Bloomfield Hills launches eight-month strategic planning process; trustees debate how to measure 'sense of belonging'

Bloomfield Hills Schools opened a districtwide strategic-planning process on Sept. 29, with outside consultants outlining a seven-step schedule that staff and trustees said will run roughly seven to eight months and include stakeholder engagement, a current-state data analysis and a roadmap of initiatives to guide the next 3 to 5 years.

Consultants David and Daniella (Thru/through consulting) told the board the work will build on prior engagement: more than 2,200 survey responses, about 100 focus-group participants and two workshops involving teachers, department heads and administrators. They proposed a 30-person working group to steer the effort and said additional touchpoints (surveys, focus groups and community outreach events) will be used to reach community members who do not typically attend district meetings.

Why it matters: Board members said the process will shape the district's operational priorities and told staff to return clear, measurable goals so the board can adopt actionable targets. That request surfaced around Goal 6, a proposed district priority labeled "sense of belonging," which trustees flagged for lacking a specific, agreed-upon metric.

Trustees pressed staff to resolve two related questions: whether to keep students and staff together under one combined Goal 6 or to separate them into distinct goals with different measures, and what metric(s) would constitute success for a superintendent-evaluation objective tied to the goal. Superintendent Rick West and cabinet staff recommended a short delay to create meaningful measures: staff said they would convene a task force, reconcile EOS (Everyday Opportunities for Success) questions with existing culture-and-climate instruments and aim to present measurable options in October or November, with contractually required goals set by February.

Direct quotes: "We're actually kicking off this week," said one presenter, describing imminent advisory-group sessions. Superintendent Rick West said the plan would "operationalize the mission, vision and why," and later asked the board to allow staff time to craft robust longitudinal metrics.

Next steps: Staff will use the working group and upcoming advisory sessions to identify data gaps and return a recommendation on measurables for Goal 6. The board's state-assessment presentation and data deck are slated for review at the CNI committee and then in an October board meeting so trustees can ask targeted questions in advance.