A press release from Crystal Lake High School District 155:
D155 Kicks Off Strategic Planning Process
District 155 initiated its strategic planning process with the support of its Board of Education on August 23. D155 recognizes the benefit of seeking insights from a variety of stakeholders, and views the strategic planning process as an opportunity for stakeholders in the 10 communities the district serves to voice their opinions and provide the district with constructive feedback.
The strategic planning process or “Pathway to Success” will allow the district to discover its current state and provide direction for the future.
The strategic plan will be a shared vision for all district stakeholders and will provide the blueprint for the district’s mission, vision, and values.
This process will help the district develop the corresponding action plan to establish the necessary goals to achieve this mission.
The Consortium for Educational Change (CEC) will facilitate the strategic planning process.
CEC provides schools, unions, and districts with a systemic, collaborative approach by identifying their unique challenges and assists in building a district’s internal capacity for continual improvement.
They have worked with more than 80 districts in Illinois including Crystal Lake Elementary District 47.
A diverse group comprised of 50 students, staff, parents, community members, and district leaders will serve on the strategic planning team.
- Board members – 2
- District administrators – 5
- Building administrators – 5
- Union leadership – 2
- Teachers – 9
- Parents – 13
- Students – 8
- Community – 6
They will meet five times to discuss survey results, data, and their visionary aspirations.
Strategic Planning Schedule
- August 23 – Orientation Meeting
- September 12 – Data Retreat
- October 30 – Vision Retreat
- November 7 – Setting Direction Retreat
- December 12 – Refinement/Recommendations
Engagement Sessions
There will be several engagement opportunities for stakeholders to help guide the process.
- August 27 – September 4 – Environmental Scan (Online Survey)
- October 4 – Cary-Grove High School
- October 9 – Crystal Lake Central High School
- October 17 – Crystal Lake South High School
- October 18 – Prairie Ridge High School
A list of names of those who have agreed to be part of the team are published on the district’s website.
CHSD 155 Strategic Plan Team Roster
Name Stakeholder Group
- Dave Secrest Board Member
- Amy Blazier Board Member
- Steve Olson Superintendent
- Jay Sargeant District Leadership Team
- Scott Shepard District Leadership Team
- Jeremy Davis District Leadership Team
- Shannon Podzimek District Leadership Team
- Neil Lesinski Building Leadership
- Eric Ernd Building Leadership
- Josh Nobilio Building Leadership
- Steve Koch Building Leadership
- Julie Duncan Building Leadership
- Devin Hester Union Leadership
- Dave Lehl Union Leadership
- Niki Lydon Teacher -School Representatives
- Al Kremer Teacher -School Representatives
- Dori Chianakas Teacher -School Representatives
- Brian Seaver Teacher -School Representatives
- Christine Graham Teacher -School Representatives
- Anne Santucci Teacher -School Representatives
- Todd Evans Teacher -School Representatives
- Steve Karlblom Teacher -School Representatives
- Amy Taege Teacher -School Representatives
- Lisa Stordahl Parent Organization Leadership
- Bonnie Stipetic Parent Organization Leadership
- Kendahl O’Hara Parent Organization Leadership
- Judy Masini Parent Organization Leadership
- Becky Lopez Parent
- Angela Nollett Parent
- Cory Bolanowski Parent
- Amy Letto Parent
- Susan Fater Parent
- Meg Coughlin Parent
- Danielle Morlock Parent
- Amy Zakoian Parent
- Shannon Hart Parent
- Camille Perry Student
- Jenna Stayart Student
- Jack Munn Student
- Ashley Elizarraraz Student
- Jack Becker Student
- Madison Eckman Student
- Jackson Willis Student
- Abby Dahlem Student
- Patricia Miller Community Representative
- Jason Herbster Community Representative
- Dan Jones Community Representative
- Mike Nygren Community Representative
- Tony Capalbo Community Representative
- Aaron Shepley Community Representative
The most valuable piece of this process will be feedback from stakeholders.
Parents and the community are encouraged to complete a survey by September 4.
Deadline for taking the survey is Tuesday, September 4th.
Deadline for taking the survey is Tuesday, September 4th.
Click here, or visit www.d155.org.
Results from this survey will be provided at the data retreat on September 12 and guide the strategic planning team throughout the process.
The district will host four community engagement sessions on October 4, October 9, October 17, and October 18.
These sessions will be open to the public and there will be guided activities to assess progress and comment on the direction the team is headed.
The district will begin promoting these community engagement sessions once details are finalized.
Information from each team meeting will be shared on the district’s website, www.d155.org.
Together we will shape the future of education in our community.
Aaron Shepley on that Board! Pullllleeeeaaaaassssee!
You gotta be kiddin’ me!
Who’s on the take?
With all those teacher-creatures and Shepley, plus many of their brainwashed adolescents, it’s ‘taxpayers be damned’ time in CL once again!
If you want to get an opinion out there other than a cheerleader for more spending, take the survey.
I did
Questions:
1) Is there anybody on the list of 50 that either currently (or in the past) receives a government paycheck either directly or indirectly (i.e. spouse) or is the direct beneficiary of government spending (i.e. student or parent)?
2) Why would the Board need to go on three “retreats” related to this process?
3) Where will these “retreats” be held and how much do these “retreats” cost the taxpayer?
4) Why can’t these “retreats” be performed at the D-155 Boardroom and videotaped like other Board meetings?
After almost 9 years on the D-26 Board, and going through the process to recover from near-bankruptcy, we’ve never considered conducting a “retreat”.
The Consortium for Educational Change (CEC) website states:
“The Consortium for Educational Change transforms schools and districts by building collaborative relationships between unions, school administrators, and school boards, and through full-service consulting that builds capacity for long-term change at every level of the school system.”
According to the Press Release, D155 wants to conduct a strategic planning process per their statement:
“The strategic plan will be a shared vision for all district stakeholders and will provide the blueprint for the district’s mission, vision, and values.”
The strategic planning process or “Pathway to Success” will allow the district to discover its current state and provide direction for the future.
Homeowners and taxpayers ought to be asking why an outside group and the attendant costs are necessary. One would think that highly compensated administrators and teachers with advanced degrees, Phd’s, Masters, ought to have, or if necessary attain, the skills to facilitate brainstorming and planning meetings. What will be the overall bill for CEC services to TAXPAYERS?
Home owners in the district, who pay huge real estate tax bills, including 70 percent for schools, ought to be asking what have the bloated and highly paid administrative staffs along with the teachers been doing in recent years. Why do they not have a strategic plan with a mission, vision and values already in place for many years that gets reviewed every quarter and updated yearly? Are they not smart enough to perform these functions as are those in the private sector and corporate world? Do some administrators have Phd’s, others Masters? Teachers have a minimum of Bachelor, many have Masters.
The main strategic plans that taxpayers need of school districts in McHenry County is a short and long range plan to consolidate districts, drastically reduce the quantity of administrative positions, review every administrative job title for proof of the need to have that position and proof of the need for each sub function of each administrative position.
Further, we need a strategic plan from all school districts, and hopefully consolidated districts, that details how they plan to reduce their overall cost per student year-by-year, each year, over the next 5, 10, 20 years.