Committees will write the plan using input from hundreds of parents, teachers, local officials and members of the public.
The latest phase in Mt. Laurel Schools’ strategic planning initiative kicked off last week as writing committees met for the first time to begin formally drafting the plan officials say will guide the district for the next three years.
Mt. Laurel Schools kicked off its ongoing strategic planning initiative in the fall, with hundreds of parents, teachers, local officials and members of the public gathering for a series of meetings to offer input on the state of the district and ideas for the district’s future.
From those meetings, participants identified strategies for how the district might improve in the future, with the majority of suggestions falling under topics related to curriculum and instruction, teachers and staff, facilities, full-day kindergarten, community and families, students and special needs.
Participants offered hundreds of ideas for district officials, whether it was asking for more clubs at the elementary school level, a greater cultural diversity among staff members, more opportunities for parental involvement in schools or even the implementation of a full-day kindergarten program.
Following the meetings, district officials compiled the information into an online community survey where all members of the public could once again have the opportunity to share their thoughts on issues facing the district.
Now that Mt. Laurel Schools has collected the data, writing committees met last week to finally use the information to craft the document officials will use as guide for the district during the next three years.
Similar to the community meetings in November and December, the strategic writing committees consist of volunteers from the community and district administrators looking to help the district plan for the future.
Marie Reynolds, director of communication services for the district, described the writing committees’ first meeting on April 10 as having gone “amazingly well,” with about 25 volunteers from the public and district’s administrative staff present for the process.
“Dr. Charles Ivory facilitated it again, and he led the group through exercises to come up with goal statements in a round robin format similar to the public meetings,” Reynolds said.
Ivory serves as one of the consultants the district hired to run the strategic planning process.
Superintendent George Rafferty also spoke about the writing committees and the strategic plan at the most recent Board of Education meeting.
Rafferty noted the full title of the district’s strategic planning initiative is “A Path to Success: 2030,” which he said reflects how this year’s kindergarten class will graduate high school in 2030.
Although the strategic plan is only meant to guide the district for the next three years, Rafferty said the programs and initiatives that result from the plan will affect students for years to come.
Once the writing committees finalize the plan, Rafferty said it would be presented before the BOE for final adoption.
Rafferty said he and district officials would then implement the strategic plan starting in July, which marks the start of the 2018–2019 school year.
“It’s ultimately about getting our students coming into our school district this year to become successful high school graduates and productive citizens of our country,” Rafferty said.
Members of the public can also still access the detailed minutes from each of the district’s three strategic planning meetings in November in December on the district’s website at www.mtlaurelschools.org.
