Strategic Planning Survey Results Revealed for Foxborough Schools

Discussions and survey results regarding new technology, continued dynamic curriculum offerings and improved communication between students, parents and the community are all apart of Foxborough's strategic plan for it's school system.

Work sessions on these and other topics have been ongoing between strategic task force members, faculty and school administration leaders for the past year and a half.

Cathy Rongione, a management consultant helping a group shape the strategic plan, has stressed the importance of enhancing communication between school leaders and the general public.

In an effort to gain knowledge and to develop an updated strategic plan for Foxborough's public schools, a 'Strategic Planning survey' was distributed to parents, staff, and community members on June 9, available to July 1.

"It took a year and a half to develop [Strategic plan objectives] after we finished developing and our next step was to see how well people understood and agreed upon them," said Superintendent Debra Spinelli. "This is our roadmap for the next three years."

The School Committee met Monday night, Oct. 17, to discuss the results from the strategic planning survey.

A majority of survey questions revolved around the idea of how well "did the respondent understand the objectives and to what degree did they support it."

176 staff members, 336 parents and 19 community members completed the survey.

In the executive summary of findings, 95 percent of respondents supported all four strategic plan objectives. The four themes included understanding and support of the objectives in the strategic plan, understanding the mission and core values of the Foxborough schools, knowledge of school district facts and understanding and support of the goals and strategies for reaching objective goals.

In the open comment section of the survey, some respondents expressed a desire to be more directly involved in the development of the strategic plan goals and objectives.

Thirty-seven percent of parents believed Foxborough should make better aware of student achievement results.

Seventy-six percent of staff, 38 percent of parents and 32 percent of non-parents responded that they were aware of class sizes in Foxborough.

According to the survey, 89 percent of parents were the least likely to report understanding the goal to develop and maintain an ongoing and reliable system for collecting and analyzing perception data about school culture and climate.

Overall, the strategic plan is well understood and supported by both parents and staff. Most respondents understood Foxborough’s mission statement and core values and there was a high degree of familiarity with the improvements to school facilities.

Recommendations for improvement included:

• Seeking out opportunities to share more information on student achievement and class size information with parents. Over the next few months the Foxborough School Committee will provide detailed information about how student achievement is measured and its implications for both the students and the schools.   
• Opportunities to educate parents and the community on the districts fiscally responsible management of expenditures and the concept of "good value for the dollar."