Background on the Strategic Plan

Districts create strategic plans to guide and align their actions toward a collective vision.  In November, 2009, CUSD entered into a strategic planning process.   This comprehensive process was designed based on the following assumptions:

• The goal of developing a strategic plan is to create a comprehensive, overarching guide for future work and decision-making in CUSD
• The process should embed input from all stakeholder groups.
• The goals should align with the district’s mission, vision, and beliefs.

How did CUSD involve the community in the process? 

The Strategic Plan Vision Team, comprised of representatives from multiple stakeholder groups, including parents, administrators, teachers, students and community members, drafted the foundational pieces of the strategic plan which included:

• District’s Mission and Vision Statements,
• District slogan
• Key “pillar” areas around which the subsequent strategic plan would be developed.  

These items were shared with Trustees during a Board update on January 12, 2010 (Board Agenda Item 23).  After the development of these items, numerous focus groups were conducted with identified groups of stakeholders.  During these focus group sessions, representative parents, staff, students, and community members were asked the following questions:

• What is important in this area?
• In what way is CUSD doing well?
• In what way might CUSD improve?

Upon completion of the focus groups, focus group data was compiled and reviewed to reveal common patterns of input and potential direction for each strategy area.  Vision statements and strategic initiatives for each Pillar Area were drafted and reviewed with members of the Vision team, draft objectives for the 2010-11 school year were identified, and potential strategies for communicating and embedding the strategic plan within the work of the district were identified.