Shawnee Mission updates strategic-plan action teams; board hears proposals on interpersonal skills, retention and classified data

The Shawnee Mission School District board on Feb. 11 received progress updates from several action teams implementing the district's multi-year strategic plan, including proposals to embed interpersonal skills into curriculum maps, to refine evaluation and retention supports for certified staff, and to create a superintendent's classified advisory council with targeted data collection to inform recruitment and retention.

The board heard a presentation on action item 1.2 0.1 about defining and guaranteeing interpersonal skills instruction across grade levels. Dr. Matt Anderson, assistant director of curriculum and instruction, said the action team—composed of teachers, administrators, parents, business partners and students—worked to define interpersonal skills as “the practices used to communicate, interact, and work effectively with others,” and distilled a longer list into broader categories such as communication, problem solving, perseverance, collaboration, empathy, initiative, critical thinking, conflict management, personal responsibility and curiosity.

The team recommended using existing curriculum resources and standards to teach and assess those skills so teachers would not have “more added to their plate,” Anderson said. Kate Herrenbrook, an elementary teacher at Trailwood Elementary, told the board the group reviewed approaches used by surrounding districts, including relying on PLCs or explicitly embedding Kansas social-emotional and character development standards into unit maps. The presenters said the goal is to make instruction of interpersonal skills “accessible and consistent for every learner” and to provide professional development so teachers can plan lessons that intentionally teach and assess those skills.

Action 3.1.3 focused on supporting growth for certified staff via retention, evaluation and communication. Michelle Lord, director of elementary certified human resources, described work to align the evaluation process with growth-oriented feedback and to develop a streamlined rubric or protocol to promote consistency across administrators. Lord said the evaluation effort aims to move evaluations beyond compliance to make them tools for “continuous growth and development.” Maggie Carter, instructional coach, outlined plans to review observation examples, principal notes and aligned forms and to implement calibration sessions so administrators provide consistent, actionable feedback.

Presenters and board members discussed how evaluation feeds retention by identifying growth goals and directing educators to leadership or curriculum roles that match their aspirations. Lord said the team has begun implementing parts of the SMSD retention plan and emphasized a continued focus on data-driven approaches to recruitment and on clarifying communication so staff receive consistent information about evaluation and retention resources.

On action 3.2.5, the board heard about creation of a superintendent’s classified advisory council and early work to collect data specific to classified staff. Jud Rimmers, director of classified human resources, and Megan Alexander, a school secretary at Brookwood, described two meetings that identified recruitment data points (for example, whether job fairs or signage create application upticks, and adding an application question asking how applicants heard about openings) and retention data points (average longevity in positions, positions with the highest turnover, overtime accrued by role, and comparisons of turnover when retention payments were offered versus when they were not). The team is exploring how existing district platforms can be adapted to collect those data and hopes to begin reviewing initial results soon.

Board members asked how the district will ensure interpersonal skills instruction is consistent rather than left entirely to PLC or teacher discretion. Anderson and other presenters said part of the plan is to highlight where interpersonal skills already appear in existing standards (for example, standards for mathematical practice and science and engineering practices) and to provide professional development that shows teachers concrete strategies for integrating those skills into lessons.

Board members also discussed volunteer recruitment for action teams; district staff said they typically begin with nominated volunteers and then target outreach to ensure diverse representation across feeder patterns, buildings and stakeholder groups. Presenters said the district expects to convene about 20 action teams by the end of the third quarter (March) and to add two additional teams that will begin later in the year. Facilitators suggested planning for 20–30 members per action team to allow for some attrition and to secure a broad range of voices.

The presentations were informational; the board did not take policy action on the recommendations during the meeting. Staff said action teams will seek additional feedback before making final recommendations to the superintendent and the leadership-and-learning team, and that next steps include finalizing the interpersonal-skills list, making curriculum-map embedding proposals, identifying a streamlined evaluation rubric, and ramping up classified staff data collection.

Votes at a glance The board took routine procedural votes at the meeting: the agenda, consent items and a motion to enter executive session were approved. The strategic-plan updates were presented for information and no formal policy votes were recorded on the proposals presented.

— “Motion to adopt the agenda,” outcome: approved (voice vote recorded as 7–0). — “Motion to approve consent items” (10 consent items not listed individually in the record), outcome: approved (mover: Ashley; seconder: Borgman; voice vote recorded as 7–0). — “Motion to enter executive session to discuss personnel pursuant to the non-elected personnel exception under the Kansas Open Meetings Act,” outcome: approved (second: Eusely; voice vote recorded as 7–0).

The district will return to the board with refined recommendations and asks board members to help publicize opportunities for volunteers to join action teams.