The direction of Akron Public Schools under its new superintendent, Michael Robinson Jr., will become clearer Monday after the district announces a new proposal intended as both a vision statement and action plan.
“This plan will guide the district, its operations and aspirations for the foreseeable future,” Robinson said in a Dec. 7 letter announcing the strategic plan’s release. He declined requests for comment about the coming plan or the process used to create it.
But a draft version from the fall shows a strategic plan focused on:
- improving academic outcomes
- enhancing systems to ensure the district is equitable and inclusive
- expanding relationships with community members
- making the school environment better for students and school employees alike
In October, the district shared the draft proposal with residents for feedback. Called the Blueprint for Excellence, the strategic plan follows the AdvanceAPS plan, which in 2021 outlined plans to increase academic achievement, equitable practices and community connections.
The 2021 plan called for increasing graduation and attendance rates, boosting diversity from vendors and in hiring, and forming more community partnerships, among other changes, over three years.
According to the Blueprint for Excellence draft, which was last revised in November, higher graduation and attendance rates continue to be part of the district’s goals. Other priorities include increasing the student population, improving Kindergarten readiness by expanding the early learning program, and drastically increasing student literacy.
Kirstin Toth, an education consultant and former senior vice president of the GAR Foundation, said bringing back students who left public school for community schools or private schools was a “necessary goal” for the district.
“The strategy is correct,” she said, adding that the district needs to do a better job of explaining its successes, like the college and career academies.
Toth also praised efforts to expand early learning, especially Kindergarten readiness. But she said the draft proposal lacked a timeline for achieving the new goals and questioned how quickly significant improvements could be made.
Watch here: The strategic plan presentation will be live streamed Monday at 10:30 a.m. It also open to the public in the second-floor board room at 10 N. Main St. in downtown Akron.
She said, too, that it was unclear how much of the draft proposal was Robinson’s vision and how much was dictated by the Board of Education. With two school board members, including the chair, exiting at the end of the year, Toth said she wouldn’t be surprised to see new board members trying to put their own “tweaks” on the document.
One new board member, Summer Hall, said she hadn’t been briefed on the strategic plan and wasn’t yet familiar with it. Other board members didn’t return phone calls seeking comment; Valerie McKitrick said in a text message Friday she was still working through the plan, so didn’t feel comfortable discussing it.
It’s not unusual for outgoing boards to approve strategic plans as a way to give new leaders a “running start,” said Cheryl W. Ryan, the director of board and management services for the Ohio School Boards Association. She said there are a variety of ways to create a strategic plan, which usually governs between five and 10 years into the future and should be updated annually.
Strategic plans considered a best practice
“Coming in with a brand new strategic plan, I’d feel good,” Ryan said.
She said while districts aren’t required to have such plans, their existence is considered a best practice. They’re usually very broad and can be created by the school board, superintendent or outside consultants. Ryan said a new superintendent leading the charge would be an “interesting twist” as a way to learn the district.
“There’s no baggage or bias, no personal investment in what’s being said,” she said.
In his letter, Robinson said the plan was a key part of providing the best possible education.
“It outlines our goals and objectives for the coming years and provides a roadmap for how we will achieve them,” he wrote. “We believe that this plan will help us to better serve our students and families, and we are excited to share it with you.”
The four cornerstones in Akron’s draft plan are “super broad, which I love,” Ryan said.
Toth said she wasn’t sure if Robinson or the board led the plan’s creation, but she looked forward to hearing more about his goals.
“It’s a pretty fast trajectory,” Toth said of Robinson’s quick release of a strategic plan after starting as superintendent this summer. “There’s a lot for him to do, and I think he’s trying to make a fast impact.”
She called the draft proposal “ambitious” and said she hoped to see a defined timeline and more details about the district’s financial plans in the final document. While the draft says the district should maintain at least two months of accessible cash reserves at all times and highlights a planned 4% budget cut for 2025, it doesn’t go into long-term financial goals for the school system. Ryan said such details often come after strategies and objectives have been determined.
Toth said the draft version of the plan, which runs 13 pages, had some new ideas compared to the three-page 2021 document.
“The priorities in the community are pretty obvious,” she said. “If you miss that, then you’re missing the ball.”
