Shawnee Mission board hears progress on strategic plan action teams; district to embed interpersonal skills in curriculum

The Shawnee Mission School District Board of Education on Thursday received updates on several action teams working to implement the district's strategic plan, including a group recommending how to embed interpersonal skills across curriculum maps, teams focused on certified-staff retention and evaluation, and a classified advisory council building a data set on recruitment and turnover.

The presentations outlined what the action teams have completed so far and next steps. Doctor Veil, who leads the district strategic-plan effort, said the work is broad: “By the end of quarter 3, which will be in March, we will have convened 20 action teams to begin their work,” and two more teams will begin in quarter 4.

Board members were told the interpersonal-skills team defined the term and narrowed a long list of abilities to a smaller set the group considers essential. Karen King, an SMSD parent and district professional with WaterOne, said the team’s consensus definition: “the practices used to communicate, interact, and work effectively with others.” The team listed skills including communication, problem solving, perseverance, collaboration, empathy, initiative, critical thinking, conflict management, personal responsibility and curiosity, and recommended using existing curriculum resources and targeted professional development rather than adding new separate requirements for teachers.

Doctor Matt Anderson, assistant director of curriculum and instruction and action-team lead for interpersonal skills (action 1.2.0.1), described the team’s approach as mapping those skills to current curriculum standards and providing professional development so teachers can incorporate the skills into daily lesson plans. “A priority for our team was not adding more to educators' plates because we know that as more is added, other things will just naturally fall by the wayside,” Anderson said.

Other presenters described action 3.1.3, work to support certified staff through retention, evaluation and communication. Michelle Lord, director of elementary certified human resources, said the group is looking to refine evaluation tools and establish calibration and exemplar observation forms so administrators can give consistent, actionable feedback that supports professional growth. “Our goal with the evaluation section is to make sure that evaluation’s not just a compliance piece, but it’s a measure of and a supportive tool for our professional development,” Lord said.

Jud Rimmers, director of classified human resources, and Megan Alexander, a school secretary who has worked on the classified advisory council, reported on early efforts to develop data collection specific to classified staff (action 3.2.0.5). Alexander said the group has identified potential data points for recruitment (for example, whether job fairs or building signage increase applications, and an application question asking how candidates heard about vacancies) and retention (average longevity in roles, positions with highest turnover, overtime patterns and turnover comparisons from periods with and without retention payments).

Presenters emphasized next steps: gathering wider feedback on the interpersonal-skills list, finalizing recommendations to district leadership on embedding those skills in curriculum maps, researching refined, streamlined evaluation rubrics for administrators, and identifying existing district platforms to collect classified-staff data for initial review. Several board members asked about how building-level professional learning communities (PLCs) will select skills and how the district will ensure consistency; presenters said the plan is to highlight where interpersonal skills already exist in curriculum standards (for example, mathematical practices or science and engineering practices) and to make instruction more explicit rather than leaving the work entirely to PLC discretion.

Board action during the meeting included routine procedural approvals held by unanimous vote. A motion to adopt the agenda carried 7-0. The consent agenda was approved on a motion moved by Ashley and seconded by Borgman, also 7-0. Later, board members approved a motion (seconded by Boardman) to hold board comments before moving to executive session, and a motion to enter executive session to discuss non-elected personnel pursuant to the non-elected personnel exception under Colma (seconded by Eusely). The executive-session motion carried 7-0 and the board said no further business would be conducted that evening.

The strategic-plan presenters asked for additional volunteers to serve on action teams and said nomination forms and links will be included in the board recap so community members can learn more and sign up. Presenters and board members described the work as the start of multiple years of implementation, with several teams currently active and additional teams to begin later in the year.

Votes at a glance: agenda adopted — motion carried 7-0 (mover not specified; second not specified); consent agenda approved — moved by Ashley, seconded by Borgman, carried 7-0; motion to have board comments before executive session — mover not specified, seconded by Boardman, carried 7-0; motion to enter executive session under “Colma” for non-elected personnel — mover not specified, seconded by Eusely, carried 7-0.

The board meeting also included the superintendent’s report with district announcements about student programs, competitions and upcoming events, and public recognition of students and staff.