good about setting things up at the high school to hand things off to our new staff to continue some of the great services and support that she has been providing,” Paradis said.