SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The process to implement the South Orange-Maplewood School District’s strategic plan is under way following the Board of Education’s 8-1 vote — with board member Johanna Wright voting nay — to pass a resolution approving the plan’s strategic direction and action plan during its Dec. 19 meeting.
Residents are invited to offer input on what actions they believe should be prioritized using an online survey that was actually launched before the strategic plan was adopted. Superintendent of Schools John Ramos Sr. said a strategic leadership team consisting of himself and the district’s two assistant superintendents, business administrator, director of special services and director of strategic communications will then use that feedback, in addition to guidance from the board, to begin work on one-year and three-year implementation schedules later this month.
According to the resolution, which formally transfers leadership of the strategic planning process from the action planning committees to the administration, the first-year schedule is due by Feb. 15. That schedule will be aligned to the SOMSD’s 2017-18 budget. Both the schedule and the budget will be adopted in March.
And while the strategic plan may not be in effect yet, Ramos lauded the board’s approval as a “most significant step” forward for the district. The superintendent explained that having a plan focused on the big picture will give the SOMSD a “true north” to guide its work and ensure that it is working systematically toward achieving its goals. On top of that, he said the plan’s adoption demonstrates just how much the community and district are in sync.
“It is the culmination of widespread community and staff engagement and truly reflects a collective vision,” Ramos told the News-Record in a Dec. 22 email. “It has been said that ‘a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.’ This step speaks volumes about the ownership and commitment that people in the SOMSD feel towards the future of its public schools.”
Ramos is not the only one enthusiastic about the strategic plan’s passage. Nearly all the board members expressed a belief during the Dec. 19 meeting that the plan will have a significantly positive impact on the district. That included Beth Daugherty, who lauded the nine action planning committees for producing steps she thinks will create a “learning-centered environment” that will “dramatically improve students’ lives.” Likewise, Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad pointed out that the strategic plan can be used to focus all energies into a unified vision instead of having stakeholders pull in different directions.
Board President Elizabeth Baker acknowledged that some of the programs included in the action plan might not work out as hoped, which is why pilots will be necessary. And Baker said it will take a lot of work and dialog to make the plan a success. But she stressed that the plan had to be adopted because the district will only thrive if it concentrates on both its fundamental tasks and its aspirations.
“If we don’t have the fundamentals down first, then that has to be the first step before we can get aspirational,” Baker said. “But we need the aspiration — we need the dreams, we need the goals, we need the values — to inform the work and to help us resolve the everyday situations that confront every one of us as parents, as teachers, as students in our schools.”
In a Jan. 3 email, Baker further explained that she voted in favor of the resolution so that the district and the board would have a “shared commitment and common reference point” to every aspect of their work. She reiterated that the strategic plan will not come at the expense of enhancing core systems. Instead, she said, it will only enable the SOMSD to improve itself in all areas.
“Operational excellence and a welcoming, learner-centered educational vision must go hand-in-hand,” Baker told the News-Record.
Several community members in attendance at the meeting also voiced their support for the plan and commended the process in which it was developed. Jane Bleasdale, who served on an action planning committee, said her graduate students were all impressed by the district’s openness and engagement while following the process. Bleasdale joked that any school district that tries to build a consensus among approximately 100 people across nine committees is either optimistic or insane, but the SOMSD has managed to do something she does not think any other district in the United States has been able to do in making the process work.
Some residents may not be completely satisfied with the strategic plan, but action planning committee members Scott Stornetta and Tammy Steckler both stressed that there are plenty of opportunities for people to provide input. In fact, Steckler said she has never seen another district so willing to accept feedback. That should give people hope that the plan will make a difference, she said.
“As a community we need to come from a place of ‘We can,’” Steckler said. “We need to say ‘This can work. This will work.’
“This was an incredible process to be a part of,” she continued. “I am so hopeful of the changes this will produce.”
Not everyone in the audience was so optimistic. Melanie Hochberg Giger said she was concerned having nine strategies and more than 40 deliverables will take attention and funding away from important issues not included in the plan. Giger said she has already noticed the SOMSD has been much more communicative about the strategic planning process than other subjects, such as what is being done to fill the media specialist position at Marshall Elementary School. She thus urged the BOE to remember there are matters outside the plan that are just as pressing in terms of students’ education.
“The strategic plan includes some great ideas,” Giger, who served on an action planning committee, said. “But what I’m asking the board and the administration is, to please address the day-to-day needs of the district with the energy, financial resources, human resources and general bandwidth that they need. Tending to the maintenance of a house isn’t as captivating as designing a new addition. But it’s just as important, if not more so.”
Marykay Pavol also had reservations about moving forward with the strategic plan without a clear understanding of how it will be financed. Pavol said even the best initiatives will not help students if they have to continuously start and stop due to a lack of resources. She suggested the board members wait until they had more information about the plan’s future before voting.
Joe Malespina, too, felt the board should postpone its decision until it knows exactly how the strategic plan will be implemented and funded. Approving the plan without all the necessary information is like putting the cart before the horse, Malespina said. He even presented a petition with 150 signatures requesting that the vote be delayed for that very reason.
If it had been up to Johanna Wright, the sole board member to vote against the strategic plan, the BOE would not have made a decision Dec. 19. Wright told the News-Record there was no reason for the board members needed to adopt the plan at that meeting, especially when they have not been provided with financial information or an implementation schedule. Without those details, she said the board was obligated to reject the resolution, and the fact that it did not serves as a betrayal of those it is supposed to serve, she said.
“We can’t continue to operate like this,” Wright said in a Dec. 22 phone interview. “We can’t continue to vote in lockstep with whatever the superintendent wants. We have to think about the students, we have to think about the taxpayers — our stakeholders.”
Wright does not have high hopes for the strategic plan, describing it as just words on paper since it has no financial or implementation plan to back it up. She said she is also concerned that there is a lot missing from the strategic plan that needs to be addressed, such as bullying and equity issues. Not including them in the plan means they have already been forgotten, she said.
The board member added that the principals and department heads have already submitted their budget requests for the coming year, so she does not know how well the strategic plan will be tied into the 2017-18 budget. Yet since the plan is moving forward, Wright said she just wishes that the administration will at least involve teachers in formulating the implementation schedule since they will know what is needed in their classrooms.
Ramos said teachers and administrators will have plenty of opportunities to participate in prioritizing actions, devising ways of implementation and assessing the success of initiatives. The resolution even requires a collaboration between the administration, board and staff on that front. Beyond that, he pointed out that faculty members have already weighed in since several were involved with the strategic direction committee and action planning committees.
As for funding the plan, Ramos said the district’s use of a zero-based budgeting process is expected to produce cost-saving measures. Additionally, the superintendent said the SOMSD is pursuing new revenue streams, including renting out facilities, partnering with outside organizations and fundraising. And, some actions in the plan have either already been implemented or have no expense attached, he added.
Though the budget requests have indeed been submitted by the principals and department heads, district spokeswoman Suzanne Turner said that will not hurt the strategic plan’s chances of aligning with the 2017-18 budget.
“(The requests are) only one component of designing the budget for the entire district,” Turner told the News-Record in a Dec. 22 email. “There will be time to incorporate those strategic plan initiatives included in the year one implementation schedule.”
Meanwhile, the district maintains that issues not included in the strategic plan will still be given the attention they need. A frequently asked questions document released shortly after the plan was passed says the district has an execution plan meant to focus on doing the SOMSD’s core business more effectively. This includes capital planning, implementation of the access and equity policy and other initiatives intended to improve school climate.
“Current issues will still be addressed directly through the execution plan, while the strategic plan focuses more on innovation,” the document states.
Additionally, Ramos previously told the News-Record that some action plan deliverables can address issues indirectly. For instance, he said a planned mentorship program is meant to improve the social and emotional lives of students, which could in turn prevent bullying.
Other deliverables featured in the strategic plan include creating inquiry-based middle school math classrooms, developing a protocol for hiring and retaining teachers in relation to cultural competency, and strengthening the district’s information and referral system.
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