In an effort to support its belief that all students must be able to compete as global citizens, the Kent School District started the strategic planning process today with the gathering of the District Strategic Plan Steering Committee( SPSC). This 65‐member team represents parents, community partners, students, businesses, KSD staff, college and university representatives, non‐profit foundations, clergy, and the school board. This committee worked during the day‐long meeting beginning to identify the needs and expectations for the school district. This effort is being facilitated by Judy Phillips, CEO of the Partnership for Excellence, a North Carolina based company with experience helping school districts develop strategic plans.
The Partnership for Excellence has a respected reputation nationwide. Especially exciting is the Partnership’s policy to tailor their work to the specific needs of the district. Of particular interest is the fact that the district wants to involve as many of its constituents as possible. The district believes it is important that everyone in the community be represented and that the product reflects consensus and collaboration. Kent School District does not believe that a strategic plan is the vision of one person or a few people. It is the hope that at the end of this process, the District Strategic Team will know that they influenced the future and that they were all accountable for the education of our community’s children.
Participation of the community in the gathering of input is a crucial factor in the development of a strong strategic plan. The district is grateful that the committee members were enthusiastic about making the commitment to participate in this process.
The strategic plan development process will involve five on‐site days during the year, as well as the time spent off‐site to gather data and input from the community. The SPSC will soon go out to the community to gather input on proposed objectives for a new strategic plan. When the Strategic Plan Steering Committee’s work is finished, district leaders will prepare the document to present to the KSD School Board for approval, completing the first step of the process. The second step is to develop and implement action plans to address each strategic priority area. The district will use the Plan‐Do‐Study‐Act approach to evaluate progress, and regularly adjust the plan, to reach these goals. The intent is to use the results of the District Strategic Plan Team’s work to focus the work over the next decade.
