PUSD strategic plans on summer hold PUSD strategic plans on summer hold (June 04, 2004)

Time extension allows for review
by Teresa C. Brown

School district trustees postponed the final approval of the revised strategic plan until August, giving community groups an extended opportunity to review the goals outlined in its second draft.

The decision to delay the final approval came about after an appeal by the Pleasanton PTA Council, represented by the council president Jill Buck during the trustees' regular board meeting Tuesday.

"I'd like to remind you that the PTA Council represents 4,000 teachers and parents," Buck said. She said the request to postpone the approval was "not adversarial," adding, "It's simply community members wanting more time to digest it before it's adopted."

Prior to Buck's request, trustees were prepared to endorse the vision plan, which was developed by a strategic planning committee during the past year and presented in its first draft form during the board's May 11 meeting. The second draft was presented Tuesday.

"I think it's time to approve this if we're going to approve it," said Trustee Steve Pulido.

Trustee Pat Kernan echoed that sentiment. "I'm ready to go for it right away," he said.

Superintendent John Casey told the board that if the strategic plan were passed as a second reading, it would be presented to the board again in the fall. If the trustees approved it, further changes would not be considered until it had been in place for a year.

He explained that the PTA Council wanted to hold workshops to discuss the basis of the strategic plan research as well as give the PTA Council and other community members time to ask more questions about the plan.

Casey had presented the PTA Council request to the strategic planning committee, who recommended that the trustees proceed with the approval of the plan. All groups will have the opportunity throughout the year to discuss the plan and when a subcommittee is formed, a PTA representative will be a member of that group, Casey said. Trustee Kris Weaver hesitated to agree to a delay. "I think this puts the board in a tough spot," she said. She was concerned about providing the district staff with a clear direction for the next academic year.

"Last year, we didn't have our vision, shared vision, in place at the end of the year and we said we weren't going to do that again," she said. "I don't like ending this school year without a vision. I don't think we're being responsible to our staff."

"I believe buy-in by the entire community is extremely important for the success of this," said Trustee Juanita Haugen, who made a motion to pass the plan as a draft.

"I concur with Juanita," said Kernan. "We need to be overly inclusive and not exclusive. I don't see what's magic about three months."

The strategic plan includes seven basic points: student achievement, innovation and creativity, interpersonal communication, global orientation, personal development, environmental awareness and lifetime planning.

The goals of the plan include identifying the "probable and possible futures impacting" students and determining what students will need to know to prepare them for that future, Casey said.

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