Debra Silk, Associate Executive/General Counsel for the Montana School Boards Association, led a discussion at the Big Sandy High School for a new Strategic Plan. The last one was done in 2017. We started with the discussion on the current Core Purpose. It reads, “The Core Purpose of Big Sandy Public Schools is to provide a quality education and environment for each student to be successful in life.”

The Core Values for the Big Sandy Public Schools are: Purposeful, Respectful, Inspiring, Determined, and Encouraging. PRIDE. She asked if we were living up to those values.

Debra asked several thought-provoking questions. What are some of the lessons we have learned during the pandemic? And have those lessons helped us to determine if we could have more flexibility in our accreditation standards. Suppose we look at the laws concerning accreditation standards. There are the minimum standards, which is 20 credits to graduate, but we have a lot of flexibility legally. Big Sandy requires 24 credits to graduate.

Debra mentioned Article 10, section 1 (1), which reads: “It is the goal of the people to establish a system of education that will develop each person’s full educational potential. Equality of educational opportunity is guaranteed to each person of the state.” Article 10, section 8 reads: “The supervision and control of schools in each school district shall be vested in a board of trustees to be elected as provided by law.”

Do we personalize the education process for all kids? She went on to say college is not the end-all for every kid. Debra asked if we value vocation and technical information. Could kids learn a skill while they were in high school before he graduated so they would have a better idea of what he wanted to become? Could he learn to cook or to weld, for example?

She asked if we walk our talk. We need to be open to opportunities. How to inspire every student?

Strategic Planning requires discussions about planning for 15-20 years, 5 to 10 years, and 3 to five years planning. Any final planning will require financial resources and human resources.

The question was asked do we want to get past paper? Past books? And everyone agreed that we didn’t want to. We need to have a teacher in front of the kids. It’s essential to have teachers face to face.

In 20 years, what will the buildings look like? Will we have teacher housing? How to update building facilities? Nationally we have a teacher shortage; how will we encourage and support them in our district? How do we help students and teachers mentally and emotionally?

Do we support students regardless of their academic level and help them feel successful? We are woefully short on gym space. How do we reach out to home school? Do we allow part-time enrollment? Some districts do.

These were some of the discussions. Debra had set up three discussion areas with about 45 community members present. It was a thought-provoking discussion.