Christina School Board adopts draft script and logistics plan for community listening sessions ahead of five‑year strategic plan

The Christina School Board on Oct. 8 reviewed a draft script and outreach guide designed to standardize the board’s upcoming community listening sessions as part of a five‑year strategic planning effort.

Rodney Jordan, who led the presentation, told the board the guide is a live document intended to help board members “go out to the community and be able to share and engage with the community around the community's vision and values for the district and for the students.” Jordan said highlighted lines in the draft are intended to be read verbatim by facilitators and that the board owns the content and may edit phrasing and contact information.

The board will deploy listening teams of at least two board members — one facilitator and one scribe — to host or be hosted by community groups. Sessions may be in‑person or virtual and are planned to last from 30 to 90 minutes depending on audience size. Jordan said the district will provide a slide deck aligned with the script, a short one‑page “current reality” handout for participants, and a post‑session online form for submitting notes.

Jordan emphasized process clarity: “Your students deserve a board that says what it does and does what it says,” and urged accuracy in capturing participants’ words. He described two complementary capture methods: try to record comments verbatim during sessions (projected typing or flip charts where feasible) and then tally recurring themes across sessions. All session notes and survey responses will be consolidated by staff into a synthesized report that will include a longer raw document and a 1–5 page summary.

Board members discussed facilitation mechanics, including how to prevent meetings from becoming design or problem‑solving sessions focused on individual student or school complaints. Jordan recommended having administrative staff present at sessions to capture or route specific school‑level concerns so board members can remain focused on the listening goals. He also advised using a “parking lot” for issues that are outside the session’s stated purpose and suggested leaving time at the end of sessions to direct people to the district’s contact points or the online survey.

Logistics covered included projection and amplification (microphones and screens), projection of live typed notes for participants to confirm, translation and accessibility (including ASL) and QR codes linking to an online survey in multiple languages. Jordan asked board members to vary pairings and geographies so the same two members do not visit only the same neighborhoods. He described a shared spreadsheet for outreach and scheduling; sessions will proceed only if at least two board members sign up for a proposed time.

The district plans to post a raw compilation of session notes on the listening campaign web page and to provide a condensed synopsis for board review. Jordan asked the board to practice the script at a scheduled rehearsal on Oct. 29 so members can practice facilitation cadence, note capture and timekeeping.

Next steps: board members will review the draft script and submit suggested edits; staff (Latasha and Dr. Joyner’s team) will populate outreach dates and assist with translations and logistics; the board will rehearse Oct. 29 and begin community sessions once two board members have signed up for available host dates.

No formal vote or motion occurred on Oct. 8; the workshop focused on planning and process.