Public encouraged to participate in district's strategic vision

VERNON — The Vernon Township Board of Education and a Strategic Vision Advisory Steering Committee has appointed several stakeholders to assist the board in the development of a strategic vision for the Vernon Schools.

Part of the process will include a comprehensive review of facilities and student enrollment for the next decade. The committee is requesting input from the entire community.

All Vernon Township residents are invited to join the board and the district leadership team at the Community Strategic Vision Launch presentation on Monday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Cedar Mountain Primary School.

For those community members not able to participate in the Monday session, the presentation will be made available on the district website. The board also is encouraging residents to participate in the community input Survey, which will be released on Saturday, Feb. 22. The survey will be posted on the school district website: www.vtsd.com.

The board and Advisory Steering Committee believe that residents’ perception of the school district, its educational programs, facilities use, and support services will provide valuable input as the Steering Committee and other stakeholders who are involved in the visioning process move forward. The survey will take five to 10 minutes to complete online and may be submitted anonymously. The survey will be available online through Saturday, March 15.

In addition to the community, all district employees will be given the opportunity to participate in a district/staff survey; a separate survey has been developed for the district’s middle and high school students. The synthesized input will provide invaluable information to assist the Steering Committee and consulting firm, W.H. Adams & Associates, LLC, as they review and analyze student achievement, fiscal and community demographics data.

As a basis for the strategic vision, the committees will embrace research from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills in order to identify the essential skills students need for success in today’s world.

The analysis of district needs will take approximately six months to complete.