Strategic Plan Meetings Held Over Three Days

By Eliza Hallabeck

The first strategic plan for the Newtown school district started to take shape this past weekend as 30 members of the community spent long hours debating the ideal set of goals and beliefs for the school system.

“It was intensive,” said Superintendent of School Janet Robinson on Tuesday during a phone interview. The 30 people represented many areas of the town, according to Dr Robinson, not just people who have constant dealings with the schools.

The meetings, which were held at Edmond Town Hall, started at 8 am on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and on Thursday and Friday they lasted until roughly 9 pm. The Saturday meeting ended at 2 pm. The meetings were closed to the pubic, and the final information that was decided on will be presented to the Board of Education during its October 22 meeting at the Reed Intermediate School.

Dr Robinson said the school system covered the expense for the weekend, but the exact cost had not been fully determined by press time.

Board of Education Chairman Elaine McClure and board member Lillian Bittman were two of the 30 people who participated in the meetings; no other board members attended.

“It was very methodical,” said Ms McClure. “We started with our beliefs and we went from there.”

According to Ms Bittman, a strategic plan is a way to assess where the district could move forward  as a whole. She said it helps to assess each concern and question for its relevance to the strategic plan of the school district.

At the Board of Education’s October 22 meeting, the board, including Ms McClure and Ms Bittman, will hear a presentation on the strategic plan for the district, but there will be no decision made on that night to further the commitment, according to Ms Bittman.