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Bernards Township BOE unveils draft five-year strategic plan; seeks public feedback
Summary
The Bernards Township Board of Education presented a draft strategic plan and invited public comment, highlighting four focus strands—academics, student connectedness, staff wellness and operational efficiency—and requesting community input before finalizing goals.
The Bernards Township Board of Education presented a draft five-year strategic plan at a public meeting and invited residents, staff and board members to provide feedback before the plan is finalized.
The draft frames the district's priorities around four strands: academics, student connectedness and wellness, staff wellness/professional development, and operational efficiency. The presenter described the community-engagement process used to create the draft, including multiple ThoughtExchange surveys, virtual focus sessions and Panorama social-emotional learning (SEL) surveys, and said linked survey data and supporting materials are embedded in the draft for public review.
The presenter told the audience the document is a draft and asked attendees to sign in so their participation would be noted. Board members and residents raised specific concerns and clarifying requests during public comment, including smartphone-related language in the draft and measurement approaches for wellness programs.
Board member Miss White asked the presenter to clarify a bullet that read "implement more smartphone-friendly communication systems," saying the phrase could be misread as endorsing student smartphone use rather than improving readability for parents. The presenter answered that the intent was to make district messaging easier to read on smartphones for parents and guardians, not to expand student phone use during school.
Several residents supported the process and urged clearer metrics. Stacy Molloring, Transit Friendly Drive, said the district's cell-phone limits at the high school were an important wellness step and called the smartphone language "a little vague," asking for firmer wording. Fred Klaus praised the engagement process and asked for comparative data so the community can see how strong, average and struggling students fare relative to New Jersey peers.
Karen Cooper, Meatflower Drive, urged expansion of executive-functioning and study-skills instruction and asked that programming address twice-exceptional students explicitly. In response, the presenter acknowledged the challenge of serving twice-exceptional students and said the district will consider ways to reflect that need in the final plan.
The board signaled it will refine the draft based on comments, finalize district goals by September and then align annual district goals and metrics with the five-year plan. No formal vote was taken; the session served to collect public input and to direct staff to revise the draft for a future meeting.
