Martin Public Schools Strategic Planning
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2022
Contact:
Stacie Moelker
269-442-0500
Martin Public Schools Launches Community-Wide Strategic Planning Process
Martin, Mich.—The Martin Public Schools Board of Education and the Administration announced today they are launching a new initiative to guide them through a three- to five-year Strategic Plan. The process will include community and staff input events, data collection and other efforts to create a shared vision and goals for the future of the district and strategies to achieve them, all while using scarce public education resources in the most effective and efficient way.
Stakeholder feedback will be an important part of the planning process. Community members, parents, students, teachers and all district staff members will have the opportunity to give input on the strengths of the district, opportunities for improvement, barriers for implementation and their vision for the district.
Stakeholder input, along with essential district data, provides the basis for the district to choose approximately five priority goals to be implemented over the next three to five years.
The benefits of the strategic planning process are many. Most notable are:
- Provides integrated, important input from community and staff
- Presents a succinct and graphical picture of the district's current status
- Sets focused strategic goals that identify target areas to improve student achievement
- Clearly delineates the role of the Board of Education and the superintendent/staff in strategic planning
- Uses data to set goals and make important decisions
- Helps identify areas to allocate increasingly scarce resources
- Aligns Board priorities with school improvement processes
Art Shook, the Martin Public Schools Board of Education President stated, “As school board members, we have to make the best decisions in these challenging, changing times. It is essential we use data forecasting and stakeholder input to make decisions and set shared priorities for the future of our district.”
Kacie Kefgen, J.D. consultant at the Michigan Association of School Boards, will work with Martin Public Schools for the next three months to complete the strategic plan. Kefgen said, “Martin Public Schools and MASB have worked together to ensure broad stakeholder engagement, which will enable an effective strategic plan implementation. We look forward to listening to the community in this process.”
The retreat for our 3 to 5 year Strategic Plan consists of a full day retreat to be held on Saturday, November 12, 2022, from 8:30 to 4:30. This is an 8 hour time commitment that will place the district on a course for improvement in all areas. The Strategic Planning Committee will consist of parents from both schools, students, alumni, a community member, a community leader, an elected official, teacher, administrator, union leadership, higher education, and any other volunteer that the School Board and district see fit to include. Our Board of Education and district administration will be inviting people to attend this meeting.
- This meeting will be a marathon session consisting of invited guests who will assist in collaboratively creating the Martin Public School's Strategic Plan.
- The final plan will be compiled by our facilitator, presented to administration, then submitted to the Board of Education for their approval at a public board meeting.
- The goals established in the Strategic Plan will be revisited and updated on a regular basis to show progress toward the goals and attainment of goals as this is a "living document".
- The Strategic Plan will be available to read on the district website when it is completed.