Sunnyside Unified outlines outreach-driven five-year strategic plan process

Sunnyside Unified School District leaders updated the governing board on the development of a five-year strategic plan that district staff say will emphasize student experience and learning and rely heavily on community engagement and data from surveys and focus groups.

The superintendent's team and consultants with Education Elements described a multi-stage process that began in January and February with a logistics project team and has since added a 20-person steering committee. Leadership said the plan's design will center on student learning, social-emotional supports and family engagement rather than departmental goals, and that the consultant team's work is intentionally practice- and student-centered.

Planned outreach includes separate surveys for school staff, families and students (grades 3'12), engagement forums, two community-design days in May and a series of focused virtual and in-person focus groups in both English and Spanish. Presenters said survey windows will open after spring break for roughly two-week periods and that the district translator is preparing Spanish-language versions.

Board members asked how stakeholders are chosen for the steering committee and focus groups. District staff said principals recommended parents for parent focus groups and the steering committee includes parent and community representation; focus groups will be scheduled in the evenings and virtually to increase access. Staff committed to supplementing representation if the district or board identifies gaps.

District staff emphasized that Education Elements has worked with many districts and that its team includes former educators who will help translate collected feedback into actionable priorities and measurable metrics. The board was told the consultant will process and synthesize survey and focus-group data into trends for the steering committee so the committee's in-person design days can focus on drafting goals and metrics.

Board members suggested adding voices of recent graduates and students who did not persist to identify gaps in services and counseling. Presenters agreed that alumni and recent leavers provide useful perspective and said the consultants will incorporate such input where possible.

Superintendent Gustavo Gastelum and staff said drafts and revisions will be shared in public meetings as the plan develops and that the final strategic plan is expected to be launched in July.