By Megan Kelley

Review Writer

During their workshop meeting on Oct. 27, the Lake Orion Community Schools Board of Education moved forward in the strategic planning process by participating in their own input session.

In recent months, the district has started building the foundation of strategic planning, wrapping up some of the final details of the pre-planning part of the process and getting into the next phase, Analysis/Needs Assessment.

The Analysis/Needs Assessment phase is the second phase of the strategic planning process and includes collecting stakeholder input (face-to-face input sessions and electronic surveys) data and educational (demographic, student achievement and financial) data.

The entire strategic planning process, including the input sessions, for LOCS is being facilitated by the Michigan Association of School Board’s Assistant Director of Leadership Development, Debbie Stair.

The first to be a part of these input sessions is the LOCS Board of Education.

The input sessions consist of several open-ended questions, including:

1. What do you believe the district has done well during the pandemic?

2. What do you believe the district could have done better during the pandemic?

3. What are the current strengths of the district?

4. What are some of the areas of improvement that should be considered by the district?

5. What current barriers exist that would make it difficult for the district to implement its new strategic plan once it is developed?

6. What is your vision for the district? That is, what would you like the district to look like in 3 – 5 years?

The board and Superintendent Ben Kirby participated in a discussion about these questions, taking time to answer the questions alone and then discuss them as a larger group.

Several board members echoed the same thoughts on most questions, agreeing that the strengths of the district include the administrative team, staff, community financial support and involved parents and students.

They also agreed that some areas that need improvement include offering opportunities for higher achieving students at the elementary level, vocational paths and opportunities for students that do not plan on going to college and communication.

Community buy-in of the process is vital in this process as is the follow-through after the plan is made, Trustee Susan Flaherty said when discussing some potential barriers.

Overall, the board’s vision for the district remains relatively the same, preparing students for the future and district growth.

Some stakeholder input sessions are expected to be held in person; however, as of right now, it is unclear when and where those will be held.

Alternatively, feedback can be given online at

www.surveymonkey.com/r/LakeOrionSP2021.

Note that online surveys are currently programmed to only allow one survey per IP address.

Also in the meeting:

• The board reviewed their recent self-assessment survey results. After a brief discussion, the board Self-Assessment Committee agreed to meet again and form a list of what they considered to be top priorities of the district and report back to the full board at a later date.

• Kirby and the board were joined by Vern Hazard from Flippen Group who facilitated a Communication Skills to Strengthen Governance training session.

Board members then created and signed a social contract essentially committing to conducting themselves in a manner that fulfills the contract.