Dickinson Public Schools board reviews solutions to increasing enrollment and progress towards goals

Dickinson Public Schools YouTube / Dickinson Public Schools By Dorvall Bedford Today at 12:38 PM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? DICKINSON — The Dickinson Public Schools (DPS) board convened on Monday, Nov. 9, for a regular meeting. During the meeting, Superintendent Dr. Marcus Lewton presented information gathered by RSP & Associates, JE Dunn Construction provided an update on the construction at Dickinson High School (DHS) and three principals presented progress reports regarding the school board’s goals. Student Recognition ADVERTISEMENT Early into the meeting, the school board gave recognition to DPS students. Local student Daniel Jiang has become a semifinalist for the National Merit Scholarship. DHS students Alyssa Lehman and Elizabeth Clemow represented the Southwest Area Career and Technical Education Academy as SkillsUSA state officers in Washington, D.C. The following students recently took their oath of office as members of the Dickinson Youth Commission: Sawyer Wolf, Holden Kopari, Alena Anderson, Ghen Ayuyu, Rebecca Arndt and Adele Fox. Directors Sarah Olson and Matthew Goettle from DHS have also selected their student musicians for the 2026 Northwest Music Festival. Superintendent’s Report After the recognition of students, the board listened to a brief report from Lewton. The superintendent discussed DPS’s plans for American Education Week, mentioned that he and Partners in Parenting Coordinator Stacy Kilwein are doing a family engagement tour with local schools and that both the Paraprofessional-to-Teacher program and Registered Apprenticeship Program for Teachers are making progress in training teachers. Six people are in the student teaching schedule this fall semester. “We know there’s a nationwide and statewide shortage of educators in this great country of ours,” Lewton said. “Doing our best to try and keep that pipeline flowing, but hopefully we’ll get some help from the state on some stuff.” RSP Boundary Analysis Following his regular report, Lewton discussed information RSP gathered in its boundary analysis . RSP is a consulting firm dedicated to assisting school districts with planning. DPS and RSP have partnered in the past for multiple boundary and enrollment analyses. Lewton presented data that forecasted future enrollment to continue increasing over the next few years. For elementary enrollment, the estimated enrollment for 2030 is about 2,004 students. A major challenge DPS is facing is its limited room for growth: the current data shows that a majority of the elementary schools are at or over 90% capacity. ADVERTISEMENT “We were hoping as we analyze class sizes—analyze things we could do with different scenarios—that there’d be a clear path,” Lewton said. “Nothing stood out to us.” Lewton presented five different concepts to the school board as ways to handle projected needs of the school district, emphasizing that each solution would have benefits and drawbacks. For example, Concept Five proposes making Jefferson Elementary School a pre-K and kindergarten center while converting the other schools to teach first through fifth grades. Lewton said that concept would provide consistent district-wide collaboration for early learning but also increase transportation and facility demands. The superintendent said the school board should consider how it wants to advance. “I think you guys need some time to review,” Lewton said. “I would encourage you to go through those pros and cons.” Update from JE Dunn Gavin Argent, a project engineer for JE Dunn, provided his regular update on the construction at DHS for the school board. He mentioned the progress made in various parts of the high school. For example, there are plans to renovate a bathroom in the existing building that is in rough shape. For the new auditorium, all the seats are now there with the flooring, curtains, and production lighting planned to follow. Argent provided an update from the construction administration stating that the project is at 78% complete. However, he provided a disclaimer that the number is not necessarily the schedule percentage and is pulled from billing completion. “We do still have nine months left of the project,” Argent said. “With a phased project like this, you get some of the material that comes early for the next phase.” ADVERTISEMENT “That number might bump up a little higher than you expect,” he added. Read more local news and sports Federal agent shoots man on North Dakota tribal land, FBI says 5m ago Vikings reacquire Kirk Cousins in blockbuster trade with Raiders 11m ago Port: When it comes to school bonds, a simple majority should be good enough 1h ago Board Goals Jefferson Elementary Principal Sara Streeter, Berg Elementary Principal Tracy Lecoe and Dickinson Middle School Principal Cassie Francis presented the school board’s progress towards its three stated goals. Regarding the first goal of increasing the percentage of students who are proficient or above in third grade reading to 55% by the spring of 2027, some progress has been made. The percentage of third grade students on track to meet end-of-year expectations increased from the fall of 2025’s 34% to 47% this fall. However, second grade and kindergarten students saw decreases in meeting expectations. The fall of 2025 data for second graders was 52% while that number is 33% this fall. Due to the changing cohorts in each grade level every year, Lecoe said that the data should be looked at differently. “We have to look diagonally,” she said. “With second grade, we just have to look at what’s contributing to the change in our second grade and ensure that students receive that targeted instruction and intervention necessary to be successful as they transition into that third grade.” Regarding the school board’s third goal of increasing the number of students who are Choice Ready to 78.4% by spring of 2027, the principals reported increases for fifth, seventh and eighth grade students while slight decreases for fourth and sixth grade students. For the school board’s second goal of increasing the percentage of students who are proficient or above in eighth grade Math to 70% by Spring of 2027, the percentage of eighth graders meeting end-of-year expectations increased from 31% in the fall of 2025 to 39% this fall. ADVERTISEMENT Superintendent’s Formative Evaluation Following the review over the school board’s goals, the board members voted on various actions. These included first and second readings of policy revisions. One notable vote made was on the evaluation of the superintendent. The board voted to approve the evaluation, concluding that Lewton’s rating was satisfactory in all six performance areas reviewed. Board President Michelle Orton praised and thanked Lewton for his contributions to DPS. “Every time we do this, he credits his team,” she said. “He always credits the team for the work that is being done in our district, and I think that says a lot about his leadership.” Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags DICKINSON DICKINSON PUBLIC SCHOOLS EDUCATION STUDENTS IN THE NEWS By Dorvall Bedford Previously a freelance reporter based in Washington, D.C., Dorvall Bedford is from northern Maryland and studied journalism at the University of Maryland. He joined The Dickinson Press in March 2026. Dorvall’s prior reporting involved covering arts and entertainment in and around Washington, including local music, photography and art exhibitions. He likes to cover events and stories not only because they’re interesting but also to s