Strategic Plan Update

Strategic Plan Goal #1 met on Thursday, January 9, 2025 to work on the tenets plan. This goal focuses on maximizing the value of education through all available financial streams. The District shared the work they do to establish a lobbying plan and platform to advocate for fair funding, spending time developing information and sharing ‘their story’ with stakeholders, and identifying the myriad of ways they communicate to the community. It was pointed out that regardless of the level of engagement, there will always be concerns about understanding of school finance and a recurring message that no one shares this information even though there is a plethora of examples to suggest otherwise.

Through the group's feedback, we discussed the need to take our most pressing issue, passing a Bond to address aging facilities to keep students and staff safe and buildings operational, as a catalyst to the work ahead. Suggestions from developing an easy-to-read, one pager regarding our needs came to the forefront as well as sharing data, creating targeted informational links on our website, providing opportunities to discuss and share our financial story, and answering the question of why should people invest in Chisago Lakes Schools are critical to the future advancement of our cause.

At the next meeting, we will bring back and create examples to address that feedback and work to develop a solid, comprehensive platform about our upcoming Bond campaign. Our next meeting will take place on Friday, February 14 at 7 am.

Strategic Plan Goal #2 committee met on January 14th. We briefly discussed the district's accomplishments in literacy (LETRS), student support systems (MTSS), programming, and services. Furthermore, the group segwayed the discussion to opportunities we must review to sustain and invest in to ensure the future path in these initiatives. As a result of these summaries, the group is reviewing areas such as the middle school schedule and electives, examining our high school pathways, our overall systems to provide support to students, exploring online learning, and investigating instructional coaching programs.

In an effort to take all of the current data and solicit feedback from a variety of stakeholders, the committee is designing a Needs Assessment. This assessment will be coupled with another Goal group. In the next few weeks to month, the committee will develop questions, get feedback on them to ensure we are getting the right information, and start to prepare them for a survey out to stakeholders after Spring Break. The committee will meet again on Wednesday, February 26th, at 7 am.

Strategic Plan Goal #3 met on January 23, 2025. We reviewed the current methods the district is communicating with the different audiences (ie. parents, staff, community members) through our own internal communication audit and rubric. Furthermore, we analyzed the most recent survey data from parents and community members regarding their feedback on the district's communication methods and frequencies. From the data lens, we discussed the current status and barriers to communication and did a feedback session on how to take this information and determine the ‘buckets’ of our story as well as looking at a plan to maximize our narrative through multiple lenses.

At the next meeting on February 18th, the team will talk about what people have learned through evaluating our communication and methods, we will start discussing messaging in the specific areas, and provide examples of our work in the first priority area.

Strategic Plan Goal #4 met on Friday, January 17 to work on the tasks within the goal. The meeting focused on evaluating the current state of mentorship and volunteer programs, while exploring opportunities for growth and improvement. The group reviewed existing programs, acknowledging their value while identifying areas where expansion is essential to meet student needs. Current obstacles, such as retention and recruitment of mentors and volunteers were discussed with an emphasis on the importance of maintaining time, consistency, and frequency in mentorship and volunteer efforts. The discussion highlighted not only the importance of expanding these programs district-wide, but also the critical need for targeted programming, particularly for 8th and 12th graders, where the demand for mentorship is most significant.

To better understand and address these needs, the group agreed to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment survey. The survey will gather input from a broad range of stakeholders, including parents, staff and community members, ensuring a well-rounded understanding of the district’s needs. Key goals established during the meeting include expanding opportunities, fostering deeper community engagement, and designing successful programs to enhance student support systems throughout the district. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 25, at 7 am.

Strategic Plan Goal #5 met on Monday, January 13, 2025 to work on the tenets of the plan. This goal focuses on purposefully facilitating and engaging the students, staff, families, and community members. Thank you to the group members who attended the meeting. As part of the initial review, the group heard the plethora of ways the District actively receives feedback from structured groups and planned meetings with internal stakeholders (staff, students, and parents), surveying, conversations, and in day-to-day interactions and discussions.

Based on this review, the group recognized a need to move directly toward establishing

a board listening session to provide a platform for feedback outside of those already established. Discussion surrounded exploring the idea of having district-generated topics with a purpose of guiding conversation in order to generate feedback, questions, and input from listening session attendees.

At the next meeting, we will bring forward a proposed structure for the listening session format as well as an opportunity for the group to generate ideas for topics to discuss. The group will engage in collaborative discussion on these items and determine next steps. It is anticipated the first board listening session will occur in April or May of this year. The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, February 26 at 7 am in the District Board Room.

If you are interested in learning more about any of our Strategic Plan goals or would like to join the committee, reach out to us at commumnications@isd2144.org.