Lee County Schools outlines "Thrive in Lee" implementation, highlights data and parent feedback

Lee County Schools presented a quarterly update on its five-year strategic plan, "Thrive in Lee," showing early implementation results and next steps. Stephanie Clark, who led the report to the board, said the district has conducted 976 instructional walkthroughs and received over 800 parent and guardian responses to a district survey. "We have developed some dynamic visual dashboards," Clark said, and listed tools and partnerships supporting the plan, including Branching Minds (which houses individualized reading, math and behavior plans), Incident IQ for technology support and Operation Hero for maintenance requests.

Clark shared that the district had implemented 367 reading plans, 42 math plans, 22 writing plans and 20 behavior plans in Branching Minds, and that teams have developed a district data-driven protocol to translate walkthrough and check-in results into actionable school supports. On student well-being, Clark said the district completed cultural competency modules and distributed learning tools for staff. She also noted a vulnerability assessment and ongoing safety training as part of school safety work.

Board members pressed for clarity about the parent survey and the NC Check-in data. Clark agreed to share the exact survey questions and to provide school-level rollups so the board can review priorities by school. The superintendent and board members highlighted partnerships with NC State (ITRI and ORED) and workforce pathways with Central Carolina Community College and East Carolina University as strategic supports for recruiting and retaining staff.

Superintendent Dawsonbach urged that the plan be used actively: "This is not just a document that will live on a shelf, but it's a road map that will guide the work that we do each day," he said. Board members praised the early activity but asked administrators to ensure the district keeps parents informed on safety and academic support initiatives and follows up on measures tied to low-performing schools.

The board received the update and asked administration to refine visualizations (grouping school-level metrics together) and to provide regular quarterly reports going forward. Clark confirmed the capital improvement plan submission and other deliverables remain aligned with strategic-plan priorities.