Friday, March 29, 2024

Bridgeport School Board approves strategic plan for district

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Looking down the road four or five years, the Bridgeport School District officials want to increase Bridgeport High School's graduation rate to meet or exceed the state average, increase the district's Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) scores and provide teacher training to make it happen. By 2012 they want to fix up or replace the existing high school vocational shop and bus garage, and to establish a reserve (savings) fund equivalent to at least three percent of the district's budget. Those were some of the conclusions and goals set in the new strategic plan, which was approved by the Bridgeport School Board at its regular meeting Monday, July 28.

Board members, district officials and district patrons have been working on the plan for about five months, reviewing academics, continuing education, facilities, finances, communication. The new strategic plan establishes the objectives and sets up timelines to meet them.

The plan calls for specific analysis and intervention for kids who are falling behind at WASL time, and for yearly reviews to make sure teachers are using the most effective teaching methods. To help teachers there will be ongoing training; teachers will be asked to share what they learn with the rest of the staff. The training will focus on finding the most effective ways to teach the core curriculum (reading, writing, science and mathematics) and the best English as a Second Language teaching techniques.

The plan suggests periodic reviews of the school budget to determine places to save money, with the goal of increasing the district's reserves by at least one percent each year. Part of that effort will come at budget time; administrators will be asked to build budgets on conservative projections of student enrollment, so that the district can maximize its state-funded basic school support.

District officials want to work on increasing the graduation rate, including additional counseling for kids who are falling behind, along with a credit retrieval program and techniques to help teachers develop connections with their students. The graduation improvement plan also would include alternatives to the traditional classroom. The plan recommends increased efforts to inform parents and students about post-secondary career and education opportunities, and provide expanded opportunities for college-level courses at the high school.

The plan calls for appraisal of the district's existing bus garage in 2009, to determine how much the district would get if they sold it, as well as determining how much it would cost to design and build a new bus facility. Part of that process would be determining the feasibility of buying land next to the school campus. District officials also will review the existing bus purchase schedule, with the idea of taking maximum advantage of the state depreciation schedule. That might-maybe, might be, could be, possibly-include a two-year levy proposal for new buses.

The high school shop looms large; the first step will be to establish a committee to look at the existing facility and make recommendations what to do with it. The next step would be to upgrade or remodel the shop, whether through a local construction bond and state matching funds, or finding grants to pay for the district's part of it, or develop a long term plan to fix it up as money becomes available. The idea is to have a report and recommendations to the school board by June 2009.

District officials will be asked to develop a maintenance plan for district facilities, especially preventative maintenance, with a report to be submitted to the board by the end of this summer.

The plan promotes efforts at increased communication, both among the school staff and administrators and with the community. Parents, teachers and district patrons will be surveyed to determine the channels of communication they prefer, and there will be at least two surveys each year to determine if those methods are still working. District officials also will be looking for new ways to get their message out.

In other business, superintendent Gene Schmidt announced that district patrons are being invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Bridgeport Middle School Monday, Aug. 25 to show off the results of a summer's worth of construction. It will be right before the monthly board meeting, at 6:30 p.m.

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