Superintendent Rick Ollie invites community input as Crosby-Ironton Public School District launches strategic planning

Rick Ollie, superintendent of the Crosby-Ironton Public School District, used a district podcast to announce a new strategic-planning process and urged residents, parents, staff and students to take part.

"We want all of the community voices at the table," Ollie said, announcing surveys that will start March 9 and several listening sessions scheduled for March and May. He said the board intends to use the feedback to update the district's focus areas, goals and objectives for the next two to four years.

The district will retain its existing mission, "empowering all students for lifelong success," and its vision of "learning through relationships," Ollie said. He asked the community to comment on five focus areas that staff and the board will prioritize: facilities, finance, student and staff support, student achievement, and outreach/marketing and recruitment.

Ollie also said the district will ask the public about a set of higher-profile issues: possible limits on screen time and cell-phone use in schools, whether to expand the school board from six to seven members, and whether to explore adopting a four-day school week. "The school board is curious to know what the public thinks," he said.

Surveys will be distributed to four stakeholder groups: a student survey (for students only), a staff survey (for district employees), a community survey (for residents who do not have students enrolled) and a parent/guardian survey (for families with students in the district). Paper copies will be available at the district office for residents who need them.

Ollie gave the schedule of public input opportunities: an in-person listening session in the district office Forum room on March 24 at 3:30 p.m., a second community session at CRES on March 26 at 3:30 p.m., a virtual Zoom session on March 30 at 6 p.m., and a student session during the school day on May 26. He said the surveys will begin distribution on Monday, March 9.

For more information or to share ideas, Ollie provided his contact email, rick.ollie@ci.k12.mn.us, and phone number, (218) 545-8817. He also encouraged residents to check the district's Facebook page for the Zoom meeting link and to attend the board's regular meetings: a work session on the second Monday of each month at 6 p.m. and a business meeting on the fourth Monday at 6:30 p.m.

The board will compile the feedback and use it to shape updated district goals and objectives; Ollie said staff and community responses would inform the final recommendations to the board. No formal board action or vote on any policy was announced during the podcast.