WSFCS board hears update on 2025–2030 strategic plan after public criticism of committee makeup

The Winston‑Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education on Feb. 25 received an update on the district's 2025–2030 strategic plan and the community engagement behind it, and heard public comments criticizing the planning committee's racial and institutional composition.

Vice Chair Alex Bohannon and Alex Hoskins, executive director of systems coherence and strategic planning, reported that the district has collected input from approximately 10,000 community members through a virtual "We Listen" portal and in‑person listening sessions and is drafting the plan to return to the community for further feedback before seeking board approval. "To date, we have heard from 10,000 community members," Bohannon said during the presentation.

The presentation described a four‑pillar framework—student engagement, staff engagement, community engagement and support systems—and said staff will draft specific aligned actions and measures, then take the draft back out for public review with the intention of returning a final recommendation to the board before the end of the school year so implementation can begin in 2025–26.

The update emphasized recurring themes from stakeholder input: academics and curriculum support, behavior/discipline and restorative approaches, safety, communication, staff recruitment and retention, transportation challenges, and the request for more choice and extracurricular offerings. Staff said they are working with RTI International on data and methodology and are identifying communities and constituencies still underrepresented in feedback.

During the public comment period, resident Alan Daniel urged caution about a proposed Opportunity Culture initiative for Ashley Elementary that he said would require the board to appropriate $76,900 for one school. "Sustainably funded within recurring school budgets," Daniel quoted from the Opportunity Culture website and warned that if special funding is not available "we're gonna take from someone and give to someone else." He also cited recent personnel numbers on the agenda and pressed the board to study schools such as Speas Elementary that have shown rapid improvement.

Community member Karen Catherill criticized the strategic planning committee for lacking racial and community representation. Catherill said the planning committee membership was "top heavy with district employees and fails to amplify the voices of black and Hispanic families" and asked the board to implement a transparent selection process and rebalance the committee composition.

Board members asked clarifying questions during the presentation. Board member Barr asked that parental engagement be made explicit in the framework; board members urged staff to ensure the draft plan elevates extracurriculars and athletics where appropriate; and several members asked for publication of the rubric and selection criteria used to appoint the planning committee. Hoskins said about 260 applications were received and that the final committee was expanded to about 57 people after scoring applications by rubric and other criteria.

Next steps staff outlined include drafting the plan, returning it to the community for additional feedback through multiple modalities, convening a 30‑person implementation group to process the next phase of feedback, and seeking board approval before the end of the school year.

The presentation was informational only; the board did not vote on the plan at the Feb. 25 meeting.

By the end of the meeting, board members and staff reiterated the district's plan for further outreach and additional iterations of maps and policy proposals related to fostering diverse schools and said another public input cycle will follow the draft plan.