May 27, 2021
Good afternoon BSD Families, Staff, Students, and Community Members,
We are excited to announce the launch of our strategic planning process!
Earlier this month we began working with the Center for Innovative Education to support the development of our strategic plan. Their work is supporting us with our equity focus on:
- Including and working side by side with families and learners farthest from opportunity in our community
- Rethinking how we will be accountable to one another in our strategic plan
- Balancing learning and action as we do this important work together and in our plans for the future
The goal of our strategic planning process will be to utilize a process of “radical inclusion” to help us mobilize a broad Coalition representative of Burlington’s diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. This means making extra effort to reach out to marginalized communities to ensure participation, creating an open application by which people may apply, and rounding out our Coalition with a randomly selected cross-section of the Burlington community. By using this radically inclusive process, we will ensure that all stakeholder groups are represented and able to bring their essential perspectives and many kinds of expertise to shape our strategic planning work and the future of Burlington School District.
Strategic Planning Phases and Timeline:
Phase 1 (June-July): Forming the Coalition and collecting data and insights via empathy interviewing
Phase 2 (August): Launching the Coalition and co-creating the vision for the district
Phase 3 (September-October): Defining key priorities, strategies, and areas for shared learning
Phase 4 (November): Finalizing the plan with full board collaboration
How to Get Involved Today (Empathy Interviewing Opportunity):
We need your help! To begin Phase 1, we are hoping community members will help us begin to gather stories and insights from BSD stakeholders utilizing a process known as “empathy interviewing.” These interviews will inform the work of the coalition; if you are interested in learning how to conduct empathy interviews and helping with this important work, please join us for a training on June 3 (4:30-6 pm, virtually) or July 15 (4:30-6 pm, in-person). Please sign-up and let us know you are interested!
We look forward to starting this work with you in the spirit of partnership and co-creation. If you have questions about the strategic planning process, please feel free to reach out to Victor Prussack, Coordinator of the Office of Engagement, at vprussac@bsdvt.org.
Sincerely,
Tom
