SPECIAL SCHOOL BOARD MEETING ON STRATEGIC PLAN CALLED; PETITION LAUNCHED

The Board of Education has called a special meeting for next Tuesday, Feb. 16, to discuss and vote on the Strategic Plan direction that has sparked some controversy for its secretive and limited input approach.

At the last board meeting, the board unofficially chose to endorse the plan, but could not offer a full vote due to the lack of notice.

Superintendent John Ramos, who has been pushing the process, had requested approval before the next regular meeting on Feb. 22, saying he needed to begin to take action sooner.

At the same time, an online petition has been launched that asks the board to "slow down" with the planning process. It already has 84 signatures.

The petition states, in part:

We believe the timeline associated with this extremely important undertaking is significantly rushed and urge the Board of Education to reconsider this timing and the process itself.
We call upon the district and the Board of Education to undertake a vetting process which not only illustrates these potential changes, but more importantly, provides empirical data supporting why these fundamental changes will benefit our students, before holding this important vote.