This is a quiet week in the Roaring Fork Schools. It is a brief moment of pause before the final push of the academic year. Our schools are on spring break, a week that provides students, staff and families time to step back, relax, reset and prepare for the last two months of school. When we reopen next week we’ll be working hard. 

Spring is the season of accountability, when students have the opportunity to show how much they’ve learned and grown through state assessments like CMAS and the SAT. At the district level, this is also a season of accountability. We are developing our 25/26 school year budget, measuring progress on our strategic plan, evaluating the impact of our investments and making decisions about how to allocate limited resources in the year ahead. 

In public school classrooms, accountability and continuous improvement are ongoing. We consistently measure student growth and adjust instructional practices when students are off track or need additional challenges. We use quick, informal measures of student learning like observation and direct questioning. We also use formal measures of learning like quizzes and tests; teachers are always monitoring and measuring student progress. 

As part of that commitment to accountability, we regularly share student progress with families. Families are the first and most important educators a child has. It is essential that teachers, schools and the district cultivate collaborative partnerships with families to support their child’s wellbeing, academic success and education. Earlier this month we hosted the second round of the year’s formal parent-teacher conferences. Across the district, parents, guardians and teachers met to discuss student progress. These conversations are critical. When families and schools partner and align efforts, students thrive. They experience consistency, alignment and see the adults around them working to support shared goals for their success.

For members of the senior class, accountability is also top of mind in the spring. Students are wrapping up graduation requirements, they must demonstrate mastery of all course requirements as well as demonstrate college and career readiness. This includes completing a capstone project, a student-designed experiential service project. Students work with community mentors who volunteer their time to guide and support students through a variety of projects. This year we saw students build and race their own cars, travel the world to curate more diverse local school libraries, run summer sports camps and practice new skills in culinary arts, clothing design and entrepreneurship. Students publicly present their projects to demonstrate public speaking skills and importantly, thank their community mentors.

At the district level we are finalizing school, department and district budgets. This also provides a valuable opportunity for accountability. We have to assess whether investments are meeting our goals – which all drive towards positive student outcomes. With limited resources, we have to balance priorities around student academic programs, staff wellbeing and livable wages and ongoing facilities maintenance. And this has been a particularly difficult year. Although we’ve turned the corner on internal financial errors and challenges, looking ahead we face unstable state and federal revenue, increasing cost of living, skyrocketing health care costs and declining student enrollment. 

To move forward constructively, we are leaning in on transparency and accountability. Our Board of Education receives budget updates at every meeting. We are working closely with the District Accountability Committee to provide additional budget oversight. Schools are reviewing budgets with School Accountability Committees. And representative employee leadership teams are involved in accountability around staff salaries, benefits and identifying additional areas we can find savings. 

This spring, we launched a new accountability tool that will help guide budget decisions over the next four years. Our 2024-2029 strategic plan committed to increased transparency and accountability as we align our work to five priorities: Students First, Rigorous Learning for All, Operational Excellence, Student-centered Partnerships and Thriving Team. Each priority has a series of metrics we are using — and now sharing publicly — to measure progress. On the Roaring Fork Schools website, under “Mission and Strategic Plan,” the community can find links to our new data dashboard, an interactive tool providing real-time data and information about our progress. 

Spring is a busy time of year and a critical time for holding students, staff, schools and the Roaring Fork School District accountable to our community. We are committed to ensuring that all students develop the enduring knowledge, skills and character to thrive in a changing world. We still have a long way to go to meet that goal. So right now we’re resting up, recharging and will be back next week for a strong finish to the 25/26 school year. 

Dr. Anna Cole is superintendent of the Roaring Fork District Schools in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt.