In the spring of 2022, the Richland School Board directed the superintendent to develop a comprehensive district strategic plan informed by input from staff, students, families and the community at large. The district had lacked a strategic plan for many years. Past efforts to institute strategic plans led to administrative upheaval and superficial plans that did not have lasting impact. A final draft of this new strategic plan was to be presented to the Board in roughly six months.
Researching peer district strategic plans and approaches and working with Cabinet-level administrators, I developed a “strawman” strategic plan to initiate discussion among administrators and district staff. This included initial development of aspects of the final strategic plan, such as the “Portrait Of A Graduate” and Priority Areas that tied the strategic plan to the primary focus of schools: student success. The idea of student portraits became a central aesthetic theme and student artwork depicting themselves was used heavily throughout the document. Color theory around the concepts of the Priority Areas (academic success, well-being, safety, accountability and community engagement) informed the palette of the document. The overall title—“Richland Ready”—was coined to brand how Richland School District has its own high standard at preparing students for their professional, civic and personal lives following graduation.
The document went through three rounds of input via formal online surveys, small group discussion and informal polling.
The Board approved the final draft of the Richland Ready Strategic Plan in October 2022.
