By Gary Lloyd
JEFFERSON COUNTY — The Jefferson County Schools strategic planning sessions will focus on six hallmarks to make them effective, according to a presentation made to the Jefferson County Board of Education by Burke Enterprises, LLC.
The 20-slide PowerPoint presentation by Marcia Burke begins by asking three questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How will we get there?
Burke then lists six hallmarks of an “effective” strategic plan:
- Collaborative development
- Regular monitoring and evaluation
- Measured against recognized standards and benchmarks
- Changes to meet emerging needs and newly identified challenges
- A framework for decision making
- A tool for demonstrating accountability
According to the presentation, the months of August and September were being used for planning, collecting data and forming a steering committee. September and October are to be used for data collection and analysis, steering committee work, and an administrator session. October is dominantly for community forums and surveys. November is when all data will be compiled and analyzed, and a presentation will be made to the Jefferson County Board of Education for the adoption of the strategic plan.
The board in July voted to award an $80,000 contract to consulting firm Burke Enterprises, LLC to oversee the development of the five-year strategic plan. The goal of the development of the strategic plan is to include all municipal mayors, stakeholders, parents and school employees.
Jefferson County Schools has set seven community zone forums to discuss the plan with employees, parents, students and members of the public. On Oct. 28, the final community zone forum will be held at Pinson Valley High School from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.