Decatur SD 61 trustees review Roadmap 2030 planning, pause facility changes while superintendent search continues

Decatur — At a special open work session on Oct. 16, 2025, the Decatur School District 61 Board of Education reviewed archived materials from the paused Roadmap 2030 strategic‑planning process, discussed scenarios that would realign grade configurations and magnet offerings, and debated whether to resume the planning work while the district conducts a search for a new superintendent.

The session opened with a public comment from Brett Robertson, who said the community still wants clarity about the long‑pending Dennis School closure: "It's now been, I looked it up, 2 years and 4 months, 2 years and 4 months since the announcement about this closure of Dennis School," Robertson said, urging more transparency and priority for the West End neighborhood and affected families.

Why this matters: Staff framed Roadmap 2030 as a package of a five‑year strategic plan, a balanced scorecard of measurable goals, and potential facility reconfigurations that would support instructional "high‑leverage" strategies such as weekly professional learning communities (PLCs), gatekeeper grade checkpoints, expanded career and technical education (CTE) pathways, and targeted literacy work. Trustees said those…