The Spotsylvania County Public Schools’ five-year strategic plan is in its infancy, but the representatives from the firm directing it have a clear mission in mind — and it involves the entire community.
Cambridge Consulting, the same company that conducted the search for a superintendent that led to the hiring of Clint Mitchell five months ago, is tasked with developing and implementing the roadmap that will help SCPS set long-term goals and objectives and outline a plan to achieve them.
Kevin Castner and Wayne Harris, the two Cambridge officials who spoke to the school board at its most recent meeting, made one thing clear: the school system’s vision must be community-focused and heavily influenced by stakeholders.
“The goal is that each and every student will work in a learning environment that will ensure they will be successful in a global economy,” Harris said.
To that end, Harris said school officials must work together and develop a “clear understanding of the definition of excellence.”
Spotsylvania is now in the preplanning stage of developing the vision. The goal at this point is to communicate with residents and establish participants in the process.
“Excellence is never an accident,” Harris said. “It is always the result of a high-intention, sincere effort, intelligent execution and turning every obstacle that you encounter each and every day into opportunities that benefit students and support staff.”
Castner, the president of Cambridge, said the company has conducted approximately 1,000 strategic plans, and each one is customized to fit the school district. He said the timing for Spotsylvania is ideal since Mitchell is in his first year, having just completed his first 90 days.
Mitchell and the school board have an opportunity to build a new base of stakeholders to influence school spending and policy.
“The new superintendent and the board want to have a stakeholder-driven process that comes up through the community and the staff, not just down from the board and the superintendent,” Castner said.
Castner said the goal is to not throw out the previous strategic plan but rather to build upon it. He said the three keys to a successful plan are “home, school and community.”
Castner and Harris met with Mitchell and his staff earlier this week before speaking to the school board. There will be a dedicated place on the division website detailing each step of the process.
The plan will be developed this school year and implemented for 2025-26.
The next step for Spotsylvania is hosting a community summit to develop a broad base of stakeholders willing to volunteer to be a part of the process. A strategic plan committee of 30 people will convene in January, and Castner said it should be diverse bunch.
“If we took a picture, we could say, ‘Yes, this is representative of our community,’” he said.
More than half of the committee should be made up of people outside of the school district, with another large portion consisting of staff members. Mitchell and two board members will also participate. The stakeholders will be business and civic leaders, while the staff members should represent a balance between elementary and secondary employees. There should also be at least five students.
The group will be required to commit to three eight-hour days in January.
“That’s not always easy,” said Castner, “but it will make a difference in the school and community.”
After an action plan is developed, the strategic planning committee will meet again before implementation begins. Castner said the goal is to determine which programs and initiatives are working and which aren’t, and that will help guide the vision of the decision-makers.
“Why do strategic planning?” Castner said. “First is to engage the community in meaningful ways; to build partnerships and public confidence in a transparent process to earn trust; and to create and communicate a shared vision both within the system and throughout your community.”
