APS board retreat highlights behavior management, kindergarten readiness data
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ALPENA -- Data related to student behavior and achievement was presented Monday to the Alpena Public Schools Board of Education, showing the number of student behavior hearings with the superintendent, as well as data relating to kindergarten readiness.
The APS Board of Education had their annual retreat, where they reviewed student data and progress in the strategic plan.
When it comes to increasing student behavior issues, Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said that the district has hired behavior consultants and some other personnel to help address the issue and help teachers and staff respond and de-escalate.
"It just seems like every year, a fifth grade behavior in the past is now a fourth grade behavior, and the fourth grade behavior is a third and all the way down into kindergarten," Rabbideau said. "We're seeing things that we've not seen before, and we're trying to be as proactive in dealing with those."
Assistant Superintendent Stacy Moors updated the board on behavior threat assessment management (BTAM). According to Michigan law, public schools need to have a threat assessment protocol. Using BTAM, a team of at least three professionals made up of a mental health professional, a school administrator, and a law enforcement professional, assess a reported threat by gathering, organizing, and analyzing information, finalizing documentation, and developing and maintaining management plans if appropriate.
Not every threat undergoes the full process if it is discovered early on that a threat was transient.
A number of professionals are trained on BTAM including 27 administrators, 33 mental health professionals, and four law enforcement officers.
Board President Lawson asked how many individuals would be notified of the threat and how far up the command structure.
Moors said it depends on the student's situation and the level of support a student needs through their management plan. An administrator is always involved. For particularly serious incidents, the Superintendent is notified right away.
Rabbideau showed a table of the number of student behavior hearings that the Superintendent has had over the past 10 years. Those are situations where a behavior issue could not be resolved at the building level, and the consequence came to a long term suspension for 10 days or more or an expulsion.
In 2016-2017, there were 13 such hearings. In 2018-2019, there were 59. In 2020-2021, there were 14 hearings. In 2022-2023 there were 100 hearings. Last school year, 2025-2026, the superintendent had 44 hearings.
The school year with 100 hearings was a year after the Oxford High School shooting.
"We were taking every single threat, number one for some reason students were saying and doing things that they shouldn’t have," Rabbideau said. "Probably some copycatting you know, going on and things like that. We didn't mess around with those sorts of things. We have laws. The BTAM law is in place because it wasn’t just Alpena experiencing those things, it was across the state of Michigan and the nation."
Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said that teachers had a professional development session on Monday. He presented some feedback of what elementary teachers had to say about the math and English Language Arts (ELA).
Teachers said that positives of the math curriculum include appropriate pacing, student engagement with Waggle and math on the spot videos, and paper-pencil assessments.
Some challenges include notable content and skill gaps, including a lack of practice for number writing, proper pencil grip, teen numbers, and number partners. There have been technical issues with Waggle and some teachers feel they need more curriculum training.
Teachers reported positives of the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) Foundations ELA curriculum including consistent tools like weekly assessments, progress monitoring, and letter-sound checks.
Some challenges include that while reading foundational skills are thoroughly tracked through assessments, writing conventions, vocabulary acquisition, and speaking and listening lack formal or common assessments.
Rabbideau highlighted data showing that students in Alpena are coming to kindergarten less ready to learn than they have in the past. He said that kindergarten readiness is a problem across the nation.
"It's really important to recognize the gaps that students are coming to kindergarten with," Rabbideau said.
"A larger number of students that are not academically or socially, like you saw pencil grips, scissors, are taking up more time in kindergarten classrooms than they have in the past."
APS administers the Brigance and Acadience to incoming kindergarteners.
The Brigance measures a child’s development across domains such as gross and fine motor skills, language, academic cognitive, self-help, and social emotional skills.
This is the second year the district has used the Brigance. In 2025-2026, 52% of incoming kindergarteners were considered ready. In 2026-2027, 54% were considered ready.
The Acadience is taken by incoming kindergarteners and first graders. It assesses foundational literacy and reading skills including phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and reading fluency.
In 2025-2026, 60% of incoming kindergartners tested below or well below benchmark, and 40% tested at benchmark or above benchmark. In 2024-2025, the split was 50-50.
The number of kindergartners with individual reading improvement plans (IRIP) in the district has risen from 48.24% in 2022 to 64.46% in 2026.
An IRIP is a formal, written document created by a student’s school that outlines targeted reading interventions for students who show a reading deficiency or are reading below grade level.
"Just to kind of extrapolate out, if they’re coming into us at that level of not being ready for kindergarten, think about then, the length that teachers need to go to get them ready for first grade, that’s a pretty heavy lift, and so you're moving into first grade with even greater gaps," Ella White Principal Meaghan Black said.
IN OTHER BUSINESS
-The school district received $3.1 million in 61v funds for Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. The funding will go towards new CTE courses both at the junior high and high school levels.
-Rabbideau announced that staff have all received surveys regarding school facilities as part of the no-mill increase $29 million bond conversation. The goal of the surveys is to receive feedback as to the conditions of buildings and what needs improvement.
-Rabbideau sent out invitations to the entire staff, families, and many community members asking to participate in community focus groups to discuss the no-mill bond. He said that all are welcome to attend. The focus groups will take place the next four Mondays after the school board meetings on Oct. 19 and Oct. 26 and at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 2 and Nov. 9.
-Board members unanimously approved the Alpena Education Association two-year agreement through June 2028. Board Members Sarah Costain and AJ MacArthur were not present, and Board Member Eric Hansen abstained from the vote.