Executive Summary

Kent County Public Schools is rated Meets on two of five Blueprint pillars (Pillar 2, Teachers and Leaders, and Pillar 5, Governance and Accountability) and Approaching on the other three. The Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) approved all seven components of the district's 2024 Blueprint plan on November 21, 2024^[1], and approved FY26 release of funds in December 2025 for the career counseling MOU, career ladder, math plan, student progress and progress monitoring components^[2]. The district has also created approximately 619 new account codes to align spending with Blueprint categories^[1].

The strongest results are in the teacher workforce. Teacher vacancies fell from 4 to 0 and retention rebounded to 62.0%, meeting the 61.8% target after a low of 56.4% in 2024-25^[1]. Judy Centers now operate at all three elementary schools^[3], and district-reported kindergarten readiness rose 9.6 points between 2022-23 and 2023-24, including a 20.1-point gain for Hispanic/Latino students^[1]. In academics, grades 3-8 ELA proficiency reached 39.8% (up from 35.0% in 2021-2022), and 3rd grade ELA proficiency stands at 41.2% (up from 30.2%)^[1]. Every Kent County school is now a designated community school^[2].

Significant challenges remain. Grades 3-8 math proficiency is 16.4%, and only 38.5% of SY2024-25 high school completers met the college and career readiness standard^[1]. Chronic absenteeism across all schools rose to 33.1%^[1]. The minimum teacher salary of $56,240 is below the $60,000 requirement due 7/1/26^[1]. In governance, 0% of FY2025 College and Career Readiness expenditures were coded at the school level, and 0 of 8 FY2026 budget programs met the minimum school funding requirement^[1]. Pre-K enrollment fell to 90, and private Pre-K enrollment at age 4 remains 0^[1].