DeSoto board reviews four-year strategic plan and reports early gains in reading and math

Superintendent Dr. Reynolds presented an update on the DeSoto School District’s four-year strategic plan and the district’s current data-driven activities, saying the district is in “phase 1” — data collection and evaluation — and will use school-level view visits and data meetings to shape next steps.

The strategic plan, Reynolds said, contains five goals: academic performance; culture and climate; staff recruitment and retention; family and community engagement; and operations and effective budget/resource allocation. “This is a 4 year plan,” Reynolds said, noting the board and leadership team are early in implementation and are cataloging current practices before recommending new initiatives.

District staff described the way they pair qualitative view visits with quantitative data meetings to create actionable steps at each school. Dr. Bennett, who presented district-level progress-monitoring…