DRAFT: The Strategic Plan draft document is available for review.

Click here to download (English version) (Spanish version)

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In September and October of 2011, the Delavan-Darien School District Board of Education (School Board), with the hopes of achieving district-wide improvement, approved the development of a new strategic plan for the District.

The development of the new plan, which will become a long-term guide for the District, will come from the thoughts and ideas of school district employees, parents, students, members of the School Board and community members.

Strategic plans are created through consensus. It’s not a “majority rules” process. Consensus agreements are made throughout the entire process, making everyone who is involved responsible for agreement of the plan.

Dr. Howard Feddema, an expert in strategic planning for educational agencies, will assist throughout the strategic planning process. He has more than 20 years experience doing strategic planning for schools and has completed more than 190 plans in his career, including for the School District of Beloit and Westosha Central School District. He also has experience as a high school teacher and high-level member of school district administrative staff. (Click here for more on Dr. Feddema.)

While an experienced educator and strategic plan facilitator, Feddema ensures that the plan will not be his, but that of the individuals who have a vested interest in the Delavan-Darien School District. He is a guide to get planners through the process.

Feddma introduced his strategic planning methods — used often at his company, Cambridge Strategics — at a public assembly Monday, Oct. 17.

See the video of the information session here.

UPDATE: Nov. 30, 2011

The initial strategic planning team has been finalized. Team members are:

Below is a brief summary of the Strategic Planning process. For questions, call or e-mail Mike Heine, Delavan-Darien Coordinator for School/Community Relations and the internal coordinator for the planning process. (262) 728-2642 ext. 4813.

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The Teams
The process consists of two types of teams — the Strategic Planning Team and multiple Action Teams. Community members are needed for both. The initial team has already been formed. You can express your interest to be a part of an action team team here, but please note, not all people signing up will be chosen to be a part of the action teams. To be effective, planning teams need to be made up of diverse groups of people who collectively reflect all of the values and perspectives of the district.

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Planning Team
The Strategic Planning Team consists of 25 to 30 people representing a cross-section of the district’s demographics. The team is made up of board members, administrators, teachers, other staff, community members, parents, and students. After collecting data regarding the organization’s distinctive characteristics, the Planning Team is sequestered for three days to begin the actual planning process. During this meeting (about 34 hours total), all the following components of the plan are developed in draft form:

Beliefs
A statement that is a formal expression of the organization’s (community’s) fundamental values: its ethical code, its overriding convictions, its inviolate commitments.

Mission
A statement that is a clear and concise expression of the district’s identity, purpose, and the means of action.

Strategic Parameters
Limitations the organization places upon itself. They are things the organization either will never do or will always do. The intent is concentration of effort on the mission and objectives.

Objectives
The planning organization’s commitment to achieve specific, measurable end results in terms of student success, achievement and/or performance.

Strategies
The most important part of the planning discipline. In particular, the articulation of bold initiatives through which the organization will deploy its resources toward the stated mission and objectives.

In addition, the team conducts extensive analyses of:

• Internal Factors: A thorough, unbiased, tripartite examination of the organization: strengths, weaknesses, and a critique of the organizational design.
• External Factors: An examination of those forces which an organization has little or no control, such as social, political, economic, demographic, technological, or educational trends.
• Competition: Any other organization providing the same service in the marketplace.
• Critical Issues: Threats and opportunities redefined strategically.

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Action Teams
Following consensus approval from the Planning Team, Action Teams are created to develop specific plans of action, which will make each strategy come alive in the school district over the next several years. The Planning Peam describes the vision of what the school district will become, and the Action Teams describe how to make that vision a reality. For every strategy in the strategic plan, an action team is formed to create operational plans of action to implement the strategy. Action plans help the school district bridge the gap from dreaming to doing.

Many people can be involved in the action planning process, which is dependent upon the number of strategies developed. Action Teams meet regularly — usually about two or three hours weekly — for about four months. The action plans are then brought before the original Planning Team again for final approvals.

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Adoption
As stated earlier, the plans are created through consensus and require full agreement at multiple steps throughout the process — when the Planning Team meets initially, by each of the Action Teams, by the Planning Team after the Action Planning is complete and by the School Board. Only once the Board approves the draft of the strategic plan does the plan become the official will of governance. The Board approves the beliefs, mission, parameters, objectives, strategies and the specific results of the entire set of action plans. Board workshops may be held prior to the final approvals of the plans to discuss the plans with and answer questions of the board. The Board retains ultimate authority to set future direction for the School District. As representatives of the populace, the Board retains authority to change anything in the strategic plan.

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Timeline

• √ November 2011 — Data gathering by staff members of the Delavan-Darien School District
• √ Mid-November 2011 — Planning team creation. The team of about 30 will be selected from interested persons by a small group of district staff members.
• √ December 8, 9, 10, 2011 — Planning Team meets for three full days for facilitated meetings with Dr. Howard Feddema.
• December 2011 – April 2012 — Action Teams are formed and begin meeting regularly to create the steps for achieving the strategies.
• May 2012 — The Planning Team meets again for two full days for review of the strategies developed by the Action Teams.
• May-June 2012 — The School Board reviews the final plans in workshop sessions and votes on whether or not to put them into place.
• Spring 2012 and beyond — After approval, plans begin to be put into place and budget allocations are made for the upcoming fiscal year. Not all plans developed will be put into place during the first year. Strategic planning is a long-range process that is completed over time. The burden of implementation falls on the shoulders of District management. The plans are communicated publicly and updates about the implementation process are made regularly to the Board and constituents through various communication channels. Modifications to the action plans may be made, as necessary.

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