Butler schools put future into words
BUTLER TWP — Fifty people, including students, teachers, parents, community volunteers, administrators and school board members, spent two days this week developing a mission statement and objectives for the future of the Butler School District.
On Thursday, the group of 50 split into smaller groups and developed objectives that would guide the district and its students toward its mission statement.
The objectives were then critiqued in front of the whole group. They had to be bold, measurable and free of qualifiers or further explanation, Butler Superintendent Brian White said.
“We want to establish an identity, purpose and means as a school district. Why do we exist?” he said about the plan.
The strategic planning process was kicked off by three visioning sessions that White hosted in October. More than 150 people participated in those sessions and some of them signed up for the planning sessions held this week, he said.
One comment White said he heard multiple times and would like to address was about consistency.
“Students in different schools sometimes have different experiences. They would like to see more consistency,” he said.
One group worked on an objective stating that each student will create and maintain an interest-based portfolio for career planning.
“When they're in elementary school, everyone wants to be a policeman or a fireman,” said Al Vavro, school board member. “When they get to high school that will change based on what they are interested in.”
Another group proposed that all students be able to read with fluency by third grade, while another proposed that all students meet or exceed individual, rigorous growth targets.
The students participating Wednesday and Thursday were in grades seven through 12 and were all members of student council.
Freshman Abbie Griffith said a strategic plan is something that is significant for the whole community.
“This is important because it involves everybody for the next several years. It truly does affect everyone,” she said.
Tom Menchyk, a retired teacher who lives in the district, participated in the sessions this week as a community volunteer.
Strategic planning is not required by the state, but is still valuable for districts like Butler, Menchyk said.
“This gets us to examine where we are and where we want to go,” he said.
He said that Butler was a good place to raise three children and he believes that the Butler district still offers families a good “bang for your buck.”
White will make a presentation of the group's work at the school board's meeting on Nov. 20 — including the final mission statement.
Another team will work with the framework developed by the group this week and create a long-term strategic plan for the district, which will include recommendations for changes and initiatives in the schools.
The final plan is expected to be done by March, White said.
