Kirkwood R-VII board approves GND Associates to develop 2026–2031 strategic plan

The Kirkwood R-VII Board of Education on Thursday approved a contract to hire GND Associates to lead development of the district's 2026–2031 strategic plan.

Dr. Rumpus, speaking on behalf of the district cabinet, recommended GND Associates after a competitive request-for-proposal process and said the firm will provide planning, community engagement and first-year implementation support. The board approved the contract by voice vote after discussion, with the meeting chair calling for those in favor to say “aye.”

The recommendation followed an RFP process that closed Sept. 16 with 10 full proposals, Dr. Rumpus said. District cabinet members reviewed all proposals, conducted Zoom interviews with five firms on Sept. 26 and completed reference checks for three finalists. Dr. Rumpus said GND Associates was chosen for “their overall response to the RFP, their quality of the interview, and looking at the strategic plan products that they developed with multiple districts, both in Missouri and across the country.”

District leaders highlighted that GND Associates has worked with Missouri districts, including Liberty Public Schools and Raytown, and said the firm demonstrated familiarity with applicable state standards and local initiatives. According to Dr. Rumpus, the firm’s scope includes progress monitoring and implementation support through the first year, on-site visits with board and community groups, and a year-end replanning session to transition into year two of the plan. He also said the firm has “created a system where it breaks down into individual projects of the strategic plan, all of the action steps within that in ways that we as a leadership team and or the goal champions … could monitor the work throughout.”

Board members who spoke during the discussion emphasized community engagement and student voice as priorities. “Just wanted to call out some of the phases that I think are really important in the presentation, which is really focused on getting that community engagement and community feedback and really understanding the community needs,” Ms. Neiman said. Miss Andrews thanked district leaders for thorough review: “I just appreciate that you you all did your homework.”

Dr. Rumpus said the firm plans to solicit input from parents, residents, business leaders, recent graduates and current students. He said the district will publish sign-up information on its website and provide links for focus groups and surveys once those details are finalized. He also said the proposed monitoring dashboard is based on linked Google Sheets that several districts use for ongoing progress reporting; district staff may adapt the visual presentation for internal and public reporting.

The board also approved the special meeting agenda at the start of the session. As a next step, Dr. Rumpus said district staff have a scheduled call the morning after the meeting to outline dates and next tasks for the planning process. The board then adjourned the special meeting and took a short break before beginning a board–cabinet retreat.