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Forest Grove superintendent lays out year-one priorities: instruction, engagement, stewardship
Summary
Superintendent Suzanne presented four draft goals aligned to the district strategic plan—instructional alignment, literacy and numeracy gains, two-way family and staff engagement, and strategic stewardship of human and financial resources—and proposed a public monitoring schedule for the board to use in evaluation.
Superintendent Suzanne presented an overview of her first-year "discovery" work and proposed goals for 2025-26 at the Forest Grove School District retreat on Aug. 13, 2025. She told the board she has established new data monitoring routines and concluded bargaining with the licensed association, and she asked the board to align monitoring and evaluation with four priorities: advanced instructional alignment; improved literacy and numeracy outcomes; strengthened two-way communication with staff, students and families; and strategic stewardship of people and finances.
Suzanne said the goals are anchored in the district's strategic plan and stressed that some results will take multiple years. "We need to focus on outcomes, not operations," she said, describing an "instructional framework" the district will introduce to orient educators and families to high-leverage classroom strategies. On measurement, she described Panorama, an external survey tool, and said the state has required a workforce survey this year; the district plans to compare state and Panorama data and pause or alter internal surveys as appropriate.
Board members asked for details about a new classroom walkthrough tool Suzanne proposed to provide quick, actionable feedback to teachers (examples included measuring teacher talk time versus student talk time). Suzanne said the tool's admin console will let leaders monitor frequency and findings and that, in a "best case scenario," teachers would receive several brief drop-in observations per month. She described the walkthroughs as a vehicle to gather short, targeted data and then share themes back to educator teams to drive instructional adjustments.
The board discussed family and staff survey administration and response rates; Suzanne said student response rates are strong when surveys are scheduled during class/advisory time, staff response to district climate surveys has been low due to "survey fatigue," and family response is "decent" but can be improved through targeted outreach such as QR codes at community events. The superintendent emphasized closing the feedback loop: posting results publicly and explaining how community input did or did not inform decisions.
Discussion also ranged to MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support) and special education strategies to accelerate growth for students needing intensified instruction. Suzanne and cabinet staff described ongoing training to ensure special education staff and general educators have the knowledge and materials to deliver high-quality tiered interventions.
On legislative advocacy, Suzanne and board members said the district will continue proactive outreach to state and federal officials to explain how unfunded mandates and recent accountability changes affect local classrooms. "Our job is to keep as much out of our classrooms as possible so kids can learn," Suzanne said.
The board asked Suzanne to return with a monitoring schedule and concrete short-term indicators she believes the district can reasonably move by spring. They agreed to review a drafted purpose statement and working agreements at a future meeting to clarify the board's role in supporting and overseeing the superintendent's work.
The board and cabinet set next steps: Suzanne and the board chair will prepare a concise purpose/mission statement and a monitoring schedule for review at the next meeting. The retreat closed with a call for continued focus on student learning as the central priority.
