The Omaha Public Schools board could soon begin work on a strategic plan that sets goals for the next five years.
The strategic planning process was discussed at Monday night’s OPS board meeting. It was the first meeting of the nine-member school board. Interim superintendent Virginia Moon says the need for a strategic plan has been discussed for several months, and possible consultants have been identified to facilitate the process.
"It is the pleasure of this board as to who we hire to facilitate it, but I don’t think that who the facilitator is is nearly as important as the fact that we do the strategic planning, that we get started at it, that it’s a very inclusive process, and it helps us to set the direction going forward."
Moon says the goal is to identify five or six specific areas of focus, such as student achievement. Once that’s done, work would begin to craft a strategic plan detailing those items and how they’ll be implemented over the next five years.
Board members raised questions about whether the planning process would include a discussion on fiscal matters, and if the data used to craft the plan is credible.
Hiring a consultant to facilitate the strategic planning process could cost OPS at least $31,000. The process is still under discussion and no action was taken at Monday’s meeting to move forward with a consultant.
