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The Suffolk Public School’s five-year strategic plan and year one review were provided to the School Board during the April 10 meeting. Board Chair Heather Howell said she was “inspired” to revisit these presentations after participating in Virginia School Boards Association webinars about establishing goals and monitoring progress, and community engagement and board unity.

Howell said she wanted to make sure Vice Chair Sean McGee and Board member Valerie Fields were informed of the strategic plan as they are the newest to the Board. Howell also mentioned the possibility of later choosing a retreat date to improve on the plan’s goals.

“I think we would benefit from revisiting, familiarizing, if you’re not familiar with them yet, and then possibly seeing how we can sharpen them,” she said.

The strategic plan, titled “Destination 2028: Connection, Educational Excellence, and Innovation,” was first presented to the Board in November 2022 and has the slogan, “Creating achievers: From classroom to community.” The strategic plan year one review was first presented in February 2024.

The plan outlines goals in four distinct areas: student achievement, climate and culture, human and fiscal resources, and community engagement and communication.

The student achievement goal states, “Students will develop characteristics of a Virginia graduate to include critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, communication, citizenship and growth in order to demonstrate academic excellence.”

The strategic plan indicators for this goal are as follows:

• Increase in student achievement as measured by the Virginia SOL assessments
• Increase of students achievement as measured by advanced proficiency rates on the english, mathematics, and science Virginia SOL assessments
• Increase in the overall graduation rate for all students
• Increase in the percentage of students meeting the criteria to be college and career ready as measured by the Virginia Profile of a Graduate
• Increase in the diversity of students in advanced courses that more closely reflects the demographics of Suffolk Public Schools
• Expand options for academic and career development and programming to enhance student learning and experiences

According to the strategic plan year one presentation, SOL scores and graduation rates increased, as did the percentage of students who met the criteria for college and career readiness. 

There were no significant changes in student demographics in advanced courses between 2023 and 2022. The largest percent changes were the amount of Black students — up to 55% from 53% — and the amount of white students — down to 35% from 37%.

The last indicator measuring options for academic and career development programming was not captured during the 2021-2022 school year, but a baseline was taken the following year as 82%.

SPS outlined 10 specific targeted initiatives to work toward the student achievement goal. The initiatives include increased special education support, implementing student-led discourse, building conceptual understanding of math, increased implementation of high-yield routines and math station activities, increased hands-on learning, science-based literacy instruction, facilitating CTE professional development, focus on CTE student activities, and focusing on tutoring programs across the division.

The climate and culture goal states aims to “create a dynamic learning environment that promotes high student achievement, stimulates student engagement, supports staff creativity, ensures school safety, and reinforces positive staff and student relationships.”

The strategic plan indicators are as follows:

• Decrease in the number of discipline referrals and unacceptable behavior
• Increase in student participation in extracurricular activities as the elementary and secondary levels
• Decrease in chronic absenteeism as measured by the Virginia Department of Education standards
• Improved school safety procedures and protocols as measured by annual safety audits, student discipline, and climate surveys
• Decrease in incidents of bullying and cyberbullying each year
• Increase in the number of staff and students wellness and safety supports and programming 
• Increase of positive student-teacher and staff interactions that support a culture of high students achievement, positive relationships, improved staff morale, and effective communication for the school community as measured by division climate surveys

Discipline referrals and unacceptable behavior decreased from 6,813 in 2022 to 6,600 in 2023. Chronic absenteeism decreased from 27% to 20%. Improved school safety had not been previously recorded, but it was at 84% in 2023. Bullying and cyberbullying incidents increased from 35 to 55. Positive student-teacher and staff interactions decreased from 68% to 66%. 

Student participation in extracurricular activities, school safety procedures, and involvement in wellness and safety supports were not previously recorded. In 2023, 1,737 students were involved in extracurricular activities, safety procedures were measured at 84%, and there were 1,135 staff involved in wellness safety supports and programming, and 7,561 students. 

Targeted initiatives for this goal include developing a dedicated website to clubs and organizations, planning elementary intramurals and kick-off events, increased funds for academic clubs and organizations, development of in-school clubs and organizations, providing after school transportation to clubs and organizations, evaluating the division’s equity needs, increasing the number of staff to support students and parents, emphasizing a restorative practice in ISS, designing and implementing an Attend to Achieve plan, emergency response training, creating a bully resources center for staff, and professional development focused on student achievement and safety.

The human and fiscal resources goal aims to “ensure the effective and efficient management of capital and human resources for the development and retention of high quality staff, sustainable operations, and systems.”

The strategic plan initiatives are as follows:

• Review of completed school facilities and maintenance projects for efficiency and cost effectiveness
• SPS Board review of staff perceptions of morale as measured by the annual climate survey
• Increase in staff retention
• External audits of local, state, and federal financial operations
• Targeted professional learning and collaboration for all staff to support student achievement and division effectiveness measured by division climate surveys. 

In 2023, the audits and facilities and maintenance projects were completed. Perceptions of morale and professional learning and collaboration remained consistent at 69% and 78%, respectively. Staff retention decreased from 86% to 84%.

The targeted initiatives for this goal include semi-annual reviews of the facilities study, routine audits, developing creative ways to retain staff, and increased teacher and staff mentorship efforts. 

The community engagement and communication goal is to “increase engagement opportunities for families, school communities, and business partnerships.”

The strategic plan initiatives are:

• Increase in positive perceptions about SPS services as measured by the climates survey
• Increase in community participation in the Community Leadership Program
• Increase in the number of community and family engagements and participations as measured by digital interactions and in-person events
• Increase in community engagement and participation as measured by booster clubs, parent-teacher associations, advisory groups, and other indicators 
• Expansions of stakeholder communication modalities and reach as measured by division, school information portals, and climate survey feedback

Most of these indicators have not been recorded prior to the 2022-2023 school year. 

The measured community participation in the Community Leadership Program was eight, there were 31,193 people involved in digital and in-person events, the PTA reported 50% involvement in community engagement and participation, advisory groups reported 67%.

There was a 1% increase in positive perceptions of SPS services from 2022 to 2023 — 68% to 69% — and a 2% decrease in stakeholder communication — 80% to 78%.

The targeted initiatives include using multiple methods of communication to stakeholders, implementing successful language translation and interpretation practices, increasing engagement opportunities for English language learner families, collaborating with stakeholders to develop division-wide community engagement events, working with SPS departments to further develop partnerships with local businesses to provide resources to the McKinnery-Vento families, and creating a process to improve the collection and analyzing of community engagement outreach efforts.