James Stevens emphasized the state motto when giving an update on special education in the Marysville School District Jan. 4.

Stevens, executive director, said one goal of special education is “to get students on their feet before they are on their own.”

To do that, the district has to “get kids in the right place, in the least-restrictive environment possible.”

The special ed resource room needs to be flexible and fluid, he said.

“There are tweeners; they don’t fall into columns,” Stevens said, adding 50 special ed students have been taken out of self-contained environments this year.

What they’re doing seems to be working. The gap has improved in local special ed scores compared with the state.

More instruction has played a part.

“We had holes last year we couldn’t fill” in teaching special ed, he said, adding that hasn’t been an issue this year with retention and recruiting.

Materials have been adopted to have more teaching consistency. Paraeducators are better trained, so each student gets the input they need.

In other school board news:

•Technology director Scott Beebe said the district is thinking of allowing students to take their Chromebooks home for the summer. He said many parents and their students love the device, and they have been taken all over the world during winter break. He also wonders how and where they would be stored.

Of the thousands of them at the high school and middle school, the breakage rate is about 1 percent. Twenty have been stolen, but seven were recovered.

•Principal Gloria Henderson and her staff gave a report on Liberty Elementary. She told the school board about strong leadership, from teachers to parents to the students themselves. “They bring tears to our eyes they are that good,” Henderson said of the student leadership team.

The school has a data wall with all of the students pictures on it, so all of the teachers and substitutes can see what type of differentiated instruction each student needs. Small-group work has brought nearly all first- and second-graders to state expectations in reading.

The school also is reducing disciplinary problems by teaching students social skills in a positive way. They identified 66 students who needed the most help, and that focus has led to changes in them. Monthly, the school has “Gab with Gloria” conversational meetings with Henderson and also instructional events like “Math Night” where parents learn what is being taught.

•Principal Janelle McFalls and her staff at Allen Creek Elementary also gave a report. She said they were “shocked” when they found out they had fallen below state standards because historically they have scored higher. “We took just a minute to feel sorry for ourselves,” and then re-focused, McFalls said. They are looking more at data and using interventions to help students improve in areas they are weak in.

The school also is focusing on getting kids there and keeping them there. The goal is to cut absences by 25 percent. The school phones parents and explains the need for their children to be there. Students work in small groups until they understand a state standard, and don’t move on until they do. They also hope to reduce suspensions 25 percent. When a problem develops, “we use it as a teaching moment,” McFalls said, adding some students are given jobs to get them responsibilities in school. “If they go home that’s not solving the problem.”

They also have five parent nights so they can help kids at home. “Adult learners can keep up with the kids,” McFalls said. Topics coming up include Engage New York math, literacy and positive parenting.

•Pete Lundberg and Tom Albright were sworn in as directors. Marina Maksimos left to due an emergency. Superintendent Becky Berg said it is appreciated that the board members stepped up and ran for office. “And I’d say that whether they were my bosses or not.”