MANSFIELD — Rigorous instruction, competitive wages and a student mentorship program are all goals outlined in the Mansfield City Schools new strategic plan.
Supt. Stan Jefferson said the plan was designed to guide the district for the next three to five years.
Administrators gave a presentation on a proposed draft of the plan during a Jan. 18 board of education meeting. The board will likely vote this month on a finalized version of the plan.
To see the full version of this plan, click the document above.
The plan was developed by a team of district and building leaders, parents and community members. The process began in late 2019 and was put on pause for much of 2020 due to the pandemic.
“We conducted focus groups for teachers at the buildings, focus groups for families, and then we did some of the older students at the high school,” Curriculum Director Steven Rizzo said.
The district also contracted with Dr. Bobby Moore, a former educator and administrator who runs EPIC Impact Education Group.
According to district treasurer Tacy Courtright, the district spent contracts with Moore included $48,500 for the strategic plan and $10,000 for additional services related to reworking the district’s mission and vision statements.
“The three big themes that emerged, that we shared with the community in our fall newsletter, were succeed, engage and renew,” Jefferson said.
The district’s strategic plan is further split into core commitments, goals, strategies and action steps.
Some action steps are more vague, such as “celebrate successes of students and staff” and “establish pathways that challenge all students.” Others incorporate specific systems like the Ohio’s Plan to Raise Literacy Achievement.
Rizzo said some strategies in the plan are new to the district. Others are already being implemented.
“One of our goals — and we’ve been doing this work — is to have systems and processes,” he said. “The state has put together the Ohio Improvement Process which we have fully embraced.”
Many of the strategies have to do with academics. Others cover topics like district facilities and community engagement.
District administrators shared a proposal on Jan. 25 that would include permanently closing the Brinkerhoff building on Euclid Avenue and consolidating from nine to eight school buildings. The school board will vote in February on whether or not to authorize that plan.
Jefferson said the ultimate goal is to construct new, “21st century learning” facilities for the district. The next steps are to ensure the district is fiscally sound and then put a bond issue on the ballot. He declined to specify a target date for a bond issue, but implied it would be soon.
“We can’t wait 10 years,” he said. “I don’t even know if we can wait five years.”
Holly Christie, director of student support programs, said another strategy the district plans to employ is recruiting a team of “ambassadors.” These parent volunteers will be charged with sharing up-to-date information with the community.
“We want to make sure that they’re aware of what’s happening but also what’s available to kids that they may not know of, or supports in place that they can take advantage of,” she said.
Other priorities include a more intentional focus on graduation pathways and post secondary plans. Rizzo said he hopes the district can partner with local employers to create internship and work study opportunities.
“We are a comprehensive high school, so part of that is to make sure that the programs that we offer in the high school are both meeting student interests and leading to employment, especially in our community,” Rizzo said.
“We want to take a look at those programs, expand if we can based on interest and need, and if a program isn’t meeting a specific need, be willing to take it offline and replace it.”
Jefferson said employees across the district — teachers and administrators — will be responsible for ensuring the plan is carried out.
“Our team, we’re all going to make sure that we embody what we say that we are going to do,” Jefferson said.
“We’re not just going to develop a plan and don’t implement it. That would be an insult to all the people that served on the plan and all the time that was put into it. It’d be an insult to our community taxpayers money for these financial services we paid for that in order to do this. So we’re going to implement.”
To view the full proposed strategic plan, click here.
