Several community sessions will be conducted to gain public feedback regarding the implementation of Stanly County Schools’ five-year strategic plan.

The events will take place 6-7 p.m. April 20 at North Stanly Middle, April 27 at Albemarle Middle, May 4 at South Stanly Middle and May 11 at West Stanly Middle. The sessions will take place at each schools’ media center.

The plan will help guide the district from the 2023-2024 school year through the end of the 2027-2028 year. The previous strategic plan was in place 2018 through 2023.

“I think it’s important, especially for parents, to look at the plan and just to see this is where we’re trying to go and this is what we want to do, and get the feedback,” Superintendent Dr. Jarrod Dennis said. “Because maybe there is something we have not thought of that is really important.”

“It’s always critical to have input, especially with a document that steers the direction that the district is going to go,” Dennis added.

About the Strategic Plan

The plan, a draft of which was presented to the school board during a work session March 30, will be comprised of five categories.

The plan includes:

• Academic Achievement: The district will achieve at least 65% composite proficiency and 100% of schools will meet or exceed expected growth.
• Resources: The district will update infrastructure and make progress toward addressing facility needs throughout the county.
• Human Capital: The district will recruit and retain highly qualified staff.
• School Safety: The district will leverage available resources to ensure the safety of students, staff and stakeholders.
• Student Support: The district will provide comprehensive student wellness support for all students.

Committees made up of central office staff, principals, assistant principals and teachers have worked on the specifics regarding each category. Dr. Amy Blake-Lewis, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, has been playing a role overseeing academic achievement while Jennifer Flowe, SCS’ director of safety and security, is helping with school safety.

“This is the one goal that we feel kind of encompasses everything that we want to accomplish in this five-year cycle,” Blake-Lewis told the school board.

The committees also developed several steps to support the objectives for each of the five categories.

For school safety, the initiatives include individual schools conducting vulnerability assessments at the beginning of each year, developing and implementing a bus safety plan and every school having access to a key card system. For human capital, it includes developing a formal recruitment plan and formal staff retention plan along with refining the hiring and allotment procedures between human resources and finance.

The committees also developed key measures to determine how successful the objectives have been.

For school safety, some of the measures include vulnerability assessments being revisited quarterly and all buildings having key card access by 2028. For human capital, it involves the district attending a minimum of 15 job fairs and hosting at least two job fairs each year.

The strategic plan will also include vision and mission statements and a set of beliefs:

• School District’s (draft) Vision: Stanly County Schools: Empowering all students and staff to succeed.

• District’s (draft) Mission: Stanly County Schools will collaborate with our communities to create opportunities in which relationships are nurtured and learning experiences are engaging.

• District’s (draft) Beliefs: Empowerment of stakeholders, collaboration, building relationships, engagement of students in learning.

Following the four community events, the formal plan will be completed and presented to the school board for approval before the end of the fiscal year in June.