Davenport CSD board reviews draft strategic plan, proposes quarterly data-review cadence

The Davenport Community School District board heard a presentation on a draft strategic plan and a proposed data-review cadence that district staff described as a working document intended to align daily school work with board goals.

District Superintendent Schnecklock introduced the plan and turned the presentation over to Sarah, a district staff member who led the development of the document. Sarah said the draft is meant to “cast that vision and provide that road map,” and she stressed the document is a work in progress.

The plan centers on five strategic focus areas: excellence in teaching and learning; opportunities to excel; connected with the community; support for every student; and smart systems/strong schools. For the current year staff identified annual objectives tied to each focus area — examples include improving Tier 1 instruction, expanding preschool access and college- and career-readiness options, deploying MTSS districtwide, implementing social-emotional learning curricula, and maintaining long-range facility planning and fiscal forecasting.

Board members were asked to give feedback on both the strategic priorities and the district’s proposed cadence for reviewing data tied to those priorities. Staff proposed two complementary review cycles: a quarterly district “core data” review focused on elementary literacy and math, secondary on-track-to-graduate rates, attendance and behavior; and annual programmatic deep dives on items such as concurrent enrollment and AP participation, CTE, graduation rate and the Iowa School Performance Profile.

Why it matters: Board members said a routine cadence tied directly to the strategic objectives will help them identify problems earlier and direct staff work. Director Potts urged a regular, repeatable format so the board can “understand, react, and direct.”

Board questions and student input

Directors pressed staff on timing and measures. Sarah told the board the district will map the quarterly reviews to benchmark testing so each review contains the most recent results; she said staff expects to propose a schedule for use of Committee of the Whole meetings when the board meets on annual planning in November.

Director Barnes suggested the plan include plain-language explanations of acronyms and technical items for community readers. He also asked for college placement rates by high school to be added to the annual programmatic review. Director Beck asked that AP scores at the 4–5 level be tracked and celebrated in the annual review.

Director Hayes asked about recent absenteeism trends. Sarah said cabinet will review up-to-date attendance data the following day and that a snapshot sent in a recent Friday report showed a reduction in chronic absenteeism for the first month, but that more complete October-month data would be shared once verified.

Student board members offered specific measurement suggestions. One student requested ACT score review be added to the college- and career-readiness measures so the district can better target instruction and scholarship supports. Another student asked whether the Character Strong program was districtwide; Sarah confirmed the program is districtwide and that some schools are piloting tier‑2 interventions.

Next steps

Staff said the document will remain a working draft as the district “accordion[s]” feedback between cabinet and the planning team. The district intends to keep the strategic plan on a three- to five‑year rotation and to return with a proposed schedule for quarterly reviews aligned to benchmark tests. The board will continue to provide feedback as staff refines annual objectives and programmatic review topics.