•  Groton School Board members spent some time during their Monday meeting discussing the future of the RtI program within the school district. Over the last seven years, Groton has used the RtI program to help students that struggled to read or do math at their grade level.
•  In fact, Groton was one of the schools chosen to be a pilot for the program and in the last couple of years, Groton teachers have been helping other school districts start the program. But the program in its entirety will no longer be used in the Groton Schools.
•  The State is changing the program to a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS). The new program has added a behavior element to the already in place academic component. The State also wants the entire district to be using the system, not just parts of the district, such the elementary school.
•  "I'm not sure the long term benefits of the program is there," Superintendent Joe Schwan said. "I don't have the data to back it up, but it seems that once that support is removed or we cant push lots of resources at it, the students don't seem any better off."
•  Schwan gave the board three options, to say to to the program and start it this year, say yes but go slow and start it next year or say no to the program.
•  "There is no reason that we cant continue to use the RtI methods and tracking,"

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