The Jefferson County Board of Education is seeking residents' input on the shaping of the district's five-year strategic plan.
The Vision 2020 plan will focus on kindergarten readiness, early childhood literacy and college- and career-readiness, said Jonathan Lowe, the district's director of strategy.
But "the question before us is how do we get to the next level," he said.
He said that is where the community comes in.
Lowe said the community conversations will be "very open-ended" dialogues and he encouraged anyone with an idea or vision to attend and share thoughts.
"We are really trying to listen to what our community says. We are talking to teachers, parents, students, community leaders, business leaders—anyone who wants to engage in school-life," he said.
That outgoing strategic plan, called Vision 2015, includes calls for the district to ensure that each student is progressing in their learning and that graduates are prepared for college or a career, and boosting community involvement.
The Vision 2020 plan will likely resemble the Vision 2015 in some regards, Lowe said.
Within each strategic plan are measurable goals outlined by key strategies.
Developing those strategies, he said, are what district leaders are hoping to get direction on from community members.
This strategic plan is more of a "big picture road map" of how the district will move forward. Other, more nuanced, areas of the district's development—such as school assignment and the future of magnet programs—"are on a different track than this," Lowe said.
"It should guide the work of the whole district," he said. "As we go about our day-to-day work we should be saying, 'How does this connect to the strategies to the areas of focus, are we doing things that are going to drive change.'"
District officials are hoping to present the Vision 2020 plan to the Board of Education by Sept. 28, Lowe said.
The board will then have to approve the plan before it is adopted.
The meetings will be at:
- Friday, 8-10 a.m. at VanHoose Education Center, 3332 Newburg Road.
- May 12 6-8 p.m. at DuValle Education Center, 3610 Bohne Avenue.
- May 21 6-8 p.m. at Fairdale High School, 1001 Fairdale Road.
- May 28 6-8 p.m. at Westport Middle School, 8100 Westport Road.
The district will also host an online forum later this month for comments on the Vision 2020 plan, Lowe said.
