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At its district planning meeting on Tuesday, August 12, 2008, the Mt. Vernon Township High School Board of Education continued the work of goal setting for the district. The three hour meeting included input from board members, administrators, staff and interested citizens. The session, led by Dave Love of the Illinois Association of School Boards, was a continuation of the work started on July 22, 2008.
The July 22, 2008 meeting established group consensus regarding beliefs, values and the importance of education in our community. At the first meeting small groups answered key questions such as, “What do we believe about students and student learning? What do we believe about teachers and teaching? And what do we believe about our community and its relationship to our school?” Numerous “We Believe…” statements were posted for review and revision by the overall group.
Utilizing those beliefs as a framework, a board led committee has recently met to review the mission statement for direction and clarity. At the second meeting, the revised mission statement was presented to the larger group for further input and approval.
The planning group then participated in a SWOT analysis regarding the current state of the school district. Participants were asked to note strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats regarding the school district. Strengths and weaknesses were defined as internal issues (positive and negative) that the district can control while opportunities and threats (positive and negative) were external issues that are beyond the authority of the district. Members categorized these issues by theme as a means to bring consensus to similar ideas.
Terry Milt, Superintendent, led a review of previous goals and reported on the status of each. While some goals were viewed as ongoing (student achievement), others were considered accomplished (technology). In organizations as complex as schools, it is important to celebrate when goals are achieved. The planning group was unanimous in its praise of the technology available for students and teachers throughout the district.
The final exercise asked participants to review the remaining goals for appropriateness, clarity and possible omissions using the framework of the SWOT analysis. The group reviewed the weaknesses in order to determine if the goals could be expanded or revised.
The final document will be officially reviewed for approval at the September meeting of the Mt. Vernon Township High School Board of Education.
