UCPS bid committee forwards 2026 strategic plan executive summary to full board after presentation

The Union County Public Schools bid committee voted 4-0 Jan. 28 to send the executive summary of the district's 2026 strategic plan to the full board for final approval after a presentation by Dr. Beshon Harris.

Dr. Harris, who led the development work, told committee members the summary is based on about 500 responses to an initial survey and more than 40 meetings with stakeholders. "This is not my document," he said. "I sort of led the efforts, but this has a lot of fingerprints all over it from the community, from our organization, and I'm very proud of the feedback that we received." The presentation emphasized vision and mission language and five priority areas: safe and supportive culture; academic success; innovation and future-ready programming; recruitment and retention of staff; and family and community partnerships.

A staff presenter described the process that produced the executive summary and said the work was completed internally: "We did not spend any funding on this work other than staff time and resources, and we did not hire any consultants or external firms to assist us." The presentation also identified a 23-member strategic plan development committee and representatives from all school clusters as contributors to the document.

Committee members asked for examples of the "early intervention strategies and wraparound services" listed in the summary. Dr. Harris said the plan points to counselors and social workers as primary examples and noted an existing partnership with Union County that places mental-health staff across the district's nine clusters. Committee discussion also focused on recruitment and retention, with a member noting that teacher pay factors are often outside district control; staff said Dr. Plew and his team will capture and analyze retention-related data and develop specific strategies, including advocacy for increased compensation alongside other retention measures.

On timing, staff said the public-facing final plan will be designed by Tejara's team in February and March, and that implementation would begin in March if the full board approves the executive summary. The committee directed staff to prepare an implementation roadmap and provide monthly updates to the Strategic Plan and Policy Team (SPTT) committee and the board on individual themes as they are operationalized.

Procedural items concluded the meeting: the committee approved the meeting agenda and the October 2025 minutes earlier in the session and adjourned after forwarding the executive summary. The committee noted the next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 25, 2026, at 8 a.m.

The bid committee's vote to forward the executive summary was recorded in the meeting as "Motion passes 4 0."