Ad Hoc Committee on Strategic Planning - January 21, 2010

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Proceedings of the Ad Hoc Committee on Strategic Planning

District No. 2, Yellowstone County

High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County

Billings, Montana

January 21, 2010

 

 

The committee meeting was held on Thursday, January 21, 2010 in the Lincoln Center at 9:00 a.m. Trustee Barbara Bryan; Nancy Hines, Carrie Miller, Bruce Schlicting, Travis Weidinger, and Dennis Stellingwerf were in attendance. Trustee Peter Gesuale arrived at 9:10, Clerk Leo Hudetz arrived at 9:45, and Trustee Mary Jo Fox arrived at 10:00. Debra Silk and Lance Melton were available on VisionNet. Nancy Hines left the meeting at 9:55 for another appointment.

 

Trustee Bryan acknowledged that members of the public were present but delayed public comment until later in the meeting so as to make good use of Ms. Silk’s and Mr. Melton’s time.

 

STEERING COMMITTEE WORK PACKET

Nancy Hines asked Ms. Silk and Mr. Melton if they had comments about the draft materials sent to them for the work packet to be given to Steering Committee members in advance of their first meeting. Ms. Silk suggested that the materials be streamlined as much as possible so as not to overwhelm people with too much information. Trustee Bryan will continue working on the packet and will get a final draft copy to MTSBA for review and comment next week. MTSBA will look into sending some additional reading materials to include and suggested that we encourage Steering Committee participants to look at the information on strategic planning at the web site JimCollins.com. The MTSBA will be using Collins’ process.

 

FIRST STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING

The first meeting of the Steering Committee is scheduled for Saturday, February 6th from 10-2 with a working lunch included. Regarding the agenda for the first meeting, Mr. Melton suggested thje following agenda:

 

- Introductions by Trustee Bryan (committee introductions; contents of work packet, expectations, etc.) – approx. ½ hour

- Overview of planning process by MTSBA -- steps, importance, etc.(approx. 2 hrs)

- Revision/approval of community survey – approx. 1 hr

- Discussion of future meeting dates and times – ½ hr

 

The following items (listed on the original draft schedule) will be addressed at future meetings:1) Failure Is Not an Option, 2) barriers to success, current and future opportunities, and megatrends; 3) key operating areas for Tier 2 strategic planning, and 4) core values. Mr. Melton pointed out that these and other substantive discussions should not be started until after reviewing the results of the community survey. He also suggested that, in lieu of showing a Daggett video at a committee meeting, that we post a link to the video and ask steering committee members to view the video on their own time; Carrie Miller will check on getting permissions to do this.

 

COMMUNITY SURVEY

Mr. Melton noted that a balance needs to be struck on survey length. If it’s too short, we won’t get enough meaningful information. If it’s too long, people won’t finish it. Ideally, it should take about 10-15 minutes to complete. Mr. Melton was asked about his ability to survey different groups by indicating which questions are appropriate for which group. MTSBA has the capability to do this. In light of this, Trustee Bryan will continue working on the survey to include questions for district employees, high school students, and the general public. Having information from all these stakeholders will be very important to the planning process.

 

Mr. Melton suggested that to avoid a time delay in compiling data from the completed surveys we avoid having very many surveys filled out on paper. It was suggested that is we receive paper surveys we have someone in Lincoln Center enter the survey responses into the computer. It was also suggested that:

 

- In all promotion of the survey we encourage electronic responses

- We encourage people to use computers at the public library or maybe at Lincoln Center if they don’t otherwise have access to a computer for survey completion

 

Ms. Bryan will get the completed draft survey (as a Word document) to Mr. Melton as soon as possible so that he can put into electronic form. The steering committee can then take the survey and determine if it‘s too long. Once final decisions are made on survey content and length, MTSBA can make the changes to the electronic version fairly quickly.

 

PLANNING ALIGNMENT

Mr. Melton stated that there needs to be strong consensus on the Board that the results of the strategic planning process will drive everything the Board and district do in the future. This is referred to as alignment. Trustee Bryan stated that she will arrange for a meeting (at least an hour long) before the first Steering Committee meeting on Feb. 6 for Mr. Melton to discuss alignment with the board. The meeting will either be in person or by videoconference, depending on whether we can find a time that Mr. Melton and the board can both be here. Mr. Melton also stated that 1) if we do not intend to have alignment, the planning process is a waste of time, and 2) if we hire a new superintendent before the planning process is over, we ask him or her to participate in the process to the extent possible

 

Carrie Miller stated that there is some tension about how long-term strategic planning and current short-term budgeting and planning fit together. Mr. Melton stated that the strategic planning will affect current budgeting to extent that planning information (such as survey results) is available in the short term. It is important to apply in the short-term any information we have and to not take actions in the short term that are in conflict with the community wishes identified in the survey. At Ms. Silk’s and Mr. Melton’s suggestion, Trustee Bryan will add information to the community survey introduction to indicate how survey results will impact planning in the short- and long-term.

 

NEXT MEETINGS

It was agreed that the subcommittee should have weekly meetings between now and February 6th to make sure everything is on track. The next meeting was set for Tuesday, February 26th at 9 a.m. Mr. Melton will be available via VisionNet but Ms. Silk will not be available. The meeting after that was set for Wednesday, February 3rd at 9 a.m.

 

After additional brief discussion, the videoconference with MTSBA was completed. Ms. Bryan then asked for public comment.

 

STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Trustee Bryan gave a brief overview of people who are confirmed as Steering Committee participants. So far, including board members, the list is at about 20 people. Work will continue to put together a final group that represents all areas of town and a broad range of constituencies. . Ms. Bryan stated that she is trying to get two teachers, one high school teacher and one elementary teacher. Ms. Fox stated that Tom Binon from the Heights might be a good candidate. She also stated that she had tried to contact David Morales to get a name of someone from the Southside who might serve.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT

Dennis Stellingwerf stated that he, Bruce Schlicting and Travis Weidinger are members of the MPEA and wish to be more involved in the strategic planning process. Trustee Gesuale stated that employee input is going to be especially important later in the planning process when we get into greater detail and address specific operating areas. The MPEA suggested that maybe to get involved at the Tier 1 level, they could have a member of their staff that lives on the southside represent that constituency on the Steering Committee. The idea was welcomed, as no southside representative had yet been found. It was agreed that Nancy Hines would contact the custodian at Orchard (Joe Ruby, who lives on the southside) and ask if he wishes to participate. Bruce said he would also be available if we need another Heights representative.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Peter Gesuale made a motion to approve the minutes of January 6, 2010 as presented. Mary Jo Fox seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

 

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 a.m.

 

 

 

 

_______________________________

Nancy Coe, Recorder