NJ School Board Association outlines 3R strategic-planning process to Wood-Ridge board

Melissa Del Rosso, the New Jersey School Board Association field service representative, spoke to the Wood-Ridge Board of Education on July 13 about the association's recommended strategic-planning approach.

Del Rosso described the process as the district's opportunity to build a mission and vision with broad community participation. She summarized the 3R model as "reflect, reimagine, and recalibrate," explained that the process typically runs three public input meetings (or an intensive weekend alternative), and said the final product would include three to five district goals to be tracked on a public strategic-planning dashboard.

Del Rosso emphasized that the work is community-driven: participants are randomized into small groups so individual perspectives are collected and aggregated into broader goals, and the district administration later converts the public feedback into actionable plans for board approval. She also described practical steps the FSR will support, including communication materials, a webpage, scheduling to avoid conflicts with school events, and turnaround of meeting feedback within 24'48 hours.

Board members asked clarifying questions about meeting frequency and the scope of outcomes; Del Rosso said the administration typically develops the action plans after the third public meeting and that the board ultimately approves the completed plan. She recommended the 3R variant for its flexibility and community-engagement features and noted that districts sometimes amend goals as conditions change.