White Co. School Board Approves Interim Strategic Plan

White County School Board approved an interim district strategic plan at its Thursday night meeting.

Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said a strategic plan is now a major component when applying for grant monies, particularly at the federal level. He said in order to keep that funding flowing, he formed a committee and solicited input from faculty, staff, and community stakeholders to create a one-year interim plan.

“This template is based on the core values of the State Department of Education,” Dronebarger said. “This is where they’re putting their money and their emphasis so I figured it makes sense we would do the same. That’s why you see the goals there on academics, student readiness, educators, and additional focus areas.”

Chair Bob Young said the strategic plan also addresses identifying and establishing the system’s mission and vision. He said other items include meeting academic and non-academic needs, and the potential for addressing buildings and facilities.

Young said the interim plan gives the school board the opportunity to form a more detailed and established five-year plan as it is required to have by board policy.

“What would we like to see, maybe more specific if we weren’t comfortable with the way something was itemized out here we could be more specific,” Young said. “And we could go through the process as a board for having that discussion and then bringing that about through normal order. then at that point in time, we want to be more specific in certain areas, we certainly have the opportunity to do that.”

The board also approved a schedule to work on establishing the official 5-year plan. Young suggested committees look at the plan in January and February and come together in March before budget season begins.