Rocky+River+Information

As per the syllabus:

** ROCKY RIVER STRATEGIC PLANNING ASSIGNMENT **

__ Directions: __ You may do this assignment alone or in a small group of other colleagues (3-4). After reviewing the power point slides on the process of strategic planning, and the individual interests of the //__six board members__//, as well as vital information about the Rocky River School District, you are to: 1. __ Write a strategic vision statement __ which will most likely satisfy the board members and serve as an initial document for the SPCC (Strategic Planning Coordinating Committee) as listed in the course syllabus for representatives of the parents, taxpayers, educators, and students (pp. 18-19). Be sure your vision statement meets the criteria in the course syllabus for a vision statement (p. 20). 2. __ Write a district mission statement __ for the Rocky River School District which meets the criteria set form in the course syllabus (pp. 21-22). 3. __ Develop a general timeline of activities to be undertaken in the first year of implementation __ of the strategic plan indicating the following: (a) the nature of the action; (b) sub-activities of the major action; (c) who is to take the responsibility for completing the action or sub-action; (d) when the action will be taken (use a timeline based on 12 months); (e) what form the action will ultimately assume (a report, written or oral to? And; (f) how will the outcome be evaluated, that is, determined to have been accomplished? Perhaps the best way to do this is with a simple Gantt chart (the most common method for indicating multiple activities. 4. __ Remember __ that the three reasons for planning are: (1) //prepare for the inevitable;// (2) //pre-empt the undesirable, and;// (3) //control the controllable.// = BASIC FACTS ABOUT ROCKY RIVER SCHOOL DISTRICT = 1. The school district is located in the northwest part of a state. Its total population is 253,000. It has been a manufacturing center, home to more than 400 industries with a total labor force, not including agriculture, of 130,000. The current unemployment rate is 4.7%. The median household income is $28,900 and the median age of city residents is 33. 2. The school system includes 158 square miles of two counties, Alpha and Beta. It employs over 2,049 certified staff and 1,831 non-certified support personnel. 3. Of the approximate 26,000 students, 55.6% were Caucasian, 29.7 percent were African American, 8.3 percent were Latino and 3% were Native American and/or Asian/Pacific Islander. 4. Approximately 48% of the students are considered low SES based on free and reduced lunch counts. 5. About 8.3% of the student body are classified as limited English proficient with the major languages being Spanish, Laotian, and Bosnian. 6. The Latino population is the fastest growing group. 7. The dropout rate for the district is 8.8% with a range of 5.9% to 11.2% reported at the high schools. The overall rate of attendance is 91.3%. The district mobility rate is 17.2%. The high school graduation rate is 75.8%. 8. The current system consists of 39 elementary schools (K-6), four middle schools (7-8), and four high schools (9-12), three special education centers, and an adult alternative high school facility. 9. The school district has had a 152 year history of conflict, litigation, educational innovation, and change. In the last ten years there have been four superintendents. The board has had a long history of conflict over the past 20 years, but finally looks like it may stabilize(see profiles in the handout); 10. The 2nd to the last Superintendent (Dr. Curt Cuttcost) proposed a massive school re-organization plan which was prompted by a projected $9 million dollar budget deficit. It would have closed ten schools, merged four others at the elementary level, and cut nearly 200 jobs in the system, including 10-15 administrators; 125-140 teachers and certified staff, along with 40-80 clerical, and 30-35 custodial positions. The proposed closings, mergers, and staff reductions would have pared $7.3 million from the school budget. Unfortunately for Dr. Cuttcost, in a board recall, the majority were all replaced by the current board. 11. Serious problems remain, however. There is still the projected budget deficit. 15 of 35 elementary schools remain largely racially segregated. 12. A community group, Taxpayers United, wants to initiate a plan of controlled choice by forming magnet high schools, non-magnet middle schools, and leave the current elementary schools segregated. Their support base has not expanded recently. The Taxpayer’s group has also criticized the new board for their lack of direction and a gap in any serious planning activities which would demonstrate that the board and the administration were getting serious about bringing the district’s expenditures into line with its revenues; 13. The district has a strong teachers association which considers its contract (called the “agreement”) with the board a “model” for the rest of the state, even though there is no mandatory collective bargaining law in existence. 14. The current assessment system shows that only two elementary schools, one middle school and one high school will make their AYPs for the year. These are all located in the wealthier part of the city. There are serious achievement gaps in all of the remainder of the schools on virtually every aspect of the state assessment program: math, science, language arts, and reading. 15. Most of the current principals have all been promoted from within the system. Nearly all appear to be content with continuing whatever programs they have put into place in their schools. There is no consistency among the programs. None have ever been evaluated as to effectiveness. There is no principal involvement in budget development. 16. There is an informal “system” in place in the district in which new teachers are hired into low performing schools, obtain tenure and seniority and transfer out to the “good” schools as soon as they can. Teacher turnover rates at some of the chronically low performing schools run as high as 40% per year. While the district has a competitive salary schedule for the area, it is not enough to stem the tide of turnover at the low performing and/or troubled schools. These schools have also been “dumping grounds” for incompetent principals in the past. 17. There has been much criticism of the central office curriculum department. The area appears to have been staffed with tenured teachers who got into trouble in the schools and were “kicked upstairs” to be rid of them. Many have nice offices and rarely get into the schools. Very few know about recent trends in their respective subject areas. While there is some talk about “curriculum alignment,” there are no plans to engage in actual alignment. There is no central curriculum to speak of at all. The actual curriculum decisions are made by the school principals. The division is headed by Neal Nice who is a former soccer coach at the oldest high school in the city. Mr. Nice is famous for his staff Christmas parties which are legendary for length and hilarity. Part of the event is a parody of the board of education and how they behave at board meetings. 18. The district’s assessment department is run by Dr. Hard Data, who speaks in “statistical argot” and is rarely ever invited to come to the schools or give a board report because he puts people down or off with his obtuse jargon. He makes people feel like dummies and seems to enjoy doing it. His staff are intensely loyal to him. They enjoy putting together complicated reports and going to research meetings to present them. They have received numerous academic awards for this kind of work. Recently, they contacted some board members behind the scenes to propose becoming a separate unit which only reported to the board and not the superintendent. Dr. Hard Data has even proposed that the board receive reports he prepares that no one else sees at all. 19. The staff development department is run by Gail Feelgood, who believes that the main purpose of staff development is to present “options” to people. She has openly balked about developing a strategic plan, saying that it will prevent her area from being “flexible.” She says she never saw an innovation in anything she didn’t like or wouldn’t feel would be “good” for kids. She is proud of the fact that there is no real central staff development plan in place, and besides, she can’t stand Dr. Hard Data.