WAPAKONETA — The future of Ohio’s education is being discussed across the state as the State Board of Education holds stakeholder meetings on a new strategic plan.
A meeting held Wednesday at Wapakoneta High School gave people a chance to weigh in on a draft strategic plan that is being considered.
Lima native Linda Haycock, the District 1 representative on the State Board of Education, hosted the meeting in the performing arts center of the school.
“We have done a lot of work for the last seven months, and now we’re taking it to the stakeholders, going out into the field to invite educators, teachers, parents, concerned citizens, interested civic leaders, anyone that’s willing and interested to read the strategic plan and offer their recommendations — what they like, what they don’t like, what we’ve missed so we can strengthen it and make it the best strategic plan possible,” Haycock said.
More than 60 people attended the meeting.
A previous stakeholder meeting was held in Defiance.
“There have been some good ideas. We covered some actually over the last couple of days at recent a state board meeting. There are some common themes that are taking place. After all of it is done, we will accumulate all of the information and put into it all of those consistent themes,” Haycock said.
The theme of the strategic plan is “Each Child = Our Future.”
The draft of the strategic plan is broken down into eight guiding principles, including:
• Students are the state’s hopes and dreams.
• Equity is the state’s top education imperative.
• Parents, caregivers, teachers, school teachers and support personnel are at the heart of the state’s education system.
• A student’s learning experience—from preschool through post-secondary education — must be seamless.
• Business, foundation and community partners are essential to helping the state reach its goals.
• Schools are where it all happens—and a central focus of the work.
• There is no one-size-fits-all.
• Evidence, data and clarity on desired outcomes are essential to the work, particularly when it comes to school improvement.
“If all of us are on the same page, and if we’re all working for the same goal in education, every local district will have their own twist on how they achieve that goal. I think we have been very careful not to be prescriptive in it, in trying to delineate and itemize things that school districts should do, but just overarching principles in what we want to see for education,” Haycock said.
