Education

Troup County School System Strategic Planning Two Day Session

In mid-June, over 90 community members and school system employees gathered at the Callaway Conference Center for two full days to talk about continuous improvement for Troup County School System (TCSS). In partnership with the Schlechty Center, the discovery sessions included exercises on defining moments of the past that impact or impede progress, using mental models, and organizational capacity. One activity, a Thought Exchange where guests added five words or less about what matters, was a highlight of the session. Attendees participated by scanning a QR code on their personal devices to add word choices that mattered to them. Dr. Brian Shumate, TCSS Superintendent, said, “The Thought Exchange activity was to help spur ideas about specific words that matter most to our community members. This will help us create a word bank where we can in turn create value statements that represent who we are as a school system.”

Shumate also noted that the next step in the strategic planning process is to review the feedback from the two day event and then host focus groups in July with school system employees from different grade levels and schools. “Strategic planning usually runs for three-to-five years. We plan to see the finished product toward the end of the year, in December. This is a multi-layered process as we continue assessing the capacity of the school district to create future orientations and maintain direction through strategic planning.”