Dallas Ackerman

The strategic plan for Liberty Public Schools outlines initiatives across five key areas: Learning, Teaching, Leadership, Professional Development, and Community. It focuses on fostering diverse learning metrics, implementing portfolio-based systems, integrating ethical Artificial Intelligence, providing entrepreneurial opportunities, and offering flexible schedules for students. The plan also aims to enhance teaching through interdisciplinary collaboration, real-world learning experiences, and multi-tiered support systems. Leadership initiatives include promoting physical and emotional wellness and developing a unified approach to district goals. Professional development prioritizes externship programs for staff, while community engagement seeks to involve families in student learning and foster a sense of belonging. The overarching goal is to provide personalized, real-world learning experiences aligned with student and staff success.

The Missouri Seal of Biliteracy program, managed by the State of Missouri, outlines a strategy to recognize and promote linguistic proficiency in K-12 students. Its core strategic pillars include standardizing English and foreign language assessment, encouraging local district development of socio-cultural competence projects, and enhancing student marketability for future educational and career opportunities. The program aims to foster a culture that values linguistic diversity, supports home languages, expands K-8 language education pathways, and promotes cultural understanding across the state.

The meeting began with the approval of the agenda. A significant portion of the session was dedicated to honoring excellence, including recognition for recent state champions from Liberty North Cross Country and Liberty High School Boys Swim Team. Additionally, three students from Heritage Middle School received LPS awards for displaying love, positivity, and strength. Dr. Moore provided reports from Innovation and Learning, detailing the completion of the second round of iReady testing and the upcoming presentation on 'Encore,' a creative arts academy. Planning for the February Professional Development Day, which will feature a real world learning exhibit, is underway. Discussions also covered strategic plan items related to secondary programs, advisory, student support, learning schedules, and real world learning experiences in middle level education. Highlights from the board report included Spanish heritage students providing language instruction to emergency responders and Liberty Public Schools receiving the Keystone Award from the Northland EDC. The successful completion of the first semester of the Cypher cybersecurity program was also reported.

The board meeting included discussions and presentations on several key topics. The board recognized the school board appreciation month. The board discussed the bond election resolution. The board also discussed the district's consideration to participate in the Missouri Assessment Consortium, including the benefits of tracking student performance with interim benchmarks and the potential for the consortium to vet assessment providers.

The meeting included recognition of state champions in swimming and wrestling, as well as the Project Lead the Way Engineering Teacher of the Year. Lillian Schumacher Elementary was recognized as a model school. The board discussed the consent agenda and a real estate item regarding tracts of land to be conveyed to the city of Liberty. A finance report covered revenue, local property tax, proposition C sales tax, and the state foundation formula.