Ad Hoc Committee on Strategic Planning - February 3, 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

February 3, 2010

 

 

The committee meeting was held on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 in the Lincoln Center at 9:00 a.m. Members in attendance were: Trustees Barbara Bryan and Peter Gesuale; Nancy Hines, Carrie Miller, Bruce Schlicting, and Dennis Stellingwerf. Trustee Mary Jo Fox came at 9:25. Lance Melton and Debra Silk were available via ooVoo.

 

Ms. Bryan asked for public comment and there was none.

 

Ms. Bryan stated that on Saturday, February 6th, Board Chair, Malcolm Goodrich would give opening remarks, followed by Barb Bryan with opening remarks and introductions. Lance Melton will give an overview of the planning process, and the rest of the items will be a team effort with Nancy Hines and Debra Silk as facilitators. There will need to be validation from the Steering Committee of the survey and agreement of a timeline. There is still a question of how long the survey should remain open. The survey will be live by next Wednesday, February 10th and close on March 3rd.

 

Lance Melton will restate the questions on the survey to have a more positive format and will have them rated from strongly agree to strongly disagree. We need to keep the goal in mind. Ms. Bryan will notify the MTSBA of any changes today.

 

Mr. Melton also suggested some possible open-ended questions at the end, stating their goals for the district in 15 to 20 years. He stated that you want first impressions. The survey should take under 15 minutes to complete. He suggested that the Steering Committee could be asked to take the survey to see how long it would take. Nancy Hines stated that she is nervous about the length and said that 15 minutes should be the maximum. She also does not feel comfortable having any mill levy questions on the survey. Ms. Bryan may reword some of them. Ms. Hines asked if it would be okay to have a couple of narrative questions. Mr. Melton stated that would be okay. He suggested: 1) their view of the core purpose; 2) what are the core values and beliefs; 3) their description of Billings Public Schools in 15 to 20 years and how they would like to see it.

 

Ms. Bryan is concerned about the timeframe the survey will be available in order to get the results back and compile them for another Steering Committee meeting. Lance Melton said we will have to send out weekly reminders on the 17th and another on the 23rd. He stated that it would be easy to compile the data for up to 800 participants. The Steering Committee will need to meet on March 13th (Saturday) or sometime during the week of March 8th. It will take until the 8th to compile the survey results.

 

Nancy Hines asked about the questions on the survey and if they would be reframed and ready on Friday sometime in order to be ready for the Steering Committee. Mr. Melton stated he would have the rewording done by noon.

 

Ms. Bryan asked about whether survey results can be emailed to respondents. Mr. Melton thought this would be impractical, as respondents might feel that we are tracking them. Maintaining anonymity is important.

 

Ms. Bryan asked about the alignment meeting scheduled tomorrow evening with the Board and COLT members and whether or not there should be a specific agenda. Mr. Melton stated that the meeting will focus on what the strategic planning process outcomes will mean on a day-to-day basis. Any follow-up will be done by the Board. He will present generally on the issues of realignment and how they will drive the rest of the district. He mentioned that the committee and the Board will have to anticipate that the new superintendent will have strong opinions on how to synchronize to the process. He suggested that, once the new superintendent is selected, he or she be invited to participate in the strategic planning process during this school year.

 

The Steering Committee meeting on the 6th of February will be in the Board Room. There are about 25-26 confirmed members of the committee. If possible, the meeting will be recorded to document the process as we go along. Mr. Melton stated that the Thursday night alignment meeting with the board would be recorded since it will be held via VisionNet.

 

Nancy Hines stated that she has set up interviews with the Gazette on Monday about strategic planning. Barb Bryan and Peter Gesuale stated that they will be available for these.

 

Barb Bryan asked if part of the Steering Committee – maybe 5 or 6 people – should be designated as a lead group to make any decisions that arise between meetings. Mr. Melton is in favor of that.

 

MTSBA signed off at 9:44.

 

The remainder of the meeting was used to discuss and revise the survey questions. Barb Bryan will communicate the requested changes to MTSBA.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 11:13 a.m.

 

 

 

 

_______________________________

Nancy Coe, Recorder