Medford subcommittee sets timeline to draft district strategic plan, seeks consultant support

The Medford Public Schools Strategic Planning Subcommittee met remotely May 6 and agreed on near-term milestones to produce a community-informed district strategic plan, including a summary of community survey results before the end of the school year and a target to have goals and metrics drafted by January or February to align with budget season.

The subcommittee’s charge, read into the record by Member Erica Reinfeld, calls for the group to establish the process, deliverables and timeline for developing the community-informed strategic plan and notes parallel work by a task force addressing elementary overcrowding and examining a potential 5–6–7–8 middle-school configuration. Reinfeld read the resolution establishing the subcommittee and led discussion of next steps.

“I would certainly like to see us pull themes and um, just articulate what came out of the survey before the end of the school year,” Reinfeld said, urging the committee to produce a concise summary that the district team can use as a handoff. Members agreed that summer would be an appropriate time to lay out the district vision and broad goals, and that the internal team could then work on objectives, metrics and action items in the fall and winter.

Staff described a Barr Foundation grant (the “Meeting the Moment” cohort) that could fund technical assistance. Kim said the foundation maintains a pre-approved list of consultants — including Lynch Leadership and Springpoint — and noted the district expects to hear about the grant decision in early June. If funded, that support would allow the district to partner with a consultant familiar with recent district work to manage stakeholder engagement and synthesize existing inputs.

Committee members emphasized the consultant’s role should be to build on, not repeat, work already completed. Members flagged concerns about stakeholder “interview fatigue” and suggested the consultant use a draft vision or goals to solicit targeted feedback rather than restarting broad outreach.

The group also discussed the separate but related task force that is examining middle-school configuration and space constraints. Members said the task-force next meeting will include a site visit to Andrews Middle School to assess whether the building can accommodate additional students under different grade-configuration scenarios. The committee agreed the strategic-plan process should proceed even as the task force continues its analysis because delaying strategic planning for the middle-school decision could stall other district priorities.

The subcommittee set process checkpoints: a draft summary of survey findings before the school year ends, an interim update in November, and a presentation to the full School Committee (targeted for the June 15 meeting). Members agreed to align the finalized goals and metrics with the January–February budget calendar so budget priorities can reflect strategic planning outcomes.

Before adjourning, the committee discussed next steps for selecting a consultant if the grant is not awarded and underscored the importance of preserving institutional knowledge before staff transitions; Joan confirmed she will remain available through September. The meeting adjourned after a roll call vote: Jenny Graham yes, Erica Reinfeld yes, Jessica Parks yes.

The subcommittee will share the compiled survey themes and supporting documents in a shared folder and will schedule a follow-up meeting to review the draft report before it is presented to the full School Committee.