Yesterday the school district sent out another message recruiting for its strategic planning teams. The message is included below for those not on the district mailing list. The repeated messaging around this and the extended deadline to apply suggests the response has not been what they hoped for.

We shouldn’t be surprised. While the administration claims it values inclusion, their actions continue to indicate a lack of awareness of what it means to be an inclusive community. How much of our community is available for four weekday meetings starting at 4 pm? How many families have jobs that require their attendance at those times? Or have no other childcare options? Or have other evening responsibilities?

Personally I have work obligations at each of the times listed. Most everyone I know has responsibilities at these times. And even the times listed are “tentative” suggesting that beyond such challenging scheduling, timing flexibility might be needed by those signing up. Much of the working class and younger families are excluded even as the administration claims it seeks a “representative” group.

What’s the point of a four hour long meeting? Most of the 1 hour long meetings in life are dreadfully overlong and unproductive. The administration has repeatedly demonstrated it cannot run meetings in a way that values the time of those attending – just watch any board meeting.

If you’re interested, there’s a link in the message below to sign up. Good luck.

Hello Wallingford-Swarthmore School District Families,

I am reaching out to express my most sincere appreciation for everyone who has contributed to our strategic planning process. Most specifically, I wanted to extend a thank you to those community members who joined us for our Strategic Plan Community Input Meetings on March 11th and March 16th in the Strath Haven Middle School.

As we move into the next stage of strategic planning, we are forming a representative, district-wide team of educators and community stakeholders to guide the pathway development phase of our strategic plan. We currently have about three dozen community members and some district educators who expressed interest in becoming more deeply involved in the work.

Before we begin constituting the WSSD Planning Team, we want to ask one final time if there are others interested in participating, especially now that we have a tentative sense of our dates. If individuals wish to self-nominate for consideration on the WSSD Planning Team, there will be four workshops of two to four hours each.

If you are interested in being considered for the WSSD Planning Team, and have not yet shared your interest, please express your interest by completing the Google Form below:

Click Here To Complete the Form

Members of the Planning Team will be asked to complete approximately one to two hours of pre-work prior to each workshop. Our first Planning Team meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 18 from 4:00-8:00 (Dinner will be provided). Other dates and times are tentative but we want to share these approximate dates and times so that you will be able to make the most informed decision regarding your ability to commit to Planning Team participation. The timeline for completion for the Planning Team’s work by early June.

Tuesday, April 18th 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm SHMS Library

Tuesday, April 25th 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm SHMS Library

Monday, May 8th 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm SHMS Library

Monday, June 5th 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm SHMS Library

Thank you for considering participating in the WSSD Planning Team!

Sincerely,

Dr. James Conley

Assistant Superintendent