Rochester Public Schools previews 'RPS 2030' and flags next steps after review of 2022–25 plan

Superintendent Brad McCall told the Rochester Public School District board on Dec. 2 that the district is moving from its 2022–25 strategic plan toward a working plan titled “RPS 2030.” He framed the presentation as a stock‑take of the last plan’s 15 building blocks and emphasized modest gains while urging clearer outcomes and better implementation at the school level.

“The working title is RPS 2030 as it will shape our work, through the end of this decade,” McCall said as he summarized data and lessons from the current plan and previewed topics the board will review in the next session.

Why it matters: The strategic plan guides programming, budget priorities and partnerships across the district’s 218‑square‑mile service area. Board members said the review will shape what the district seeks to fund and how it measures success in the coming years.

Key results and context: McCall cited a handful of headline numbers presented to the board: a 3‑percentage‑point increase in third‑grade math proficiency and an 8.3‑point gain in eighth‑grade math proficiency over the plan period, a 11.4 percentage‑point increase in students attending school at least 90% of the time, about 660 teachers who participated in science‑of‑reading professional development, and $20,888,771 in competitive grants plus a $10,000,000 donation from Mayo Clinic secured during the strategic‑plan period. He also noted the work produced 44 policy revisions intended to advance equity.

Programs and priorities discussed: Board and staff discussion covered several building blocks in detail:

- Family engagement: The board heard about the CAPE/Kate parent empowerment program and its expansion to Title I and qualifying non‑public sites, the role of site‑based family engagement liaisons who receive modest stipends, and ongoing parent surveys supplied by PK that district staff plan to track and correlate with student outcomes in EduCLIMBER.

- Deeper learning: Staff described a district effort to embed a mastery–identity–creativity framework into curriculum articulation and highlighted a unit repository for exemplar lessons. Board members pressed for ways to sustain teacher collaboration and avoid initiative fatigue.

- Recruitment and retention: The district reviewed 'Grow Your Own' scholarships (about $600,000 available over five years) and pathways linking ESPs and CTE programs to teacher certification. Staff reported three program graduates last year and ongoing scholarships for candidate teachers.

- Youth voice and student leadership: The board discussed the Student School Board and other student leadership structures as channels for student feedback on policy topics including attendance and cell‑phone policy.

- Transportation and partnerships: Transportation staff said the recent change to elementary‑first start times has improved operations and praised bus‑tracking apps for parent communication. Partnership staff described a relationship‑manager approach and legal/data templates for community collaborations; McCall highlighted partnership payoffs, including major philanthropic support.

Board direction and next steps: Multiple board members urged that the next plan include fewer, clearer outcomes, and incorporate timeline and resource (budget and human capital) planning so the plan is implementable. McCall agreed that some measures used in the current plan (for example, FastBridge screening measures) were not ideal system‑level indicators and said staff would refine the metrics and the board will review the remaining seven building blocks at the next meeting.

The board will continue the strategic‑plan review at its Dec. 16 meeting, when the second half of the building blocks will be discussed and the draft RPS 2030 framework will be further refined.