District presents interim 2025-26 strategic plan with attendance and staff-development targets

The district presented an interim strategic plan for the 2025-26 school year at the school board meeting, outlining six core focus areas — positive student-teacher relationships, evidence of student growth, safety, effective classroom management, student attendance and highly qualified teachers — and three strategic areas of focus: college and career readiness, quality faculty and staff development, and aligned resources.

The interim plan is a one-year set of guiding goals designed to be replaced after broader stakeholder input. "We did an interim strategic plan, and we just did this temporarily for the school year of 2526 so that we had, guiding goals and principles to lead us on for this school year," a district presenter told the board. The presenter said the interim plan followed three planning meetings attended by seven members consistently, and staff surveys informed the goals.

Board members were told the plan intentionally omits initiatives the district does not have data or capacity to complete within a year. The presenter said staff removed items that could not be achieved in the 12-month period and prioritized short-term, implementable objectives. The district will begin roundtable discussions with community stakeholders after the school year begins to draft a multi-year strategic plan.

The plan includes measurable expectations for staff and student attendance. "We have 5%, that we don't want our teachers missing 5% or more of instruction time unless they're attending a PD or an absence," the presenter said. The plan also flags student attendance: the presenter described a target related to students missing 10% or more of instructional days. A board member asked whether the "10%" referenced in the plan corresponds to the district discipline matrix; the presenter said she did not oversee the discipline matrix and could not answer that question directly.

The presentation described staff-development steps and a paraprofessional-to-teacher pathway supported through an external grant program. The presenter said two district staff were approved for the Florida Learns grant: Christina Bray at Steinhatchee was approved to advance from paraprofessional to teacher through the program, and another previously employed staff member was approved to pursue a doctorate. The presenter said the district offers multiple opportunities through PACE and is encouraging staff to pursue degrees and professional growth.

The presenter also described district efforts to align communications and resources: school and district messaging now use consistent language, school advisory councils (SAC committees) and a district parent advisory council remain active, and the district will expand mentorship and resiliency supports for students. The presenter cited a recent legislative change that removed a prior requirement for advisory committee membership to align with school ethnicities; the presenter characterized that requirement as a barrier and said it had been removed, but did not provide a statute or bill number.

What happens next: the presenter said the district will pursue broader stakeholder engagement and roundtable discussions after the school year starts to build a longer-term strategic plan and to refine metrics and implementation timelines.