SUPERINTENDENT LETTER INVITES STRATEGIC VOLUNTEERS, RESPONDS TO COMPLAINTS

After a strategic planning process that has been mostly secretive and involving an outside consultant who was hired without an open process, the school district is seeking to be more inclusive with a request for volunteers who want to be part of so-called Action Planning Teams.

As per a letter issued by Superintendent John Ramos, residents are being asked to join one of these teams if they wish to have input.

Initially, those wishing to participate would have had to spend time in a two-day training program later this month and give up about 30 hours overall in coming weeks.

But in the letter issued Friday, Superintendent John Ramos said the rules would be changed so that only co-chairs would have to be in the two-day training program.

Ramos also responded to complaints that the process has been too broad and offered vague generalities for improvements. 

His letter states, in part:

A common thread in the conversations we have been having about the Strategic Direction is a question as to why the language is so broad, and why key phrases we are used to hearing (e.g. “achievement gap,” “levels,” “rigor,” and “standards”) are not in the document.  We began the Education Summit with the essential question:  How do we educate 21^st century learners for a world that hasn’t been imagined yet?  That question is central to the entire Strategic Planning process.
The language in the Strategic Direction document is purposefully inspirational and aspirational, to create the mindset and airspace we need to reimagine how we can deliver quality education that empowers our students with the skills they need to succeed in a future that has yet to be imagined.  The concrete words and plans and deliverables and timetables which are essential to make this vision a reality will be developed in the next phases of the Strategic Planning process – Action Planning and Implementation.  

See the entire letter HERE: