Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Strategic Plan topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board and superintendent present district strategic goals; board refines separate board goals
Summary
Superintendent Rich Burjax presented four annual district goals tied to the district's five‑year strategic plan — covering staff climate, a future‑ready learning framework that includes AI, financial transparency, and communications.
Superintendent Rich (Rich Burjax in the transcript) presented the district's annual goals on Sept. 30, drawn from a recently completed five‑year strategic plan. The superintendent said the district will break the multi‑year plan into annual goals so the board and community can measure progress year by year.
The four district goals described were: increase staff satisfaction with school climate and support systems by the end of 2025–26; develop and begin implementation of a future‑ready learning framework by June 2026 (including increased integration of AI tools and authentic learning opportunities); enhance transparency of financial operations through earlier and clearer budget communication and a facilities funding timeline; and implement a multi‑platform communications strategy to increase stakeholder engagement.
Burjax noted specific tactics: analyze an annual school climate improvement survey (administered to students, staff and parents), create a public dashboard for budget and facilities project timelines, accelerate the budget calendar so preliminary budgets are presented earlier, and create a dashboard for strategic‑plan goal tracking. On the school climate survey, Burjax said the survey is a Rutgers‑developed Likert‑scale instrument (formerly referred to as the SCUBA survey) used statewide and that response rates have been historically “pretty good.”
Board members asked how the financial transparency goal would be measured. Burjax said measurement will include qualitative follow‑up (community perceptions) and dashboard metrics showing progress on facility projects and budget timelines. The board discussed the balance between more frequent communication and “information overload.” Burjax said the district will try to provide static places (a dashboard) where residents can check progress on their own schedule.
Board members also worked on separate “board goals” that would reflect the board's role supporting district priorities. Board members debated items such as attending community events, increasing public input, rotating strategic plan pillar reports at meetings, and whether to shift committee structure to a committee‑of‑the‑whole model. The board did not vote on board goals at the Sept. 30 meeting; members agreed to continue edits and bring proposed board goals back for a vote at a future meeting and to post finalized goals on the district website.
