DCSD Board holds Strategic Planning meeting
Members of the Darlington County School Board, educators, business and community leaders met at the Mayo High School for Math, Science and Technology, 405 Chestnut Street, Darlington, on Tuesday, November 29th. They gathered to discuss strategic planning and possible changes to the county’s educational system for the next 5 years. PHOTO BY STEPHAN DREW
By Stephan Drew
On Tuesday, November 29th, the Darlington County School District (DCSD) Board of Education and Senior Leadership met with educators, business and community leaders as well as parents and other concerned citizens at the Mayo Conference Center, located at 405 Chestnut Street in Darlington. They met to discuss the district’s strategic planning and to review ideas for upcoming school years. Audrey Childers, DCSD Director of Communications, said, “Part of the strategic planning process we go through is to start working for the next 5 years. It’s really exciting because it’s a room full of possibilities.” Childers explained that there was one initial meeting last year before COVID reemerged and they were unable to meet again until now.
A crowd of about 100 business owners, elected officials, teachers, school administration and others were included in order for the school board to hear as many different ideas as possible. DCSD Superintentendent Tim Newman stated, “To do a strategic plan, you should have a broad cross-section of stakeholders involved. We want to make sure we get input from our parents, from our teachers, administrators, from our business community and our churches. This is really put together to see what we all think our Darlington County School District should look like over the next 5 years and, what we want it to look like at the end of 5 years. “ Newman described it as a “reset from that last meeting so we can begin to go forward from here. We want to make sure we have a good plan in place,” he said.
Richard Schroeder, Associate Partner for the International Center for Leadership and Education, a strategic planning organization, was on hand to help guide the meeting and answer any questions the attendees had. Schroeder Many ideas were suggested and discussed but, none were officially voted upon because this meeting was a part of the initial phase in this process. All ideas will be taken under consideration and selected ideas will be voted upon in future meetings. The Darlington County School Board will next meet on Tuesday, December 12th.
