Setting the strategic direction for the District is one of the School Board’s most important responsibilities.
At Tuesday’s Work Session Superintendent Patton and senior members of her staff will update the Board on the District’s performance for Year Two of the District’s three-year Strategic Plan, and present the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Strategies they propose to work on in the upcoming, final year of the Plan.
In this post, I’ll provide a quick refresher on the District’s Strategic Plan, a reminder that the Plan played an important part in the Board’s discussion in June of the Superintendent’s 2014–15 evaluation and 2015–16 goals, and an overview of the agenda for Tuesday night.
If you attend or watch Tuesday’s meeting, you will see once again that elections have consequences.
The 2014–2016 Strategic Plan – in brief
The Strategic Plan is the District’s roadmap for achieving its vision to have all students complete school prepared for ongoing learning as well as community and global responsibilities.
The current Strategic Plan governs the three school years ending in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and was approved by the School Board in May 2013. It was developed with consideration of research and best practices, including:
- Recommendations made by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ (SACS) Council on Accreditation on School Improvement (CASI), a division of AdvancED;
- Recommendations from community members received via town hall meetings, community forums, round-table discussions with students, and discussions at local CEO Briefings; and
- An extensive review process within the District of 26 strategic plans from other school districts.
The Plan consists of six Goals:
- Expand early childhood education to enhance school readiness and early learning.
- Extend college and career readiness to advance rigor and relevance.
- Engage STEM education to strengthen global awareness and 21st-century learning skills.
- Elevate talent management to augment a highly qualified workforce.
- Narrow the achievement gap on statewide accountability assessments.
- Maintain fiscal responsibility.
When it approved the Plan, the Board also approved a series of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to be reviewed on an annual basis to monitor the District’s progress toward each goal. (More here.)
At the beginning of each year of the Plan, the Board approves a set of Strategies to achieve of each of the KPIs. The Strategies will guide District activities for the coming year.
The Goals, KPIs and proposed Strategies for FY 2016 are detailed in the Year Three Strategic Plan document, with which I encourage you to familiarize yourself.
Past Board discussion of the Strategic Plan
At its June meeting, the Board approved, with a 3-to–2 vote, the Superintendent’s 2014–15 evaluation and 2015–16 goals. In my June 16 post about that meeting, I attempted to summarize the Board’s discussion. Donalds and Lichter voted no because they were unable to persuade a majority to make changes to the Superintendent’s goals, which were and remain directly tied to the previously-approved three-year Strategic Plan, and procedurally the evaluation and goals could not be voted on separately.
I encourage you to re-read that post, because it provides important background for what is likely to be discussed Tuesday night.
Tuesday’s meeting
Three documents are posted online along with Tuesday’s Meeting Agenda:
- The PowerPoint to be presented, containing an overview of the Plan and the reporting process, and a sample of some of the Year Two Highlights and Results and Year Three Updates;
- A 76-page detailed report with Year Two Highlights and Year Three Updates on all Strategies covered by the Plan; and
- A 22-page Year Three Strategic Plan document, containing the Goals, KPIs and specific strategies proposed for the 2015–16 year.
Take a few minutes to look through that last document for an overview of what District staff will be focused on in the coming year.
Tuesday night
Members of the public will have the opportunity to comment beginning at the 5:30 PM start of the meeting, but at Work Sessions, unlike at Regular Board meetings, they may only comment on the topic of the Work Session – in this case, the Strategic Plan.
After public comments, senior District staff will review the progress made in Year Two of the Plan and the Strategies they propose to achieve the Plan’s Year Three Goals and KPIs, and answer questions from the Board. Then the Board will discuss the staff’s recommendations and reach consensus on next steps.
Given the discussion at the June Board meeting, I expect a lively and substantive discussion Tuesday night.
Be an informed observer/participant in a critical part of public education in Collier County by watching the School Board discuss the District Strategic Plan for the 2015–16 school year. Review the materials provided and share your comments with Board members and the Superintendent:
Kathleen Curatolo – curatoka@collierschools.com
Erika Donalds – donale@collierschools.com
Kelly Lichter – lichteke@collierschools.com
Julie Sprague – spraguju@collierschools.com
Roy Terry – terryro@collierschools.com
Superintendent Kamela Patton – patton@collierschools.com
The tune in to watch the Board meeting in person (register here if you plan to speak), live on Channel 99 or streamed on the District’s website, or after the fact via the District’s Video-on-Demand.
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