Superintendent Dr. Robert Robinson and School Perceptions consultant Derek Gottlieb presented a new five‑year strategic plan and a district "portrait of a graduate" at a board workshop Monday, summarizing stakeholder engagement and proposing measurable board goals and committee-level key performance indicators. "Tonight, I wanted to provide the district's new strategic plan designed to guide our work over the coming years," Dr. Robinson said as he opened the workshop.

The plan grew from a stakeholder engagement survey and focus groups that the consultant said generated more than 1,200 responses and guided priorities for academics, student supports and college-and-career readiness. Derek Gottlieb of School Perceptions described aggregated survey scores, areas of strength and recurring concerns — particularly variation in experiences across classrooms and buildings — and said parents, staff and community members converged on priorities such as recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers, life skills and career-technical education.

Why it matters: the plan sets districtwide expectations from 4K through 12th grade, outlines a portrait of a graduate with five traits and establishes four measurable board goals intended to drive resource decisions and committee oversight over the next five years.

Main points: Dr. Robinson said the portrait of a graduate is built around five themes — core academic readiness and potential; collaboration; voice and agency; removing barriers and building bridges; and student ownership and accountability. The plan maps competencies and benchmarks by grade bands (4K–K, grades 1–3, 4–5, 6–8, 9–10, and 11–12) and pairs those with district actions such as universal SEL screening and a revised curriculum structure.

Consultant findings: Gottlieb summarized survey index scores and the focus‑group analysis. He said community respondents ranked the district in the mid‑threes (on a 0–5 scale) for leadership, communication and academics compared with similar districts, and identified consistent top priorities across stakeholder groups: high-quality teachers and staff, career-and-technical offerings, life skills, and mental-health services. He also reported that staff responses showed predictable concerns about workload and discipline practices; he highlighted that "feeling safe at work" is a strong predictor of staff retention and willingness to recommend the district as an employer.

Board goals and targets: the board-level goals the superintendent presented are time‑bound and measurable. Examples include: raising the share of third‑grade students who score proficient or advanced on the Wisconsin Forward exam (literacy) from 30.3% to 45% within five years, and increasing eighth‑grade mathematics proficiency from 41% to 55% in five years. A college-and-career-readiness goal would raise the share of students participating in at least one advanced course, industry credential, dual-credit enrollment or work-based learning from 21.3% to 45% within five years. Robinson said the targets will be monitored with interim benchmarks tied to local assessments such as FastBridge and to inputs including coaching, interventions and curriculum alignment.

Oversight and accountability: the superintendent proposed that board committees adopt key performance indicators (KPIs) tied to each goal. Committee KPIs will be assessed quarterly, with written notes and status updates recorded at the beginning, middle and end of each school year; those reports will be used to adjust strategies. Carolyn (title not specified in the presentation) demonstrated a KPI tracking worksheet the administration plans to use to record progress and committee feedback.

Public roll-out and approval: Robinson asked the board for consideration of approval and said the administration will roll the plan out to staff and families, host community information sessions and post materials on the district website. "If there's something that you see as you go through it, send us a note," Robinson said; he said administration will share follow-up questions and responses with all board members.

What was not decided: the board did not take a formal vote on the plan in the workshop. Robinson said the plan could be brought for formal approval at an upcoming meeting if the board needs additional time to review it.

Ending: Board members asked clarifying questions about grade‑level alignment, whether the plan would be updated if milestones are missed, and how specialty program requests would be tested with community input. "This is a living document," Robinson said, adding the administration would return quarterly KPI reports to the board for adjustment and oversight.