Board receives strategic planning update emphasizing community, culture and climate

At the meeting, district staff provided an update on the Manassas Park City Schools strategic planning effort, reporting preliminary engagement results and the next steps for developing a new plan. Carissa, a district staff member leading the update, said consultant EdElements had synthesized input gathered at a January 7 joint board meeting and from a live survey. The staff presentation identified three primary themes emerging from engagement so far: community, culture and climate, and challenges the strategic plan should address. Carissa said the survey was live, focus groups would begin the following week, and a planning team will begin design work in early March. When a board member asked how many survey responses had been collected, Carissa replied, "300." She also told the board the consultant will synthesize survey and focus-group data and share theme-based findings with the district and steering groups. Board members asked whether results would be disaggregated by respondent category (for example, parents, staff, students); Carissa confirmed that survey respondents self-identify their category and that the consultant will break down results accordingly. The presentation noted planned focus groups for elementary and secondary staff, middle- and high-school student groups, and parent groups. No formal action was taken; the item was an informational update.