Strategic planning, security upgrades and equity opportunities anticipated in the remainder of the 2017–18 school year
The remainder of the 2017–18 school year will act as a time to plan for the future in the Washington Township Public School District, with the completion of the strategic planning process, the continuation of the newly-formed Equity Coalition and significant progress in the upgrade to the district’s technology and security programs.
Superintendent Joseph Bollendorf said with the new year comes data analysis by the organized Strategic Planning Steering Committee, comprised of teachers, local business leaders, members of the municipal government, Board of Education members, parents and students.
“The Steering Committee will pore over the data that has been collected through surveys and focus group interviews, and start applying that data in specific ways related to a variety of focus areas within the district — finance, governance, curriculum,” Bollendorf said.
The committee will create a community-based plan for the district moving forward for the next three to five years, according to Bollendorf.
“A robust strategic plan has never really been done in the district, so this is a huge thing for us,” Bollendorf said. “It really engages all stakeholders in our community about what their expectation is for a school system, what it is they hope our students will be able to achieve after attending our schools and to try to improve upon what is already a good reputation as we look for continued success, and greater success, in a lot of areas.”
Bollendorf said the process of the committee should be completed by the end of January, when the strategic planning consultants of Education Consulting Research and Analytics will produce a final report of recommendations. According to Bollendorf, the district is expected to receive the final report no later than the March regular Board of Education meeting.
“A strategic plan will help drive budgeting decisions, curriculum decisions and a philosophy — a more focused mission statement and goals of what it is we’re looking to do as educational leaders in our community,” Bollendorf said.
Once the final recommendations are presented, it will be the Board of Education’s responsibility to decide what to approve and focus on for the 2018–19 school year.
Further growth of the district’s Equity Coalition is also anticipated in the new year with additional training opportunities for student members, as well as teachers, staff and the administration.
According to Bollendorf, a three-day training workshop seminar will take place in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League for students and advisors within Washington Township High School. Participants will become facilitators to help their peers cope with issues they may be encountering, specifically those involving social injustice or inequality.
The high school students, as part of their training, will take what they have learned to the middle school level and instruct the younger students so they, as well, can become facilitators within their own communities.
Additionally, Bollendorf said, the new year will see the development of a new equity officer-administrator position within the district, whose responsibility will be to oversee projects, such as workshops or training opportunities, as they develop and relate to equity and social justice within the school system.
“We hope to create a team of leaders in each building from staff that will work collaboratively with the equity administrator on these projects to streamline any issues that may develop over time,” Bollendorf said.
Security improvements within each school will come to fruition by the end of 2018, Bollendorf said, with significant progress having taken place in 2017.
According to Bollendorf, all but two schools have an electronic door-locking system installed, which allows teachers to remotely lock their classroom doors by the push of a button in the schools’ main offices. Bollendorf expects the remaining two schools to receive the new locking system within the new year.
While Bells Elementary School has been beta-testing new software that enhances the electronic door-locking system to be done remotely from a cell phone or computer, Bollendorf anticipates the software to be fully-implemented within all 11 of the district’s schools in 2018. The software will also provide a map of each school to allow teachers to indicate their status while in a lockdown, which will be available for first-responders who have access to the technology to see what is being reported within the building during an emergency.
Additional security upgrades will be completed in 2018, such as security door panels being designed by high school engineering students to allow teachers to easily cover their classroom door windows in a lockdown scenario. The students will be producing and installing a number of the panels in early 2018, while kits will later be shipped out to staff in the schools for teachers to install themselves.
As the weather gets colder and the potential for snow increases, Bollendorf encourages parents and students to stay connected for alerts and updates on school delays and closings. This information can be readily found by following @SuperintendWTPS on Twitter, as well as by texting “@MrBollen” to 81010 through the Remind101 application.
