The future doesn’t just include a new superintendent for Clarkston Community Schools, but also a new vision.
“For a year and a half we wanted to look at it,” said School Board President Steve Hyer. “We want to look at what the vision is and where we are headed.”
Members of the Teaching and Learning Council worked on a draft for a new vision statement after reviewing past visions and taking into account all stakeholders – students, teachers, parents, staff members and tax payers.
“We have a vision statement in our school approvement program for a long time,” said Interim Superintendent David Reschke. “We have put a lot of emphasis on the mission statements and have received more requests to link student programming with our vision.”
The board members took a look at it and noticed immediately they wanted to shortend the draft from a few paragraphs into a few sentences while getting enough information in.
“I have seen longer,” said Reschke. He added within the vision skills and attitudes should be addressed for the students and more information will be included in the mission statement, learner profile and goals.
Trustee Cheryl McGinnis felt a key piece was missing from the statement.
“We hear from the stakeholders but I want to hear from the students,” she said. “We are here for the sole purpose of educating.”
Trustee Barry Bomier and Vice President Susan Boatman noticed places the language could be strengthened – helping to cut down on words.
“We need to look at vocabulary and use active verbs,” said Bomier. “This isn’t time to us passive voice.”
“I agree with all the statements and sharpening the language, be more aggressive,” said Hyer.
Treasurer Rosalie Lieblang added the idea to keep in mind a few key points and what does it look like as it forms the district.
Another concern was mentioning the financial vision but Reschke brought forth the idea to have it in policies or goals. Reschke added they will try a shorter version and have an newer version for the board to review on Aug. 16.
“We are not in a hurry,” said Hyer. “We are spending time on this while we are in transition.”