How can anyone know what they need to be doing if they have no idea where they are going? Mary Jane McCalmon drove that point on strategic visioning and planning for school systems at the Nov. 14 CSD School Committee meeting.

Superintendent Keith Laser and the committee invited her to speak as the schools face projects likely to run into eight-figures over the next few years. McCalmon, once superintendent of Oxford Hills Schools and then Portland Public Schools, is now a facilitator for the Maine Department of Education or, as Laser said, “strategic vision guru of the state.”

Laser worked with McCalmon during his time in Auburn and most recently in Lincoln.

“We have a lot of forces at play, now, a lot of forces,” said Laser. “I've shared those with Mary Jane, some of the dynamics that I've experienced since I've arrived. Through our discussions, we've all come to the conclusion that we really need a strategic vision and a strategic plan to move forward.”

McCalmon explained, the most successful organizations have a clear vision for the future and a subsequent plan to try and make those things happen. With the inherently finite resources of a public school, funds must be used strategically, said McCalmon. This is why the first steps, of developing a vision and a plan, are so important: to use those resources wisely and realistically.

“If you're clear about the direction in which you're going, you can make much, much better decisions about how to utilize the human resources, capital resources, financial resources of your district to get you someplace you want to be.”

McCalmon said her experience as a superintendent and consultant has shown that schools as small as Brooksville Elementary School, with 58 children from Pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, still benefit from a strategic vision and plan.

“The bigger the system and the more complex, the more important it is.”

The most important ingredient to a vision is community input, said McCalmon. Public participation will help ensure a vision is clear and pulls the community together

“Go out and ask people, 'Where do we want to go? If this were the best school system it could possibly be, what would it be like? What would the learning be like? What would the facilities be like?' If you never stop to think about that, how are you ever going to get to a place you want to be?”

McCalmon said it will likely take the rest of the school year to identify a strategic vision and plan if community outreach is extended carefully and thoughtfully. A strategic vision may take far less time, but McCalmon said a vision without a plan is "just sort of a dream. It doesn't necessarily happen. It's not real."

Defined action steps, a long term plan over the next few years, and the first couple years of the plan should be spelled out in detail as the plan unfolds, she said. This will ensure a best possible use of resources – human and capital – and the most practical use of facilities and grounds. The outer parts of the plan should be covered with long and short term goals with some, but not significant, detail.

“Sometimes the time is just right, the circumstances are just right and you know you need to do this kind of work … You want to make sure it is meaningful, it comes from the community, is supported by the community, is doable, and is regularly reviewed … Then it's a vibrant, alive vision and strategic plan and it will serve the communities very well.”

Votes and Updates

John Bertolet offered to represent the CSD School Committee on the charter committee, previously composed of two selectmen each from Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor and both town managers – Steve Lewis, Dale Harmon, Denise Griffin, Tricia Campbell, Dan Bryer and Tom Woodin.

BRHS principal Dan Welch said a cooperative swim team with Wiscasset has been approved which will let the two teams score as one, providing more competition in the conference. The committee voted that Nordic skiing be canceled and replaced with winter track; that winter track be coached by Nick Scott who will receive a stipend, and that the swim team be coached by Earl Brewer who will receive a stipend. The committee authorized amendments to the MSMA Worker’s Compensation Insurance Declaration of Trust and Indemnity Agreement.

The committee welcomed new hires Laura Hall for food service and Guy Cassels for educational technician III, and wished farewell to Ed Crocker, former educational technician III.

Laser announced the CSD has over $10,000 in overdue lunch accounts and as the committee works to resolve the issue, the schools encourage famlies to fill out forms for free and reduced lunch. Forms are available on the school website and assistance is available through the food service or guidance office, said Laser.

Requested items on the next meeting’s agenda include the overdue lunch accounts and the MEA test results for BRES and BRHS.

The next CSD school committee meeting is at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12. The next AOS 98 School Board meeting is at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 26.