Board of Education to Discuss 5-Year Plan Tonight

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood public schools may be winding down their school year, but the district's board of education is already looking ahead to the next five years.

The Board of Education will continue a discussion tonight of its five-year strategic plan, which is meant to serve as a guideline for the district as it moves forward in the coming years.

First started last fall, the process of creating a five-year vision has been a collaborative process among community members and the board, said Supt. Margaret Hayes.

After a brainstorming session last October, a group from the community took the ideas about the district’s mission and priorities and refined it into four subject areas, Hayes said.

From there, the board took the plan and decided what it felt was most important for the district to accomplish.

“It’s been a wonderful process,” Hayes said. “It’s helped us confirm some of the things we wanted to be doing.”

At the board’s meeting on May 28, board member Donald Parisi presented the group with information on the school’s strategic five-year plan using a PowerPoint presentation, which can be viewed here.

That draft of the plan states that by June 2014, the district would like to still be doing most of what it already does, but also incorporate the following:

• An implemented plan for technology’s use in the curriculum, owned by an accountable coordinator, keeping pace with technology’s advance and supported by necessary infrastructure;
• Increased instruction in the middle schools to pave the way for greater success at the high school level and beyond;
• Instruction in at least one non-European world language;
• Service learning in the curriculum at all levels;
• Students with a global perspective;
• Enough space, maintained on a priority basis, with reduced consumption;
• Revenues generated through a variety of resources by a team of volunteers headed by a coordinator, preferably also a volunteer, but reporting to an accountable district employee. The team will also develop shared services initiatives.

Among the issues raised at the meeting was the concern that raising additional revenue will be difficult in these challenging times, and that it may be hard to find a volunteer who has the time to devote to grant-writing and other fundraising measures.

“How, from a process standpoint, are we looking at people who are known doers?” board president Trip Whitehouse asked. “Reaching out, there’s often the flattery aspect of asking someone, but we need the engagement level.”

“I think of that beautiful turf,” board member Rob O’Connor added. “Parents were going to help, but it vaporized. It’s a tough business.”

Parisi said the idea of a volunteer chair came from the finance committee, who realized that all of the recommendations would require so much attention from staff, that there weren’t enough people do to the work.

In addition, Dr. Hayes mentioned that one of the foreign language teachers would be making a visit to China this summer, at no cost to the district, to explore the possibility of teaching Mandarin as the non-European language. Hayes emphasized, though, that the trip should not be construed as a confirmation that Mandarin has been chosen.

“The strategic plan shouldn’t be a straight jacket,” Parisi said. “It should be a living, breathing thing.”

The board of education plans to adopt the 5-year strategic plan at its June 25 meeting.