Strategic Plan
In 2023, DPS partnered with Teamworks International Inc., an education consulting firm based in Centerville, Minnesota, to work through a Classroom to Boardroom strategic planning process to avoid some of the conventional pitfalls that befall school districts that create a strategic plan independently. The overall process and strategic plan will be created with input from students, staff, families and community members. This process allows the district to create an updated, clear three-year operational plan, a progress monitoring schedule and a three-year school board plan focused on system-wide enhancements to improve outcomes.
The Process
The strategic planning process consists of three key phases, each composed of three smaller components.
The initial phase involved assessing the history and current needs of the district. This consisted of developing a recent history of the district history, its challenges, the context in which a plan would be created and the influences that affect the district as well as assessing the strengths and needs of buildings and departments.
The second phase involved drafting priorities and objectives for the plan to implement. This consisted of drafting a theory of action and summarizing a plan using metrics and measures. A major component in the second phase was asking staff, families and students what they wanted each of their days to look like instead of asking for specific policies to implement. This action step occurred in the spring 2024 and helped create outcomes stakeholders desired while allowing planners to implement best practices that will create those outcomes.
The third phase involved creating a three-year school operational plan containing initiatives and strategies for improvement as well as a plan for the board to support the operational plan.
The plan will also outline the roles of the Delano School Board as a governing body, the roles of district administration as managing bodies and the roles of parents, staff and the public as consultative bodies.