School district revises strategic plan
Author: Eliza McLaughlin - Staff Reporter
School district revises strategic plan Eliza McLaughlin - Staff Reporter During its Nov. 28 community meeting, the Townsend School District is once again revisiting its strategic plan, after prior discussions sputtered out in August of 2021, focusing mostly on potential schedules. Nearly three dozen Broadwater County residents comprised of teachers, school staff, school board members, parents and other interested parties gathered together in the Broadwater Library Community Room under the direction of Shaun Scott, a computer science professor at Carroll College, to begin laying the groundwork for the district's future.
"Always review, always think about it, always vision out. That's what strategic planning is about, is that vision," Scott told attendees.
After discussing the importance of making "data-driven decisions," Scott turned the discussion to potential schedule formats. Although there are innumerable types of school schedules, the conversation focused on two schedules used in nearby institutions: a 4-day week and block scheduling.
The Three Forks School District made the switch to a 4-day school week starting with the 2022-23 school year, following in Jefferson High School's footsteps. Levi Van Zee, a middle school math teacher, said both these districts have similar demographics to Broadwater High School and have expressed only positive feelings toward the new schedule with newfound morale among teachers and students.
"I think there's enough information out there, I think there's enough interest out there that it's worth pursuing," Van Zee said during the meeting, adding that lunchroom staff and several teachers are on board. However, bus drivers and janitorial staff could struggle to get in 40 hours of work with the shortened school week.
Van Zee also pointed out that, so far, five Townsend staff members have informed him that the district's switch to a 4-day school week would be a "difference maker" in their decision to stay or seek employment elsewhere.
Another community member present at the meeting questioned what working parents do on Fridays, to which Van Zee said there are plenty of options. Three Forks School District offers Friday care options such as tutoring and remedial help. Jefferson High School offers similar academic help.
"We can cater to the needs of our community, we can develop it however we want it to be," Van Zee said.
When a teacher suggested that a 4-day school week with longer school days would help with project-based classes, Scott pointed out that a 4-day school week could lead to longer days or a longer school year.
Scott also suggested that the school consider block scheduling -- which extends class periods -- as a better option for projects.
Kelsey Flynn, a second-grade teacher, said this schedule format could be a compromise for special needs students and a better option than a 4-day school week. "Is a 4-day work week going to make our job easier? At my level, I don't foresee it making my job easier," she said, adding that more professional development could help make a difference and improve teacher retention.
With the updated strategic plan, the district also hopes to address student academics and to maintain low class sizes -- goals which Middle School Principal, Brad Racht, said were never specified with numeral goals in the district's 2018 plan.
The elementary school's fall scores show students excelling in math more than reading, a trend contrary to most schools in the state.
"My concern is when we start seeing the same graph over and over and over," Racht said. "It means we're not making a lot of progress."
Superintendent Susie Hedalen clarified that improvements from the school's new reading curriculum could take several years to begin showing up in the data.
Jeannie Steele and Tim Ravndal advocated for improving community involvement before moving forward with the plan.
"There's a whole bunch of people in the community that aren't here tonight. They don't participate, you've got to make it as easy as possible for them," Steele said. Improving community partnerships, Scott pointed out, is part of the strategic plan.
"Going forward, if there's data we want the community to be able to understand and work with, we can do a better job of putting it out," Hedalen said.
The next strategic plan meeting will take place at the Community Library community room on Jan. 9 at 6 p.m.
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