TRF School District meets students where they are

by April Scheinoha
Editor

Teaching involves meeting students where they are academically, behaviorally, socially and emotionally. At its meeting Monday, March 23, the Thief River Falls School Board heard updates from Challenger Elementary School and Lincoln High School about how they’re meeting that challenge.

CES, LHS and Franklin Middle School utilize Alternative Delivery of Specialized Instructional Services. Through ADSIS, the district is able “to provide intervention to assist students needing additional academic or behavioral support in the general education environment,” according to the Minnesota Department of Education. “The goal is to reduce the number of inappropriate referrals to special education by providing proactive instructional supports early to struggling students.” Districts have to apply for this state special education aid.

CES Principal Patrick Marolt and Special Education teacher Brit Schwab spoke about the benefits of ADSIS. Marolt said special education referrals numbered 49 in 2017 before the school began utilizing the program. Schwab said the school has seen a 67% reduction in referrals from 2016 to 2026.

The district employs interventionists in the areas of reading, math and behavior at CES. If a student were still exhibiting certain behaviors and seeing no progress in reading and math despite interventions and small groups, Schwab said their team may decide to have the student undergo an evaluation for special education.

This school year, the district began offering reading intervention at LHS. Danielle Schantz works as the reading interventionist.

At the start of the school year, she had 52 students. LHS Principal Kayla Lian said 22 students joined Schantz’s group during the school year. Twenty-seven have since exited the program or passed the reading assessment for their grade level. They expect about 70 students will be a part of the program next school year.

For those struggling with reading, their confidence level may be affected. Schantz has had the students read to agriculture teacher Katie Shaw’s rabbits since rabbits won’t judge a student’s reading abilities. Lian said Schantz got the idea from a podcast where they talked about kids reading to animals. The students have also read to prekindergarten and kindergarten students at St. Bernard’s Catholic School.

Math and reading interventionists are also on staff at FMS. All six district interventionist positions are funded by ADSIS. “Both FMS interventionists have full-time positions, but are partially funded by ADSIS for the part of the day they do that work. (They have dual roles.) Generally, ADSIS funding covers about 60% of their salaries and any supplies we need for instruction in those programs,” said Sara Olson, district director of teaching, learning and technology in an interview with The Times.

The Minnesota Legislature has discussed cutting ADSIS. “It would be detrimental if we were to lose this program,” Schwab said.

Support is provided to district students in other ways. Thanks to the school’s continued usage of the Multi-Tiered System of Supports, incident reports decreased from 111 to 31, said LHS Principal Kayla Lian, who credited early interventions in stopping behaviors before they escalate. Incident reports include such things as in-school and out-of-school suspensions.

Support is also provided to students who are truant. Letters are sent home once a student has been truant for five days or 40 class periods. Lian noted that a student may continously skip a particular period. If that were the case, once the student reached 40 hours, the letter would be sent.

In an interview with The Times, Lian said, “Across all cases, there is ongoing communication between school and home, with a focus on progress over perfection. We are looking for students to break habits, or get the support they need, and show growth over time. Each situation is different, and we work closely with families to try and provide the support each student needs.”

In some cases, that support involves contracts. “Some students are on school-based attendance contracts and are seeing success. A very small number move to county-level contracts. Others have transitioned to the ALC or gone to an online setting and are no longer under a contract. There are also cases with medical needs where formal contracts are not appropriate, even though they meet the threshold,” she said.

The district has seen some trends. “Our freshman class traditionally struggles the most with attendance, but we do see strong improvement as students move through high school,” said Lian. “From last year’s seniors compared to this year’s Level 4 group, there is a 62.5% decrease in seniors reaching that 20+ day threshold.”

Lian also provided other updates regarding activities at LHS. She noted that the district continues to work toward offering a certified nursing assistant class through College in the High School during the 2026-27 school year. Through that program, students would be able to obtain a CNA certificate.

Superintendent Dr. Chris Mills indicated that the district has obtained supplies through Pine to Prairie Cooperative Center. Sanford Health helped the district obtain four hospital beds, and DigiKey provided transportation.

LHS continues to offer a health careers class. As part of the class, Lian noted that students are communicating as pen pals with residents of Oakland Park Communities and Skylite Apartments.

Unified physical education is also offered at LHS. Students of varying abilities take part in the class. Lian said the class has gone sledding and snowshoeing. A Special Olympics Unified swimming event was also held recently with Roseau School at the FMS Pool.

For many years, LHS has offered the Community Action Program. Jade Haugen coordinates the community volunteer program and now offers it to the Area Learning Center as well. Lian said the program has increased the confidence of LHS and ALC students.

After an absence, the River Watch program returned to LHS this school year. As part of the program, the students took water samples over a three-month period in the Thief River and Red Lake River watersheds. They tested for such things as dissolved oxygen, water temperature, conductivity, pH and turbidity. The students recently presented a lesson to third graders and later presented to judges at the River Watch Forum, which was held at the Alerus Center. The students received the Manager’s Choice Award. The award was presented for excellence in public presentation of River Watch science data and activities.