At the beginning of the school year, we conducted a needs assessment survey to help us with the formulation of our next strategic plan. As part of that planning, I spent some time reviewing the progress we made on our most recent plan, which you can find in this article here. Respondents for the survey included 1 school administrator, 2 school board members, 11 staff members, 130 parents and community members, 29 teachers, and 50 students. Thank you to everyone who responded. The board subsequently used those responses to formulate our next strategic plan which can be accessed under the About Us page of our school website.
Setting the stage for this strategic plan, we recognize foremost the district is experiencing robust enrollment growth, due to both open enrollment and residential enrollment. This, along with a strategy for controlling open enrollment was discussed at length in my October 16 article entitled, 'Counterbalancing Residential and Open Enrollment'. There is no mistaking the fact that residential construction in Hudson has been on the upward trend. In 2023, 22 residential home building permits were issued, adding a total residential value of $10.8 million to the district. Through the month of August (2024) 22 more residential home construction permits were issued, adding an additional $11.9 million in taxable value to the district. Over the last two years, 44 home construction permits have been issued in the Hudson Community School District. For more information on the growth of our school district, please refer to my January 29 article, 'Growing Pains'.
This sets the context for this strategic plan. While the current plan suggested enrollment growth, it was much more conservative and speculative than what has actually come to fruition. This [enrollment phenomenon] is even further removed for the document titled ‘Hudson 2020’ where enrollment was actually declining across the district. Indeed, this is a very different school district than it was a decade ago, even five years ago when the previous plan was adopted. As we soon will see, the challenges facing the Hudson Community School District are vastly different from those faced in 2019.
Among the key findings in the survey, a plurality of both parents (45%) and students (33%) suggest that preparation for life after high school be the top priority for improvement. There is a significant drop-off after that, falling to 19% of parents suggesting that meeting the needs of all students should be the top priority. A second priority becomes less clear for students, as there does not seem to be a statistically significant finding. It is also less dramatic when board and staff members are asked to identify their top priority for improvement, although ‘reading’ is clearly identified (21%). However, the drop-off to ‘meeting individual needs of all learners’ is second at 15%.
The district is currently wrapping up a major construction project at the high school attendance center. Included in this project is the addition of a career and technical education center. This career center, coupled with the addition of the CAPS program and more robust work-based learning opportunities, may help strengthen the top area of improvement as identified by both parents and students: prepare students for life after high school.
While only 26% of students indicate that anti-bullying efforts need to be improved, it did represent a plurality of students. On the other hand, 23% of board and staff members suggest teaching needs to changed, compared to 28% of parents and community members indicating that parental involvement needs to change. Both the elementary and secondary schools are engaged in continued efforts to combat bullying and harassment in schools, which was indicated as an area that needed to change by the students. The high school is currently involved in a social and emotional based professional development series designed to improve overall mental health in the system. Further, the district has recently taken steps as required by Iowa Law to combat chronic absenteeism and truancy. This work better enables the district to fine tune and understand what reasons may be leading to chronic absenteeism, including avoidance that sometimes comes from bullying. Finally, the board is currently engaged in work to strengthen our cell phone policy, which may be a contributing factor in online bullying and harassment.
In the future, the district may wish to consider major emphasis on instruction, content and the rigor of content standards keyed toward active student engagement in the classroom. In doing so, this will ensure that all students can learn at high levels, overcoming barriers and improving student achievement. Additionally, continued effort should be made to align the assessment system to the rigor of the standards. Finally, it will be important for all stakeholders to understand how leadership teams are organized and understand how they have a voice in decision making.
Our next step then, is to take those recommendations as outlined in our strategic plan and convert them to actionable goals. The School Improvement Advisory Committee (SIAC) will meet this spring to help formulate those goals. To read the full strategic plan, click this link.
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