Ludington school board to consider strategic planning proposals

LUDINGTON — The Ludington Area School District Board of Education will consider proposals from three organizations to develop a new strategic plan for the district when it meets today, Monday, Sept. 21.

The board will meet at 6 p.m. in the Ludington High School Collaboration Center, 707 Anderson St.

The proposals are from Michigan Leadership Institute, Michigan Association of School Boards and Dark Horse Consulting LLC. The organizations offer different approaches to gathering input from students, staff, parents and the community and developing long-range goals for the district.

Michigan Leadership Institute has proposed a strategic planning process for a professional fee of $7,000, plus mileage expenses not to exceed $1,500.

Under the MLI proposal, the district would establish a steering committee consisting of five to 15 people representing groups such as the board, central office administration, building leadership and school improvement teams. The organization would also conduct an online community survey and two to four stakeholder forums involving community and business leaders, board members, administrators, teachers, staff, parents and students.

The process would examine the district’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and barriers to success and would use district data, community survey results and stakeholder feedback to establish strategic goals and indicators for measuring progress. MLI would also assist the district in developing a system for monitoring and reporting progress on the plan.

The Michigan Association of School Boards has submitted a proposal costing $10,269.92, which includes expenses such as mileage, meals and overnight accommodations. MASB estimates its planning process could be completed in three to four months.

MASB’s proposal includes up to six in-person focus groups involving stakeholders, a virtual focus group, an analysis of stakeholder input and a report examining five years of district data. The data would include enrollment and demographics, student learning, finances and personnel and would compare Ludington Area School District with state averages and five other school districts selected by the board and superintendent.

MASB would also facilitate a strategic planning retreat involving approximately 40 participants and an implementation workshop with district staff. The final process would include an executive summary, recommendations for a board monitoring calendar and other documents intended to guide implementation of the plan.

Dark Horse Consulting has offered the district three levels of service ranging from $8,000 to $15,000. All three would result in a strategic plan covering the next three to five years, but the amount of in-person community involvement and planning varies by option.

The $8,000 option would include an online survey, a one-day strategic planning retreat and a separate visit for presentation and board adoption of the plan. It does not include facilitated in-person stakeholder listening sessions.

The $10,000 option would add a full day of up to five listening sessions involving employees, board members, students, families and community partners. The $15,000 option would provide two consecutive listening days with up to 10 sessions and two days of in-person strategic planning.

Dark Horse would prepare the initial strategic plan, conduct leadership work sessions, make revisions and participate in presenting the plan to the board. Its final products would include a three- to five-year strategic plan, mission and vision statements, four goal areas, a one-page public summary and a board monitoring calendar.

The strategic planning discussion comes as Superintendent Travis Walker begins his first months leading the district. In August, the board established goals for Walker that include improving financial controls, staff morale and culture, increasing communication to rebuild trust and developing a board training and onboarding process.

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