Strategic Planning – An Overview

The purpose of a strategic plan is to develop a roadmap to the future for an organization, in this case the Southern Regional School District. It takes into consideration the school’s mission statement, core beliefs, strengths and opportunities, and the needs of the community that the school serves. In addition to establishing a desired direction, an effective strategic plan also reinforces the fundamental tenets of the school, unifies efforts within the school, maximizes organizational efficiency and establishes a locally developed organizational assessment instrument. Moreover, the process used to develop a school’s strategic plan engages a cross-section of the community and as such, has the potential to unify public opinion as it pertains to views of school.

Strategic Planning at Southern Regional

The first cycle of strategic planning began in 2000. It was the district’s first attempt at strategic planning and it proved to be fundamental in facilitating significant organizational growth and development. The successes attributed to the first strategic plan informed the decision to enthusiastically enter into a second strategic planning cycle.

The second cycle is currently underway and began with a two-day Strategic Planning Council weekend which occurred on Friday, January 26 and Saturday, January 27 in the Walter C. Sharp Library of the 11-12 House. Participating on the Strategic Planning Council were 39 interested, informed members of the community who were invited as a result of their contributions in and for their communities.

During this two-day work session, the members of the Strategic Planning Council were presented with State of the District information, reviewed the previous strategic plan, developed a new mission statement, reauthorized the district’s previous core belief statements, added an additional core belief statement and developed three broad goal areas for the new strategic plan. Additionally, the Planning Council developed five strategies for each of the three goal areas. The detail of this work can be viewed by clicking here.

The process is one in which the entire Planning Council works together alternating with four and/or five small group break-out sessions. At the conclusion of each break-out session, the small groups report back to the group-at-large. Decisions are made by consensus. This approach to decision making results in a great deal of meaningful discourse and dialogue from which the sharing of thoughts and perceptions opens minds and formulates ideas and visions that would otherwise unlikely occur.

The Planning Council’s work is just the beginning. The next step requires establishing Action Teams for each of the three goal areas. These Action Teams will develop action plans for each of the five strategies of their respective goal area. Click here to learn more about the Action Teams for the Southern Regional School District Strategic Plan, 2007-2011.