Schools
Mount Diablo School Board Wants Your Input
Hansen, Whitmarsh team up to seek comments on draft strategic plan for county's largest school district.
Headed by a surprising pair of trustees, the Mount Diablo school board will begin taking public input on its long-term strategic plan beginning in May.
Cheryl Hansen, who calls herself the “where’s the plan” trustee, and Sherry Whitmarsh, one of the veteran board members, have occasionally clashed since Hansen took her seat on the board in December, but both seemed eager this week to work together and to get a draft plan to the public for feedback.
The comprehensive plan is more about goals and less about details, but is meant to keep the district on track with its fundamental goals.
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“It’s a draft,” emphasized Hansen, "something to react to,” adding this was one of the best board-related things that has happened. She has pushed for the board to have a strategic long-term plan during the controversy over the closures of Holbrook Elementary and Glenbrook Middle schools.
No dates for public meetings on the plan were announced at Tuesday’s meeting but Whitmarsh said she and Hansen plan to chair and attend two-hour meetings at Clayton Valley, College Park, Concord, Mount Diablo, Northgate and Ygnacio Valley high schools. A meeting also will be held at Riverview Middle School. In addition, they will host gatherings for school foundations, district committees and at least two open community meetings to which city councils, chambers of commerce and other local interests will be invited in addition to the public.
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Whitmarsh said she wanted to invite senior citizens to meetings in the summer. Staff representatives also will be invited to separate meetings in June and September.
Hansen and Whitmarsh solicited names of individuals and groups to add to their lists of invitees and invited board members to come. However, if additional trustees attend, by law the meeting becomes a school board meeting and public notice and a public agenda must be given in advance.
The draft plan covers these questions and topics:
Fundamental purpose: Why does the district exist?
How must the district behave to achieve its vision?
- Focus on learning and children
- Excellence
- Integrity
- Respect
- Collaboration
- Safety
The district will:
- Make decisions based on the best interests of the students
- Elevate communication to a level that is inclusive and instills trust
- Behave in an ethical, respectful, responsive manner
- Seek reform, innovation and partnerships to bring academic excellence to our students
- Recruit and retain the most effective, highly qualified staff available.
Focus:
MDUSD will provide a rigorous, relevant and engaging educational
experience to all students. MDUSD will seek reform and innovation to
ensure academic excellence.
Goals:
- Provide curricula that reflect high expectations and alignment to content
- standards.
- Ensure focus, consistency and alignment of our curricula, instructional
- strategies and assessments.
- Improve the content, quality and use of assessments and ensure that data
- from these assessments drives instruction.
- Provide, support and monitor instruction based on identified best practices.
- Examine the district’s curricula to ensure career and/or college-ready rigor at each grade level.
- Implement programs that support 21st century skills, including collaboration, innovation, critical thinking and communication.
- Provide and meet program improvement requirements and support for academically underperforming schools.
- Expand autonomy and empowerment for high-performing schools.
- Support struggling learners by targeted preventions, interventions, resources and professional development.
- Increase the use of technology in the teaching and learning process.
- Ensure that the English Language Learner program is responsive to the needs of students and implemented, supported, monitored and assessed based on student learning and a master plan.
- Examine special education programs, services and delivery to ensure high expectations in the least restrictive environment.
- Establish clear parameters for allocation of Special Education staff and resources.
- Ensure successful transition and articulation among elementary, middle and high-school levels.
- Seek innovative community and business partnerships to expand programs and pathways in schools to enhance rigorous, relevant academic opportunities.
Focus:
MDUSD will actively build strong relationships with students, families and
the community to increase trust, shared responsibility and a positive perception of our district.
MDUSD will use multiple methods of communication and engagement to
reach all stakeholders and increase opportunities for meaningful
community input and participation to advance student achievement and
learning in all subject areas.
Goals:
- Use multiple, regular methods of communication and engagement to reach all stakeholders.
- Ensure that our communications are honest, accurate, thorough and accessible to the public.
- Increase opportunities for meaningful community input and participation.
- Cultivate community, business, and higher education partnerships that advance student achievement in all subject areas.
- Increase collaboration with cities, businesses and the community to build a community that supports and values education.
- Achieve a positive perception of the district among parents and community members and ensure that parents consider MDUSD a “preferred place” to meet their educational needs.
- Engage and involve parents in their children’s education to create shared responsibilities for student success.
Focus:
MDUSD will recruit, develop, support, and retain the most talented staff.
Goals:
- Ensure that every classroom has a high-quality, effective educator.
- Provide support through high-quality, effective administrators and support staff.
- Ensure that our staff has the skills and capacity to achieve our mission.
- Increase the retention rate of high-performing teachers, administrators and support staff.
- Increase leadership opportunities for staff.
- Provide targeted professional development that supports the Strategic Plan.
- Build staff morale and efficacy.
Focus:
Respectful and responsive service and communication
- MDUSD district and site staff will be responsive and respectful while providing outstanding service to co-workers, students, parents and community members. The district and site staff will proactively seek opportunities to improve communication and customer service. Every person who interacts with the district should be treated with dignity, respect and courtesy.
Goals:
- Encourage responsive customer service.
- Improve communication internally and externally with community members, parents, students and employees so that all receive responses to inquiries and services in a timely, efficient manner.
- Improve employee morale by strengthening internal communications.
- Ensure that employees consider MDUSD a “preferred place” (culture and climate) to work.
- Ensure that parents consider MDUSD a “preferred place” to meet their educational needs.
- Monitor and report progress on strategic plan initiatives.
- Increase the use of technology to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of communication throughout the organization.
Focus:
Optimize operations and infrastructure
- MDUSD will implement sound fiscal and human resource policies that
maximize resources, generate revenue, provide accountability and
accomplish educational priorities within a balanced budget framework.
If students are going to achieve excellence, all school and district
operations must be excellent as well. Alignment across the district is
critical so MDUSD will clearly align its fiscal and human resources to focus
on achieving educational excellence. The district will work in partnership with
employees, parents and the community to be a results-oriented district that
involves all school, departments and community groups.
Goals:
- Transform MDUSD into a high-performing, results-oriented organization that involves all schools, departments and community groups.
- Align districtwide initiatives, district and site plans, and expenditures with the MDUSD Strategic Plan and Board goals and policies.
- Ensure that our facilities and infrastructure support and enhance student learning.
- Place priority on educational needs and programs when making fiscal decisions.
- Develop comprehensive short-term and long-term plans that proactively anticipate and address enrollment trends (e.g., decline and/or growth in enrollment, attendance boundary adjustments, possible school closure or repurposing, capacity needs, facilities issues, fiscal impact).
- Ensure fiscal stability and accountability through effective stewardship of financial assets, community funding sources and other activities to improve district resources and build public trust.
- Enhance the support for and integration of instructional technology.