Site Councils Help Customize School Strategic Plans

Each school community in the Shawnee Mission School District is creating and customizing its own Strategic Plan. On. Feb. 19, individuals representing each Shawnee Mission school community met at five high schools for a districtwide meeting of Site Councils to move this work forward.

Each individual school Strategic Plan  is being developed by school Site Councils with the same objective, which comes directly from the district’s Strategic Plan: Every student will have a personalized learning plan that supports them in being college and career ready and having the interpersonal skills important to life success.

“No two schools are alike, so each school must have a plan that works specifically for the students they serve,” Superintendent Mike Fulton said. “What works for one building may not work for another. Customized school building plans, within defined parameters, are essential to helping us ensure we are supporting each student, not just some of our students. Each school plan supports our work as a district- to help every student achieve life success.”

Each school in Kansas is required to have a site council that participates in the school’s accreditation process through the Kansas Education Systems Accreditation (KESA) process. Parents, students, principals, and staff members from each school make up the Site Council, which studies and plans its school’s customized school building Strategic Plan and discuss continuous improvement.

Attendees from all schools reviewed the districtwide Strategic Plan, which was developed by parents, teachers, staff, students and community members. They also took time to study and plan district-level data related to academic performance, discipline, and individualized plans of study. The purpose of studying the data is to provide an honest look at the needs each school faces and the collective work ahead for the district and communities.

Once the reviews were complete, Site Council members gathered for more school-specific conversation. They met to review school building data, monitor progress on school goals, review school improvement goals and action plans, and provide recommendations.

The studying and planning, combined with the insight and ideas community members bring to the process, is essential, Fulton noted.

“Great schools are not a function of luck, but the result of a community that grows together to ensure the success of every learner,” Fulton said.