Central Valley adopts new Strategic Plan

After months of public meetings, workshops and discussion, the Central Valley School Board approved three major district initiatives during its meeting this week. They unanimously approved the 2010-’15 Strategic Plan, the Capital Facilities Plan and a three-year District Technology Plan.

The Strategic Plan includes commitments to four goals: student achievement, quality staff, school-community relationships and resource management. There are specific strategies on how to achieve the goals and those must be taken as a whole, said Superintendent Ben Small. “You can’t take a linear approach,” he said. “All of those things taken together are realistic.”

“I’ve seen a lot of so-called strategic plans,” said board member Cindy McMullen. “This is the first one that’s concrete yet forward thinking and inspirational.”

The Capital Facilities Plan includes a list of needed construction projects and a series of bond measures between 2011 and 2033 to pay for them. The first proposed bond package would ask taxpayers for $65.2 million in 2011 to pay to remodel and expand Evergreen Middle School, Opportunity Elementary and Chester Elementary. Ponderosa Elementary and Greenacres Elementary would also be remodeled. The plan calls for a new elementary school to help alleviate overcrowding at Liberty Lake and Greenacres Elementary Schools.

The Technology Plan sets the level of technical proficiency the district would like students and teachers to have. The plan calls for 90 percent of eight graders to have a “tier 2” level of technical literacy, which means they can conduct research and prepare a presentation. The district also wants 50 percent of teachers to have that same level of proficiency. Currently only 12 percent of teachers are considered to be at “tier 2.”

In other business, the board voted to renew the superintendent’s contract until 2013 as part of the consent agenda, which includes multiple “housekeeping” items that can be approved with one vote. His base salary will remain at $145,000. He has declined any raises since beginning with the district in 2008.