KCKPS leaders outline five-year 'roadmap to the North Star' strategic plan

Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Anna Stubblefield said the district is launching a five-year strategic planning process she called the "road map to the North Star" and pledged to center community input in setting priorities.

"I'm doctor Anna Stubblefield, superintendent of Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools," Stubblefield said at the top of the KCKPS Spotlight podcast. She said the plan will identify what students need academically, socially and emotionally to graduate with a Diploma Plus.

Deputy Superintendent Kevin Hansford described a strategic plan as the district's framework for prioritizing programs and expenditures. "A strategic plan is just what will really help us determine what our priorities should be," Hansford said, adding that the plan will help the district refer back to agreed priorities when making decisions.

Associate Superintendent of Human Resources Dr. Jarius Jones said the update is necessary because the educational landscape has changed: technology, demographics and pandemic-era experiences affect students differently than in prior decades. He emphasized that students, parents and community members will have roles in shaping the plan.

The leaders pointed to recent district accomplishments they said will be preserved and amplified under the new plan. Stubblefield cited that "84 percent of our students who graduate graduate with a diploma plus," and said the Class of 2025 had what she described in the episode as "over 321,000,000 in scholarships." The district also recently passed a $180,000,000 bond to build new schools and adjust boundaries.

Hansford said much of the plan will reaffirm existing priorities while clarifying goals and steps toward the North Star, an aspirational goal the district set for 2031. He framed the plan as both a public promise and a tool for accountability: "This road map that we built together ... we can hold one another accountable to this, both as a school and a community at large."

The district said steering committees and action teams will translate public input into measurable goal areas, and the board will be asked to affirm those focus areas before teams build the action steps that become the final plan. Stubblefield directed listeners to the district website for information and said the district will continue to solicit feedback as the plan is developed.