Lake Oswego board reviews strategic plan progress, student survey results and plans refresh after November election

The Lake Oswego School District board spent a substantial portion of its July 21 meeting reviewing the district's strategic plan progress and preliminary input to guide a refreshed plan for 2026-31. Superintendent Dr. Jen Shealy presented the review and outlined a phased planning process that will pause substantive public engagement until after the November ballot work is complete.

Student voice and early results: Shealy told the board the district surveyed students at multiple grade ranges and received 729 responses from grades 3-5 and 1,376 responses from grades 6-12. "We got 729 students, 3 through 5, and 1,376 for all the 6 through 12," Shealy said. She presented topline student responses showing high percentages of students reporting they feel welcome and included (about 88% for grades 3-5 and 87% for grades 6-12) and broad agreement that school supports physical activity and learning about health.

Board priorities and metrics: The presentation reviewed four broad priority areas from the existing plan — culture of belonging; equitable academic outcomes; health and resiliency; and sustainability — with staff assigning green/yellow/red progress markers to numerous objectives. Board members pressed for clearer quantitative metrics in addition to qualitative status markers to make progress monitoring more actionable.

Community input and timeline: Shealy described community advisory input and a plan to conduct stakeholder engagement after the November election, with in-person sessions and targeted outreach to groups not typically heard from. "Between now and October ... planning and prep. I really don't want to do anything specific with asking input until after the bond," Shealy said, and detailed a November relaunch of engagement once the election period is past.

Why it matters: Board members and staff said they want the next strategic plan to be laser-focused and aligned with state accountability measures, with clearer performance metrics so the board can monitor progress. The board also discussed calling out foundational organizational capabilities — finance, communications and organizational design — that influence execution of plan priorities.

Next steps: The superintendent recommended the board treat the July review as phase one of planning; staff will develop a refined framework and then pursue stakeholder engagement in November and December, with a draft plan to be developed over the following months and a final adoption target next spring. Board members asked for metrics that allow clearer tracking of priorities and for additional student and demographic breakdowns in survey follow-up.