EMS ISD presents balanced scorecard, four strategic priorities to board for September adoption

Superintendent Hollingsworth and district leadership presented a draft balanced scorecard on Aug. 25 designed to translate the district’s strategic plan into measurable long-term outcomes and monthly lead measures.

The scorecard lists four priorities: student excellence and academics; recruitment and retention of quality staff; parents, families and community engagement; and financial integrity and effective operations. Hollingsworth said the scorecard’s purpose is “to provide that clarity” and to set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time‑bound) goals that campus and department leaders will cascade into local implementation steps.

Under Priority 1, the district’s core work, the draft long‑term outcome is that “every student grows one year every year” with multiple lead measures tied to reading, math and grade‑level differences. Priority 1 also includes College, Career and Military Readiness (CCMR) and social‑emotional objectives. Priority 2 emphasizes staff feeling valued and positions being fully staffed by the first day of school; Priority 3 covers two‑way family engagement and strategic partner relationships; Priority 4 includes systems thinking, safety and a goal to reach a balanced budget by the 2029–30 school year.

Hollingsworth told trustees the leadership team convened committees beginning May 15, engaged a consultant and presented committee work on July 22. The board will be asked to adopt the four priorities, strategic objectives and the draft long‑term (lag) measures at the September meeting; he said the committees’ key actions are living documents and will be used operationally but are not being presented for formal adoption.

Board members asked about measurement cadence, how campus cascades will work, and whether long‑term outcomes will be revisited. Hollingsworth said the district will provide monthly balanced‑scorecard updates at board meetings beginning in October and will include implementation walk data and campus‑level cascades showing how each campus or department will contribute to district goals. He noted some outcomes will be different by grade and subject and that committees set baselines and SMART targets.

The board did not vote on the scorecard at the Aug. 25 meeting; trustees asked administration to return with the adoption items in September and with examples showing how district goals will be translated to campus actions.