SCHOOL DISTRICT ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC PLAN FORUMS

The Board of Education has announced plans for two Strategic Plan forums on February 9, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., and Feb. 10, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

See more background on the process that has raised some concerns for its secretiveness and superintendent conflicts of interest HERE.

Below is a note about the forums from Superintendent John Ramos. But it does not say where they will be held.

Dear SOMSD Community,
I am very proud to share with you the Strategic Direction document created as part of our ongoing strategic planning process.  This document is the product of the ideas, hopes, and suggestions shared by more than 1,500 people who participated in our Education Summit last November, and by hundreds more in town hall and other meetings, in letters and emails, and via Lets’ Talk!   Your input served as the foundation for a 3-day intensive meeting to distill these ideas into enduring values, mission, strategic boundaries, student performance objectives, and strategies.
Working together, the SOMSD community is creating a powerful vision for how we can transform the way we educate our children, and provide each student with the tools and skills they need to succeed in a world that is still being built.
I invite you to join me and members of the Strategic Direction committee at a community forum to learn more about both the Direction itself, and the process which we engaged in to create it:

• AFTERNOON FORUM: Tuesday, February 9, 2016, from 1:00-2:00pm
• EVENING FORUM:  Wednesday, February 10, 2016, from 7:30-8:30pm

The Strategic Direction document is on our website, along with other information about the strategic planning process. The Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the adoption of the Strategic Direction at a special Board meeting on Tuesday, February 16, 2016.
The Strategic Direction is the first part of what will ultimately be a much longer, comprehensive plan.  Working teams will develop concrete action plans for each of the strategies set forth in this document.  The full plan will then be submitted to the Strategic Direction Committee, to ensure fidelity to the intentions of the original Direction, and to the Board of Education for approval.  The action plans will then be prioritized, incorporated into the budget, and implemented, with regular updates to the community and to the Board of Education on our progress.
I hope to see you in February, and look forward to continuing our ongoing efforts to empower today’s learners for a future that hasn’t been imagined yet, and to transform the district from something it is not now but will be for the benefit of all our students.

Sincerely,

John J. Ramos, Sr., Ed.D.