Community members and school personnel work together to create a five year strategic plan for New Philadelphia City Schools

  • By Jennifer Kneuss
  • July 19, 2011
  • 301
Community members and school personnel work together to create a five year strategic plan for New Philadelphia City Schools
Community members and school personnel work together to create a five year strategic plan for New Philadelphia City Schools
                        
Summary: Strong communities and strong schools go hand in hand. New Philadelphia City Schools recently called upon its citizens to come together to form a five year strategic plan for the good of the district, and 106 individuals answered that call. In February of 2011, New Philadelphia City Schools Superintendent Bob Alsept called together a group of 26 people and asked them to think of anyone they knew who could provide valuable input into the formation of the district’s upcoming five year strategic planning process. This resulted in hundreds of letters sent out, encouraging recipients to become a part of several planning groups. Eventually, 106 parents, community members, and school personnel gathered to help. The strengths and weaknesses of the current system were intensely examined, as were the opportunities and threats that may possibly affect the future of the 3,000 students of the district. Committee groups constructed five year plans for: Rigor & Relevance, 21st Century Skills, Character Education, Safe Environment, Professional Development, Communications & Engagement, Facilities, and Fiscal issues. These eight areas were selected based on results of several community surveys conducted over the past year to determine what the community at large deemed most important for the well-being and future of New Philadelphia City Schools. “We took a different approach. The key is, if you want community support, then you need community voices. We were committed that this would not be a top down plan we were pushing at people. We wanted to have a variety of voices and diverse opinions involved. The downside is that with such a large group, you can get a lot of diverse dynamics so that you don’t know where it might be going at times,” said Alsept. “When you are trying to build a consensus, you may hear some things you don’t like to hear; but to move forward, you have to do that. It’s about taking the agreements and disagreements and coming to a point of consensus. There were definitely some twists and turns in there,” admitted Alsept. “But we were really happy with the results.” The final plan was unanimously approved by the Board of Education on July 18, according to board president Chris Weaver. “The Board received the finished product to review the week prior to the July board meeting, and we also had board participation in some of the committees as well. The whole board was supportive of the process,” Weaver said. “The objectives that were laid out were what we determined to be the drivers for where we hope to go. We understand that circumstances may change, and the landscape may change. We realize that these may need to be tweaked and adjusted to be sure that they stay relevant.” Said Weaver, “It makes a lot of sense today, but along the way, and a year from now, we will look at what we have accomplished, and what key things need to be adjusted. It is a live, working document. “ Weaver acknowledged that many areas within education are constantly changing, saying “Decisions made at the federal or state level can mandate what we can or cannot do, and this includes funding methods. There are 101 variables floating around out there.” One of the benchmarks of the Facilities plan is to ‘use the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) assessment to establish a prioritized long-term maintenance schedule and budget for all the school facilities within the District.’ The OSFC has notified the district that it will be doing a review in the spring of 2012. If the Commission recommends any new building, “the soonest anything could be on the ballot as a levy for that would be at least 2015”, according to Alsept. “The community groups will stay intact to track progress, and to make adjustments as necessary. I think we have done a good job in tying in mission, vision, and values, and the five year plan piggybacks on top of those documents,” added Weaver. “It will be interesting to see how we can keep it current and relevant, and that is the challenge before us.” The Quakers for Excellence five year strategic plan will be made available online and in print in August 2011.


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