Located in Central Washington, Royal School District is one of the largest in the state, covering approximately 390 square miles. We serve more than 1,700 students ranging from preschool through 12th grade, as well as special needs students through age 21. Learn more about our district by visiting our Who We Are page.
District-wide Goals for the 2024-2025 School Year
Goal 1: Improve Literacy Proficiency with an Emphasis on English Language Learners
- Implement Targeted Literacy Interventions: Develop and implement a comprehensive literacy intervention program.
- Align and strengthen K-12 core literacy curriculum.
- Strengthen English Language Development (ELD) Curriculum: Enhance the ELD curriculum to incorporate engaging materials that promote language acquisition and literacy skills among ELLs.
- Monitor improvement through data provided by PLC’s and Reading Task Force
Goal 2: Enhance Academic Press and Instructional Practices Across All Grade Levels
- Strengthen Instructional Practices: Review and revise the Tk-12 Instructional Practices to ensure students are challenged at all levels: emphasizing critical thinking, problem-solving, and deep content understanding. Incorporate personalized learning experiences, allowing student to engage with more rigorous content at their own pace.
- Professional development for Rigorous Instruction: Provide targeted professional development for educators focused on implementing high- leverage instructional strategies that promote academic rigor. Build capacity to design differentiated instruction that meets the needs of diverse learners while maintaining high expectations.
- Monitor Student Progress: Use formative and summative assessments to regularly measure students' progress in meeting rigorous academic standards. Analyze data through PLCs to identify areas where additional support or challenge is needed, ensuring all student are pushed to achieve their full potential. Each building will create products demonstrating progress toward goals. Principals will provide updates on progress at Board meetings.
- Support for Advanced Learners: Develop programs and pathways that provide additional academic challenges for advanced learners, including expanded opportunities for advanced coursework, dual enrollment, and enrichment activities. Identify students who would benefit from advanced academic opportunities and tailor support accordingly.
Goal 3: Improve Attendance
- Develop strategies (by building) to address chronic absenteeism.
- Early Warning Systems: Leverage early warning systems to identify students at risk of chronic absenteeism and provide timely interventions to improve attendance rates.
- Engage Parents and Guardians: Develop targeted outreach strategies to communicate the importance of regular attendance and involve parents and guardians in attendance improvement initiatives.
- Student Incentive Programs: Establish creative incentive programs that recognize and reward students for consistent attendance, creating a positive culture of attendance within the district.
- Monitor attendance data through Admin PLC Team meetings.
These goals will guide our efforts in the 2024-2025 school year to enhance literacy, advance academic press, and improve attendance across the Royal School District. By working collaboratively and dedicating our resources to these priorities, we aim to provide a supportive and enriching educational experience for all students. In order to help support these goals, we will implement strategies to develop capacity for generative artificial intelligence.
District-wide Financial Goal for the 2024-2025 School Year
Overarching Goal- Continue actions to maintain solvency while engaging in strategies to proactively increase fund balance.
Focus on items that we can control (staffing, and reduction of expenses, etc.)
Legislative Planning
- Legislative Rep and Superintendent meet with 3 local legislators (September)
- Superintendent joins coalition (Mabton & Granger) to meet with influential legislators around the state.
- Continue tow legislative visits to Olympia with Royal Administrative team
- Attend WASA " A Day on the Hill" Legislative conference in January
Top Items to Discuss with Legislators
- Increase MSOC (Materials Supplies and Operating Costs)
- Overall, Royal is underfunded by $1 million annually.
- $250,000 unfunded for Substitute costs (funded for only 4 days- state mandates 12 sick days)
- Insurance is now $512,000 (up from $391K last year)
- Close the teacher pay gap. McCleary fix was designed to provide funding for average teacher salary in Washington state. House Republican Caucus posted that average teacher pay in the state is $100,035 yet we are funded at $77,000. Royal's average teacher pay is $90,000 so the "gap per teacher" is $13,000 per teacher which comes out of local dollars (opposite intention of McCleary)
Other Budget Reduction Strategies
- Increase fund balance through conservative estimates on enrollment.
- Continue to absorb overstaffed positions through attrition.
- Continue to review programs and reduce costs!
- Optimize use of grants to free up BEA dollars
- Convene School Board for Spring Work Sessions to discuss status and potential cuts/ reductions
Note: The purchase of some items( Major curriculum adoptions and Chromebooks) are temporarily frozen but the longer we hold off, the greater the cost when we resume purchasing these items.