January 2023

You may or may not have heard but the Burt Township Board of Education voted unanimously at their last regularly scheduled meeting to embark on developing a “strategic plan.” The Michigan Association of School Boards will facilitate our strategic planning process and it will take place over the next 3-4 months. If you are unfamiliar with the idea of a strategic plan, this month’s superintendent’s corner will provide the information you’ll need to make sense of it all.

Strategic planning starts and ends with developing a shared vision for the Burt Township School District. Who we are, what we believe, and where we should go will be at the heart of our strategic plan. The school will develop a mission statement that will be the driving force behind the direction our school will take. Needs and goals will be developed and will be tied to a 3-5 year timeframe.

Once the framework for the strategic plan is in place, the real work begins. If you are reading this, you will likely be asked to play a role in the strategic plan! Educational stakeholders like faculty and staff, students, parents, and community members will all be given a voice throughout the strategic planning process. Surveys will be conducted and data will be collected in order to better understand how the vision for the school will be shared. Collecting stakeholder input is essential in the strategic planning process for a small rural school like ours. We are keenly aware of the inextricable link between the school and community in Grand Marais and not only want but need community participation.

After all the data is collected and everyone has had a chance to provide input, the school board will get to work on developing the actual plan itself. Like was mentioned earlier, the strategic planning process will take 3-4 months but the plan itself will be in place for years. Developing and implementing the plan needs to be sustainable considering the ambitious nature of the timeline. The school board is bound and determined to make sure the plan is successful and will review the plan at regular intervals. Our school will be on a clear path to success.

So now that you know what strategic planning is, you can be on the lookout for more information on how you can provide input. We’ll be using our school website, our school Facebook page, and our local media sources like the Grand Marais Pilot to keep everyone in the loop. This is an exciting time for the future of the Burt Township School District and the Grand Marais community as a whole. Don’t miss out!