Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
BOURBON – Triton School Board heard an update Monday on Indiana's Learning Evaluation and Assessment Readiness Network (ILEARN) results.
Superintendent Jeremy Riffle said Triton students and parents should be proud of their ILEARN results. He said Triton is looking to recognize their students and staff due to the results and will be working with Triton’s parent-teacher organization to do that right after fall break.
Riffle said biology scores were the highest in the region for the second straight year. Overall, the English/language arts were in the upper quartile. Third-, fourth- and sixth-grade math scores were outstanding, with the sixth-grade students leading the region in math and reading/language arts.
He said Triton was used to Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) for the longest time and Triton was consistently in the 70 and 80 percentile, sometimes even the 90 percentile.
The ILEARN assessment is different. Triton representatives recently met with Paul Ketcham, assistant Indiana secretary of education, and Ketcham talked about ILEARN being the fourth-hardest assessment in the nation “when it comes to what they call the truth scores.” He said scores are broken down to get a better idea of where students are.
“We never want to justify our scores based on our neighbors, but in the end, we do,” Riffle said. “We’re fighting for students and we want them to know our education’s good.”
He said the ILEARN scores are a reflection of the education that is given.
Triton Elementary School Principal Mason McIntyre said the ILEARN data was pretty awesome this year, but there is some room for improvement. He said it shows the quality of instruction from the teachers and the hard work of the students.
In other business, the board:
• Adopted its 2027 budget.
The total budget is $14,489,305. The rainy day fund is $500,000. The debt service fund is $1,934,700. The education fund is $7,775,205. The operations fund is $4,279,400.
• Approved the 2026-27 emergency preparedness plan. Riffle said Triton was making a couple of adjustments to the plan for consistency as far as the relocation sites.
• Heard Brooke Kitch won the title of Junior Miss of Triton. Jullian Biles was named runner-up. Alyssa Brunner received the Director’s Choice Award and named the Spirit of Junior Miss.
• Was reminded fall break is next week.
• Heard there will be parent-teacher conferences at the elementary school and the junior-senior high school Oct. 22.
• Urged parents to sign up for ParentSquare if they’re not already signed up.
• Heard Oct. 22 will be a digital learning day for students.
• Heard there will be a prep rally at the elementary school to celebrate the end of the first quarter.
• Heard the PTO will be sponsoring the Haunted Hallways event at the end of October at the elementary school.
• Heard there will be the PSAT test for all sophomores Wednesday.
• Heard picture retake day is Oct. 26 for the junior-senior high school.
