William Penn School District previews April launch of new strategic plan

At a Committee of the Whole meeting on March 17, 2025, William Penn School District staff gave the board an update on the district's strategic plan process and outlined next steps ahead of an April launch.

Dr. Michots, who opened the presentation, said the district remains on schedule for the timeline posted for February–March work and thanked community participants who contributed to the plan. “We are on time with the target items that are listed there,” Dr. Michots said.

The presentation, led in part by Liz Dortone, summarized work to date: community input sessions, meetings with the strategic planning committee, teacher and family advisory councils, senior staff and a student advisory council. Dortone said the group consolidated an earlier list of 12 core-value bullet points into three buckets — community, commitment and collaboration — and produced a one-page summary the staff calls the William Penn pledge. “This is our core values. This is where we took what was originally 12 bullet points and realigned it into 3 different buckets, which is community, commitment, and collaboration,” Dortone said.

Staff said they revised the district mission to emphasize stakeholders beyond staff, developed a “portrait of a graduate” with character traits for Pennwood High School graduates, and prepared a glossary of terms to clarify plan language for parents and community members. The presentation noted the pledge snapshot and other supporting documents will be incorporated into district communications materials under the working title Focus Board and Beyond (staff also used the phrasing Focus Forward and Beyond in discussion).

The board was told the district will offer three opportunities, each limited to no more than three groups of board members, to review the plan in detail before the public launch. Staff described those sessions as pre-launch briefings that board members can sign up for via a QR code in the Friday board update. The formal rollout is scheduled for the board business meeting on April 28, 2025; staff said their presentation that night may run longer than typical to allow the strategic planning committee to participate.

Priority areas in the draft plan were presented as three overarching themes: academic excellence; cohesiveness (priority 2), which staff said draws on a recent special education audit and includes four overarching goals; and efficiency, effectiveness and equity (priority 3), with three overarching goals. Dr. Michots told the board he expects to provide an update on steps already taken in response to the special education audit in the Friday board update. “I should be in a position to give the board an update, in this Friday's board update on what steps we've already taken in regards to the special education audit,” he said.

Staff also noted alternatives to the phrase “pledge” under consideration (staff listed “promise” and “way” as options) and said final wording will be decided as the remaining framework is completed. The district said the plan is intended to be inclusive of the six boroughs the district serves and that communications staff will coordinate use of the pledge and portrait of a graduate in outreach.

Board members who spoke during the meeting thanked staff for the update and said they look forward to the April launch. No formal votes or policy actions on the plan were taken at the March 17 Committee of the Whole meeting; staff described the presentation as an informational update and invited board members to the pre-launch sessions and the April 28 business meeting for the formal rollout.