4R seeks input for strategic plan

As part of a brief 4R school board meeting, Aurora Supt. Jody Phillips gave board members an update on the upcoming start to the development of the district’s strategic plan. 
The plan is a long way from being finalized, but the first steps were set to be in motion Tuesday, Oct. 11, with the first of three community input sessions.
Each meeting will be held starting at 6:30 p.m. in the middle school commons. 
“That’s designed to be an interactive process where parents, community members, whoever wants to participate, can come,” Phillips explained. “I will give brief information about certain topics that we’re interested in and then following my brief remarks they will speak together at their tables and come up with ideas, suggestions and discussion points that they want to give back to me that will move forward.”
Additional community input sessions (that it is requested the public RSVP to) will be held Oct. 24 and Oct. 27. 
“Then (we’re) also going to be working with the Chamber of Commerce and doing one specifically designed for the business community,” he added. “That will happen in November sometime. I don’t have the official date yet.”
There will also be an input session hosted with district administration, as well as one with staff. Both sessions will not be hosted by Phillips, he explained, so everyone can “speak freely.”
“After that I will take all of the information and compile that and get a survey ready that will go out to the whole community, the whole district, for them to be able to let us know what it is that they want within those specific categories,” he said. “And once we get that data back, that’s where you, the board, will get that information.”
As part of the annual board retreat, members will have a chance to look at the survey data together and start formulating goals, a mission, model core values and beliefs, and more.
“We will end up creating kind of an action plan for the district for the next 5 to 10 years, wherever we want to go with that,” Phillips said. 
There is no definite end-date set for an “official” district strategic plan release, he concluded, though it will be after the beginning of the 2023 calendar year.
Phillips officially invited members of the public to these community input sessions in a mass email sent out Oct. 4. 
“This year, our district will be conducting a strategic plan designed to shape the overall direction and goals of our district for the future (immediate and long term),” Phillips said in the email. “The strategic planning process will consist of various steps/phases.”
As referenced in the email, these steps and phases include: 
* community input sessions;
* business/industry input session;
* staff input session;
* district-wide survey;
* school board retreat for data analysis;
* school board retreat for plan and goal development.
The community input sessions are capped at 100 individuals, therefore an RSVP for the session is requested. If the interest exceeds capacity, Phillips said, the district will try to accommodate. 
“As a point of reference, our strategic plan will cover topics such as, facilities, academic programming, student achievement, extracurriculars, budget/finance, mission and core values, school safety and more,” Phillips concluded. “Again, your input is very important in helping us form the direction of our district.”
Those with questions regarding the strategic plan or community input sessions are invited to call (402-694-6923, Option 5) or email (jphillips@4rhuskies.org).
In other items, the board:
* heard a presentation on Sixpence via Lisa Kluck; 
* heard administrative and superintendent reports;
* approved recognition of Aurora Education Association as exclusive bargaining agent for the district’s non-supervisory certificated staff for the 2024-25 contract year.