Frederick County Public Schools begins five-year strategic plan process; board members given survey deadline

Frederick County Public Schools held a strategic-plan work session on Jan. 7 where district leaders and planning partners from Innovate K12 outlined a compressed timeline for producing a new five-year strategic plan and asked board members to complete an initial survey by Jan. 10.

Assistant Superintendent Shanti Knight opened the session and told the board, “this is a really big deal to work through this strategic plan,” saying the district’s current plan expires at the end of the year and the new plan would go into effect next school year.

The consulting team, led by Innovate K12 advisers Evan St. Leifber and Steve Marley, described a process that begins with board input, expands to a community survey and engagement events, and moves from broad mission-and-vision work to narrower priorities, district goals and student competencies. "We will be doing that process in January through February," Marley said, and the consultants said they plan to return in March to review a draft with the board and seek formal approval in April so the plan can be ready by July 1.

Evan St. Leifber demonstrated the survey…