Community Forum on district plan held

DAYTON–The Dayton School District held a community forum to review the previous and current 90 Day Plans and the One Year Plan for the District on the evening of November 30. Superintendent Guy Strot hosted the meeting. The School Board members present were Jeff McCowen and newly elected Aneesha Deiu, both with children enrolled in the district. No other District employees were present beyond Strot and his assistant Jana Eaton. Several families and community members were in attendance.

At the start, Strot said once the three new directors come on to the Board, the Strategic Plan will be developed and they will work towards outlining goals in SMART form which is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based.

Also, they will review and approve the final content of the Data Dashboard for the website which would make school and student data readily accessible. Strot announced the results of the survey were received from families who have "choiced out" of the district and the plan was to discuss them at the School Board work session the next evening.

Another update he gave was Dr. Molly Kreyssler, Education Coach and host of the recent Data Walk met with the students in grades 5-12 earlier that week to get their feedback about the learning environment in the district which will be shared in workshop with staff on December 8.

The 90 Day Plan covers several areas and many of the goals carry over from the first 90 days of August to November to the next 90 Day Plan for December through February. The first area is professional development for teachers and administrators/counselors. Teachers have met four times to work through the Teacher Clarity Playbook and administrators and counselors have met three times to go through the book Powerless to Powerful.

Another goal is to continue to work with the Center for Educational Effectiveness (CEE), Innovia and ESD 123 to develop the Strategic Plan, in part based on the responses of the community and students in the surveys and reporting information presented at the Data Walk in November. According to the 90 Day Plan, the focus will be on determining the "key measurements by demographics, including socio-economics around graduation, grades, attendance, behavioral violations, caring adult [support], social emotions [needs], and math readiness on a quarterly, semester or annual basis."

Former teacher Jessie Howard, who was present at the forum, stated that staff feedback should be sought particularly in regards to their professional development training. Then, feedback should also be followed up on which would make staff more inclined to offer their input. One specific example Howard offered was staff could maybe use training in the new curriculum for English and Math before they learn about having clarity when presenting material. The new curriculum together with adding more courses in Computer Aided Design (CAD), metals, agriculture and wood shop is also part of the 90 Day Plan.

The other part of the plan is defining the roles, responsibilities and expectations of the Board, superintendent, principals and supervisors including for the new special education director Hilary Wheeler.

In addition, the goal was made to empower those in leadership while ensuring they have a clear understanding of school board policy, procedure and state law, and are held accountable to these. The Board met with a consultant over the summer and adopted an operating protocol which includes information about contacting the Board and an organizational chart. Also, a kickoff meeting for the special education program was held on November 30.

A key part of the plan is student discipline and safety which has been core concerns for staff, students and parents. The student discipline policies for the schools have been revised and are being implemented. The district hired behavior and intervention specialists and a K-12 counselor. An anonymous reporting system was set up on the district website. Chemical sensors have been installed and higher quality surveillance cameras have been ordered. Staff is doing social emotional work in the elementary, and The Learning Center was established to help ensure student success.

An additional goal is to increase communication about what is happening in the district. Newsletters now go out to parents every month and the community every quarter. Strot has been giving weekly reports to the staff and Board members.

According to Strot, future goals for the next quarter are to "complete the outline of the process, timeline and goals of building our new Strategic Plan" with the new School Board and the help of the CEE by May of next year and create a page summary of the plan called the Promise of Dayton. Principals of both schools will also "develop the 2022-2023 school year plan as part of the overall Strategic Plan, using the knowledge gained during the Powerless to Powerful book study.

Also planned is to finish work with McKinstry towards the proposal for the $3 million State grant for capital improvements and another $2 million for other improvements. If the money is not received or it's not enough, then forming a bond committee is planned.

Another committee will form to choose sexual health curriculum for use beginning in the fall of 2022 to recommend to the School Board for approval. This committee will be comprised of parents and staff. Strot said that parents can choose to opt their kids out of the program.

An added goal is to "improve the district culture based on learnings from management review and consultants" and to that end also "look at all the data around retaining and bringing students back to Dayton Schools [and] build a plan for this spring and next fall."

An unnamed parent commented the district should also create specific, actionable goals for encouraging and inspiring students and give students and staff an opportunity for "interested positivity." Strot agreed and acknowledged meeting the goals set for the district is a work in progress, and with receiving feedback in various says including at community forums, it helps towards improving how to achieve the goals.