The strategic plan, titled “Charting the Course to Success,” emerged as the most notable item discussed. It articulates the mission statement, core values, vision statement, and theory of action for the district, focusing on cultivating creativity, resilience, and innovation in a safe, inclusive educational environment to empower all learners. The core values stress the importance of being student-centered, promoting social-emotional wellness, ensuring equitable access, empowering learners, promoting respect, fostering collaboration, and pursuing excellence. The vision statement aims at inspiring lifelong learners who are confident and compassionate, while the theory of action outlines actions to improve the organization and help it reach its mission.

The strategic planning committee identified four strategic focus areas: teaching and learning, social-emotional wellness, community engagement, and human capital finance and facilities. Each focus area includes specific strategic initiatives, such as developing and training teachers on Universal Design for Learning principles, preventing chronic absenteeism, expanding social-emotional learning programming, and establishing more internships for students to enhance career readiness and community involvement. The committee emphasized the plan’s comprehensive and ambitious nature and its intentional focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

The committee members expressed a strong desire for accountability measures and progress tracking, advocating for annual reports and regular updates to monitor goals achievement. They also discussed minor edits to the plan’s language to improve clarity before its unanimous approval. Additionally, the committee approved a resolution for transportation reform to address and prevent predatory pricing, following a debate to change the language from “price gouging.”

Updates on student support services were also a key part of the meeting. The presentation provided details about staffing ratios and the distribution of student support roles in schools, including school counselors, psychologists, and nurses. There was a particular focus on the need for an adjustment counselor at an elementary school.

The meeting further delved into professional development topics for school counselors, attendance patterns, McKinney-Vento and foster care laws, English language education, and the progress of English learners. It highlighted the need for professional development activities centered around suicide prevention and family engagement, the impact of attendance patterns before school vacation weeks, and efforts to address chronic absenteeism. The committee discussed a campaign to promote student attendance, increased transportation costs for McKinney-Vento and foster care students, and improvements in program placement, structure, and SE endorsement data for English language learners.

Additionally, the committee reviewed state funding for ESL teachers, summer programming, and mental health tutoring. They highlighted the district’s use of the counseling service “Car Solace” and the implementation of the Nan project, a mental health education intervention for seventh graders. New medical and behavioral health emergency response plans were also discussed, as well as efforts to increase access to behavioral health and mental health services. Concerns about absenteeism, particularly unexcused absences around holidays, were addressed, alongside the substantial cost of transporting students under the McKinney-Vento Act and the need for additional ESL staffing.

In terms of mental health support, the superintendent acknowledged the need for more resources and the existing waiting lists in some schools. The shortage of school psychologists and the challenges of filling these positions were also noted. The committee discussed homeschooling trends. Policy revisions were another topic of discussion, with emphasis on health education and academic freedom, incorporating feedback from the Committee for Parent Advisory Council (CPAC) members, and plans to provide more detailed information to parents about the health curriculum.

The meeting addressed various other items, including policy discussions, recent events reported by the superintendent, new principal appointments, retirements, updates on the master plan and committee report, building projects, and personnel updates. The committee approved the consent agenda and concluded the meeting at 8:56 pm.