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Board hears strategic plan draft and pushes town halls after critics fault outreach and equity
Summary
Vice Chair Alex Bohannon and staff presented a draft 2025–26 strategic plan focused on academics, behavior, culture and future success and announced a series of town halls; community members urged delay and fuller review after concerns about steering committee makeup and outreach.
Board Vice Chair Alex Bohannon and executive director Alexandra Hoskins on April 22 updated the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education on the draft 2025–26 strategic plan, saying the district will move from a “We Listen” phase into a series of town halls to gather feedback on draft goals and metrics before finalizing the plan later this year.
"We're about to move into our We Connect campaign," Bohannon said, describing a planned schedule of community town halls including a newly added session in East Winston at Carver High School. Alexandra Hoskins said the draft plan centers on four goals—academic skills, behavior/life skills, culture/belonging and future success—and staff will develop aligned metrics to measure progress.
Public commenters and at least one advocacy coalition told the board they lacked trust in the plan process. "This is yet another act of deception surrounding the strategic plan," said Tyla McDowell of Unmute Winston Salem, alleging the 15-member steering committee was 86% white and that commitments made to the coalition on April 14 had not been honored. McDowell said the coalition had been promised public records by April 30 and more time to review them before the board finalized the plan.
Marty Creech told the board the district is "broken" and urged trustees to pause new initiatives and craft a shared vision before moving forward, arguing that prior plans had failed to produce different outcomes. Creech said the district should “eradicate the very first goal” tying success narrowly to growth and proficiency.
Board members said staff will be flexible about the final approval date to allow substantial community feedback. Bohannon and Hoskins emphasized the plan will be socialized via town halls and that staff will refine visuals and metrics to better link strategies to goals after listening sessions. "One of the things we are gonna work on is making sure that visually speaking, you can see the relationship," Bohannon said in response to board questions about clarity.
No formal vote was taken on the draft plan at the meeting. Staff said the next steps include a series of town halls across the county, incorporation of community feedback, development of measurable success metrics this summer, and a final board review in early summer or later depending on community input.
