Overview:
Editor's note: This story was updated to include information from Monday's Board of Education meeting.
Akron Public Schools leaders approved a new strategic plan Monday that proposes full-day pre-Kindergarten for students. It was approved by the school board without any public input into the final proposal.
The “Blueprint for Excellence” was approved with minimal board discussion in a 6-0 vote. Outgoing school board President Derrick Hall said he was excited about where the district was going to go, saying the plan has the potential to put Akron “at the forefront of innovation” in education.
Universal pre-K, he said, “is my heart’s fondest wish” for the district.
Superintendent Michael Robinson said he wanted to move from half-day to full-day pre-K as part of the five-year plan. It’s not clear how the district would pay for the expanded option or when it might be available.
“We’re proposing, we don’t know if it’s going to work or not,” Robinson said in announcing the idea.
He didn’t expand on how the decision might be made and declined requests for comment about the proposal or the new strategic plan.
More than 200 people watched the presentation of the “Blueprint for Excellence” online and in person. Robinson said the proposal represented a commitment to students to help them prepare “to thrive in an ever-changing world,” the district’s vision statement. In announcing the district’s plans, he asked members of the media “not to use this blueprint as a weapon against the school district.”
He also said the schools are still dealing with learning loss from the coronavirus pandemic and need to work to catch students up.
But the presentation didn’t deal with how the district planned to accomplish that. Instead, Dave Leiberth, a former Akron deputy mayor and president of the soon-to-open Akron History Center, talked about the impact Akron ideas have had on education nationally – including the creation of the public school system in the United States. Robinson outlined the district’s values and the cornerstones it intends to rely on.
The district didn’t make the final version of the plan available after the presentation, but it did not appear to differ demonstrably from an October draft that focused on four areas:
- 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
“We commit to a culture of continuous improvement and adaptability,” Robinson said.
Kirstin Toth, an education consultant and former senior vice president of the GAR Foundation, said previously that the draft plan was “ambitious.”
“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.”
Robinson said the three-month process to create the Blueprint for Excellence has involved community support, and its success will require continuous monitoring. The district will have performance indicators that will allow Robinson to track its progress.
Diana Autry, the board’s vice chair, said the superintendent and staff were “working furiously to pull this together.”
“It’s something you should be proud of,” she said.
Improving financial literacy and having second graders read at or above grade level by the end of the school year are among his priorities, Robinson said. He also announced plans to create a new department focused on recruitment, talent and organizational development. And he plans to expand the district’s communications department.
The stakes for success are high: Robinson said if the district doesn’t serve families well, young people will leave Akron – and possibly Ohio – and the city will suffer.
“Change is indeed a challenge,” he said. “It takes commitment, it takes flexibility, it takes support, it takes understanding.”
In the end, he said, he wants Akron schools to be as influential now as they were when they were a model in the mid-1800s for public education in the country.
“We can and shall become the leaders again,” Robinson said. “The stakes are very high, and we must rise to the occasion.”
