Reeds Spring School District Adopts Five Year Plan
July 1, 2020
File Photo: Reeds Spring School District Superintendent Dr. Cody Hirschi addresses the community members interested in participating in the school’s new strategic plan at a meeting on Tuesday, January 21, 2020.
Isaac Estes-Jones
Reeds Spring School District announced the adoption of a strategic plan last week. The school started working on the plan in December of 2019 after new superintendent Cody Hirschi’s first semester with the school. The school identified seven key areas to plan to improve over the next five years, including expanding access to early childhood education, improving academic excellence and student and employee success. The school plans to ask voters for a tax levy increase in coming years to pay for expanded operation costs necessitated by the plan.
“[The strategic plan] developed through several stages, from initial discussions through where we are now,” Hirschi said. The plan specifics were created by action plan teams and finalized and approved by the school board. The planning teams included teachers, staff and community members representing parents and local businesses. “We had almost 100 people involved overall,” Hirschi said.
The strategic plan was developed around a core mission and set of parameters to achieve four specific objectives. The objectives of the plan are, each year, to increase the percentage of students entering post-secondary education or employment, help students show improvement on “local, state and national standards,” increase participation in district programs and increase the recognition and distinction of the school district.
To achieve these aims, the school will work within seven strategies, ranging from early childhood education and academic excellence to community awareness and finances.
An executive summary of the strategic plan is available on the district’s website, https://www.rs-wolves.com/, and will not be elaborated in full in this article.
“With early childhood education,” Hirschi said, “there is a big need to expand. Our Parents as Teachers program only has two part-time staff while other local districts have two to three full-time staff in that program.”
Additionally, the school says they will have to build a new facility to house all early childhood programs. “Our space is really limited and we need to expand,” Hirschi said. “We know that getting more kids ready for kindergarten helps them do better, and when students do better in kindergarten, they do better in life. There is also a need in the community for more child care. We hope to play a big role filling that need,” he said.
Within college and career readiness, Hirschi emphasized the importance of Gibson Technical Center to the district’s plans. “We’re blessed to have Gibson Tech in our district. The district does a great job already, but there is always room for improvement.” He said there are plans to keep Gibson Tech state of the art and help get students into internship programs with area businesses.
In order to pay for these expansions and improvements, the strategic plan specifically looked at the financial side of things. According to the plan, the district will propose a no-tax increase bond issue to help build capital projects, such as an early childhood education center.
Further, the school will ask voters to approve a tax levy increase to pay for the increased operational costs associated with the strategic plan, such as hiring new teachers and possibly increasing their pay scale. “The district has the lowest tax rate in the region,” Hirschi said. “It’s been nice to tout that, but the rate now isn’t adequate to pay for these improvements.”
Hirschi is hopeful that voters will approve the increase when the school places it on the ballot. Exact plans for that have not been set at this time.
Details on that tax change have not been decided yet. The school’s board of education will discuss the first year’s priorities on their board retreat later this month.
“I’ve watched with interest as school districts across the state have succeeded when asking voters for small increases that make a big difference. I really think it will have a minimal impact on families when it comes down to it,” he said.
It is also unclear how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will impact the district. “We know the state has cut some funding from school districts, and I expect to see more of that, but from our standpoint, this is a community plan, so the community will make it happen,” he said.
Reeds Spring School District announced the adoption of a strategic plan last week. The school started working on the plan in December of 2019 after new superintendent Cody Hirschi’s first semester with the school. The school identified seven key areas to plan to improve over the next five years, including expanding access to early childhood education, improving academic excellence and student and employee success. The school plans to ask voters for a tax levy increase in coming years to pay for expanded operation costs necessitated by the plan.
“[The strategic plan] developed through several stages, from initial discussions through where we are now,” Hirschi said. The plan specifics were created by action plan teams and finalized and approved by the school board. The planning teams included teachers, staff and community members representing parents and local businesses. “We had almost 100 people involved overall,” Hirschi said.
The strategic plan was developed around a core mission and set of parameters to achieve four specific objectives. The objectives of the plan are, each year, to increase the percentage of students entering post-secondary education or employment, help students show improvement on “local, state and national standards,” increase participation in district programs and increase the recognition and distinction of the school district.
To achieve these aims, the school will work within seven strategies, ranging from early childhood education and academic excellence to community awareness and finances.
An executive summary of the strategic plan is available on the district’s website, https://www.rs-wolves.com/, and will not be elaborated in full in this article.
“With early childhood education,” Hirschi said, “there is a big need to expand. Our Parents as Teachers program only has two part-time staff while other local districts have two to three full-time staff in that program.”
Additionally, the school says they will have to build a new facility to house all early childhood programs. “Our space is really limited and we need to expand,” Hirschi said. “We know that getting more kids ready for kindergarten helps them do better, and when students do better in kindergarten, they do better in life. There is also a need in the community for more child care. We hope to play a big role filling that need,” he said.
Within college and career readiness, Hirschi emphasized the importance of Gibson Technical Center to the district’s plans. “We’re blessed to have Gibson Tech in our district. The district does a great job already, but there is always room for improvement.” He said there are plans to keep Gibson Tech state of the art and help get students into internship programs with area businesses.
In order to pay for these expansions and improvements, the strategic plan specifically looked at the financial side of things. According to the plan, the district will propose a no-tax increase bond issue to help build capital projects, such as an early childhood education center.
Further, the school will ask voters to approve a tax levy increase to pay for the increased operational costs associated with the strategic plan, such as hiring new teachers and possibly increasing their pay scale. “The district has the lowest tax rate in the region,” Hirschi said. “It’s been nice to tout that, but the rate now isn’t adequate to pay for these improvements.”
Hirschi is hopeful that voters will approve the increase when the school places it on the ballot. Exact plans for that have not been set at this time.
Details on that tax change have not been decided yet. The school’s board of education will discuss the first year’s priorities on their board retreat later this month.
“I’ve watched with interest as school districts across the state have succeeded when asking voters for small increases that make a big difference. I really think it will have a minimal impact on families when it comes down to it,” he said.
It is also unclear how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will impact the district. “We know the state has cut some funding from school districts, and I expect to see more of that, but from our standpoint, this is a community plan, so the community will make it happen,” he said.