The superintendent on Thursday brought a proposed Ignite 2027 strategic plan to the school board's workshop and asked trustees for feedback before a formal adoption hearing.

The proposal keeps the district mission in place, centers work on three strategic pillars — “connected by community,” “fueled by innovation” and “driven by leadership” — and shifts the district from a five‑year planning cycle to a two‑year cycle with biennial updates, Superintendent Dr. Moore said.

The change is intended to accelerate implementation and more frequently evaluate progress: "we've adopted 100% of the students obtain a learning game," Dr. Moore said when summarizing the plan's accountability focus. He described the two‑year cycle as a way to "wire to learn fast," shortening the horizon so leaders can adapt more quickly.

Why it matters: trustees and staff said the shorter planning cycle could help the district react to rapid change and keep goals urgent, but several board members warned it risks short‑termism and suggested three years as a compromise. Policy 2115 — cited in the workshop — instructs that the district’s strategic plan be five years unless the board votes otherwise, and several trustees said the board should amend policy before approving a two‑year plan.

Major elements and targets: Dr. Jacobs, the district chief of staff, walked trustees through the plan's five focus areas (academic success; safety, culture and climate; communication and engagement; talent development and support; organizational and fiscal responsibility). The draft ties outcomes to annual targets, such as increases in foundational reading and mathematics achievement and growth on state achievement measures that the presentation compared against a 2019‑20 baseline (examples cited in the presentation: ELA 3+ from 52 to 64, math 3+ up 10 points, science up 15 points and social studies up 14 points from the baseline).

Staff emphasized accountability and operational alignment: the plan moves pre‑K alignment, centralizes early childhood supports, and calls for a family entry/exit data system so the district can track why families join or leave. Dr. Jacobs described operational steps including an AI oversight work group, monthly “innovation investment” spotlights, and closer alignment with the Indian River Education Fund.

School improvement process: Curriculum staff presented the district's school improvement plan (SIP) cycle, a four‑phase continuous improvement model that runs August–October, October–January, January–March and a final reflection phase. Schools will submit SIPs to the board in September for approval and will use frequent data checks, instructional walkthroughs and "impact walks" to refine interventions, the presenter said.

Trustee feedback and next steps: Trustees split over the timeline. Board member Jacqueline Rosario and others pressed for clarity on how the plan ties to the budget and said they want a visible alignment of dollars to strategic priorities; trustee Mr. Dyer and others supported a shorter cycle to sustain urgency. Dr. Posca urged caution about rolling major programmatic changes (such as classical school expansions) into a two‑year window because some initiatives need three‑to‑five years to show transformational results.

The superintendent asked staff to return a revised draft and said staff would brief trustees on any policy changes needed to adopt a two‑year plan before final approval.

Ending: Trustees did not vote on the plan at the workshop; the superintendent said the draft will be revised to reflect board input and brought back for formal consideration at the scheduled adoption meeting.