Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Strategic Plan topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District previews strategic plan draft focused on sustaining academics and embedding innovation across schools
Summary
District staff presented early findings from its 2025–2030 strategic plan process—nearly 6,000 data points and town-hall input—proposing five focus areas and urging innovation to be embedded across each area rather than siloed.
Dr. Jacobs presented an April update on the district’s strategic planning process for 2025–2030, summarizing participation and initial themes from a broad “listen and learn” effort. Jacobs said the district has collected nearly 6,000 data points and hosted about 450 community contacts, including a town hall with roughly 150 participants, focus groups and aligned work groups funded in part by the Indian River Education Fund.
He described three grant-backed initiatives: the Indian River Leadership Institute (a cross-sector leadership program funded by the Indian River Education Fund), a Strategic Innovation and Leadership work group of district leaders, and a DesignEd work group (secondary high-potential teachers, funded by a separate Indian River Education Fund grant). The leadership institute, Jacobs said, included private-sector leaders from banking, law and aviation and covered topics such as design thinking, branding and change management.
Jacobs summarized key themes the focus groups endorsed: innovative learning and pathway development (endorsed by ~90% of groups), collaborative student/family/community partnerships (90%), academic growth and instructional impact, technology/process innovation (80%), safety/wellness (70%) and leadership/succession pipeline (70%). He proposed five draft focus areas for the strategic plan: academic success; safety, culture and climate; community communication and engagement; talent development and support; and organizational/fiscal responsibility. Jacobs said the plan aims to “sustain, innovate and lead” while preserving what he described as the “Indian River way of life.”
Board members pushed the planning team to make innovation more prominent and accountable. Board member Mr. Dyer urged that innovation not be buried as a cross-cutting value but given clearer ownership and measurable KPIs; other members suggested the board should supply a ranked set of priorities for the final draft. Several board members also asked that the strategic plan more explicitly list school-choice initiatives discussed during listen-and-learn sessions—classical-model schools, K–8 configuration issues, and expansion of dual-enrollment and CTE pathways.
The board and staff agreed on next steps: Jacobs said staff will draft strategies linked to focus areas and consult content experts across the district. The board asked for a short, prioritized list of the board’s top legislative/strategic asks and for the plan to show how innovation would be measured and resourced. Dr. Moore remarked that the district must “go to where parents are” (pre-K centers, churches) and that some of the plan’s design should drive how the district markets school choice and new program models.
Ending: Staff will refine strategies, return draft language and KPIs based on the board’s feedback, and present a prioritized one-page summary the board can use for legislative and public communications.
