CUSD will seek volunteers for its strategic planning committees

Last week, 25 coastside citizens, teachers, and school administrators met for two and a half very busy days of creating a strategy for the Cabrillo Unified School District.

The next steps will involve over 100 coastsiders in a process that will deliver a final strategic plan to the CUSD board next year.

I spoke to CUSD Deputy Superintendent B.J. Mackle, who’s managing the process for the District. She says the planning team will break into five committees covering each of the strategies identified last week (roughly: diversity, standards, community participation, curriculum and instruction, and revenue).

The strategies are pretty generic, but appropriate:

• I) We will acknowledge the uniqueness of each individual, insure respect and equity, and provide opportunities for common experiences to build unity.
• ll) We will insure that every student meets or exceeds state and/or district standards by implementing rich and rigorous instructional programs supported by personal learning objectives.
• Ill) We will fully integrate the student, family and community as partners in the educational process. Note: Achievement gap; low performing students; role of family
• IV) We will implement challenging, exemplary curriculum and programs through engaging and inspiring instruction. Note: Recruitment and retention of staff; Staff Development
• V) We will aggressively pursue every avenue necessary to increase the revenue required to achieve our mission.

The proof of the process will be in the plans to come.

This week, letters will go to the schools describing the process. Then solicitation of 20 volunteers for each of the five committees will begin. The committees will meet in January. The results of the committees will be delivered to the board in March for feedback. In April, the formal review of the plans by the strategic planning team will begin so that the final report can be delivered to the board at their meeting on June 2.

"This could result in changing some people’s job descriptions," says Mackle. The final plans will be assigned to specific people (typically District administrators) for implementation.

This is an exciting process and this is a real opportunity for public participation in the school district’s planning.

BONUS:  I’ve uploaded the entire 50-page packet that was given to the planning team last week [12MB PDF]. Includes a wealth of data about the school district and our community and gives you a good idea of the context of the planning.