Warsaw School Board OKs Strategic Plan
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Monday night, the school board unanimously approved the plan.
During an interview Monday afternoon, Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz and Chief Technology Officer Elaine Bultemeier discussed the work that went into creating it. Bultemeier served as internal coordinator for the process.
“Organizations need to know where they’re going. It’s been our experience that the best way to determine our future is through a long-range planning process,” said Hintz. “Since joining the district in 2009, I followed five superintendents in five years. Based on my own experience, I felt it was appropriate for our board to consider a strategic plan for the future. I’m grateful the board accepted my recommendation to proceed with a plan that has been created by the community.”
The process started approximately a year ago with two “World Café” sessions.
“A strategic plan will really force the system to align its human and financial resources to what we’re passionate about and what we care deeply about for all the children in the school corporation. This planning could not be more timely with the competitive nature of schooling today ... and ours to meet all needs of the children,” Hintz said.
Before coming to Warsaw, Hintz had experience at two previous school corporations in strategic planning.
“And I must say the experience at Warsaw has by far been the best, due in large part to the support from the staff and the community,” Hintz said. “I assess that our staff and the community are very excited about moving forward together in the future.
“There’s a saying out there that if you don’t know where you are going, any road will lead you there. This plan provides a road map for an exciting future for the community,” Hintz said.
After Bultemeier accepted Hintz’s request to serve as the internal coordinator, she said she had some training with the consultants, Transformation Systems Ltd. The consultants gave her some background on the process. She then organized a team to assist her, including WCS technology coach Susan Armacost and technician Fabiola Nunez.
After her training and the World Cafés, a core planning team was assembled. It includes 30 members, 15 internal and 15 community members.
Bultemeier said the World Cafés asked what the community valued. It collected that data and compiled it for the strategic plan process and put in a big binder. The binder also includes background information and an overview of the school system. The core planning team was given that information prior to meeting.
The core planning team spent more than 40 hours creating the strategic plan, led by consultant Dr. Steve Barone, Hintz said. The major components of the strategic plan include core values, a mission statement, strategic objectives, strategies and strategic delimiters.
“We spent nine hours just on the core values,” Bultemeier said, “just assessing what we stood for.”
Hintz said, “The core values are what we stand on and those values are non-negotiable. ... The mission statement is what we stand for. It is where we’re going as a system.”
The team spent about five hours on the mission statement, he said.
Besides the core planning team, there is a measurement team and the action planning team. Bultemeier said the measurement team was charged with determining how to measure the strategic objectives. The action planning team came up with actions to fulfill the strategies.
About 400 people were involved in the process.
“We’re so grateful because many of the community members used their vacation or personal time to meet with us,” she said.
“They did a lot of research,” Bultemeier said. “I must have had 50 different websites, white papers they had to evaluate. The consultant led them through the process. They met every month since last fall.”
The strategic objectives of the plan are things the school corporation will do and that students are expected to do. Each strategic objective meets the mission statement, she said.
“Strategic objectives are like mini-missions,” Hintz said. “They’re very hard to accomplish. They require there to be tension on the system. It’s very hard for all 7,000 students to do that, but if they do accomplish it, it moves the mission forward. The mission is what we stand for as a system.”
Implementation of the strategic plan basically began when the core team delivered the plan, Bultemeier said. Each school building was told where the corporation was headed. With the board approving the plan Monday, Bultemeier said they will go to each building again beginning Thursday.
“The meat as far as the work goes lays in the strategies,” Hintz said. “There are written result statements for four strategies. Eleven were identified as priority. We will focus on a number of those as we implement the plan.”
By March or April, it will be Hintz’s job to bring forth the priorities WCS will begin on for the first year, the 2012-13 school year.
Part of the process is an annual review day. The core team next spring will look at where the corporation is in the process.
“We don’t want this to become a vinyl trophy on the shelf,” Hintz said.
All the strategic plan information is available on the corporation’s website.
“This is not the flavor of the month,” Hintz said. “It’s the flavor for the future.
He said, “The whole planning process has really challenged us to look at how the system functions today and creates a pathway to the future and we haven’t been there before. We’re excited to continue to provide outstanding opportunities for all students we serve and for our community, and this plan gives Warsaw Community Schools the opportunity to create a vibrant future for those we serve.”[[In-content Ad]]
Monday night, the school board unanimously approved the plan.
During an interview Monday afternoon, Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz and Chief Technology Officer Elaine Bultemeier discussed the work that went into creating it. Bultemeier served as internal coordinator for the process.
“Organizations need to know where they’re going. It’s been our experience that the best way to determine our future is through a long-range planning process,” said Hintz. “Since joining the district in 2009, I followed five superintendents in five years. Based on my own experience, I felt it was appropriate for our board to consider a strategic plan for the future. I’m grateful the board accepted my recommendation to proceed with a plan that has been created by the community.”
The process started approximately a year ago with two “World Café” sessions.
“A strategic plan will really force the system to align its human and financial resources to what we’re passionate about and what we care deeply about for all the children in the school corporation. This planning could not be more timely with the competitive nature of schooling today ... and ours to meet all needs of the children,” Hintz said.
Before coming to Warsaw, Hintz had experience at two previous school corporations in strategic planning.
“And I must say the experience at Warsaw has by far been the best, due in large part to the support from the staff and the community,” Hintz said. “I assess that our staff and the community are very excited about moving forward together in the future.
“There’s a saying out there that if you don’t know where you are going, any road will lead you there. This plan provides a road map for an exciting future for the community,” Hintz said.
After Bultemeier accepted Hintz’s request to serve as the internal coordinator, she said she had some training with the consultants, Transformation Systems Ltd. The consultants gave her some background on the process. She then organized a team to assist her, including WCS technology coach Susan Armacost and technician Fabiola Nunez.
After her training and the World Cafés, a core planning team was assembled. It includes 30 members, 15 internal and 15 community members.
Bultemeier said the World Cafés asked what the community valued. It collected that data and compiled it for the strategic plan process and put in a big binder. The binder also includes background information and an overview of the school system. The core planning team was given that information prior to meeting.
The core planning team spent more than 40 hours creating the strategic plan, led by consultant Dr. Steve Barone, Hintz said. The major components of the strategic plan include core values, a mission statement, strategic objectives, strategies and strategic delimiters.
“We spent nine hours just on the core values,” Bultemeier said, “just assessing what we stood for.”
Hintz said, “The core values are what we stand on and those values are non-negotiable. ... The mission statement is what we stand for. It is where we’re going as a system.”
The team spent about five hours on the mission statement, he said.
Besides the core planning team, there is a measurement team and the action planning team. Bultemeier said the measurement team was charged with determining how to measure the strategic objectives. The action planning team came up with actions to fulfill the strategies.
About 400 people were involved in the process.
“We’re so grateful because many of the community members used their vacation or personal time to meet with us,” she said.
“They did a lot of research,” Bultemeier said. “I must have had 50 different websites, white papers they had to evaluate. The consultant led them through the process. They met every month since last fall.”
The strategic objectives of the plan are things the school corporation will do and that students are expected to do. Each strategic objective meets the mission statement, she said.
“Strategic objectives are like mini-missions,” Hintz said. “They’re very hard to accomplish. They require there to be tension on the system. It’s very hard for all 7,000 students to do that, but if they do accomplish it, it moves the mission forward. The mission is what we stand for as a system.”
Implementation of the strategic plan basically began when the core team delivered the plan, Bultemeier said. Each school building was told where the corporation was headed. With the board approving the plan Monday, Bultemeier said they will go to each building again beginning Thursday.
“The meat as far as the work goes lays in the strategies,” Hintz said. “There are written result statements for four strategies. Eleven were identified as priority. We will focus on a number of those as we implement the plan.”
By March or April, it will be Hintz’s job to bring forth the priorities WCS will begin on for the first year, the 2012-13 school year.
Part of the process is an annual review day. The core team next spring will look at where the corporation is in the process.
“We don’t want this to become a vinyl trophy on the shelf,” Hintz said.
All the strategic plan information is available on the corporation’s website.
“This is not the flavor of the month,” Hintz said. “It’s the flavor for the future.
He said, “The whole planning process has really challenged us to look at how the system functions today and creates a pathway to the future and we haven’t been there before. We’re excited to continue to provide outstanding opportunities for all students we serve and for our community, and this plan gives Warsaw Community Schools the opportunity to create a vibrant future for those we serve.”[[In-content Ad]]
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