- April 23, 2024
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On Tuesday, Feb. 23, the Volusia County School Board adopted a three-year strategic plan that will guide the school district in high-quality instruction, employee recruitment, learning environment, resources and operations, and communication and community engagement.
“Our focus remains on student achievement,” said Superintendent Dr. Scott Fritz in a press release by Volusia County Schools. “The new strategic plan 2020-2023 provides a strong educational and organizational approach for our work and collaboration in the years ahead.”
The plan was developed with input from School Board members, district staff, employee unions, families and community members. The press release states it is built around a vision statement to "create lifelong learners prepared for an ever-changing global society. The new mission statement vows to "ignite a passion for learning in all students to be productive citizens."
VCS is currently a "B" grade district, but Fritz is aiming for the "A" grade by the end of the three years. Part of the plan's first goal of high-quality instruction, assessments and progress monitoring will play a role in this endeavor.
It's a factor Board Member Jamie Haynes expressed reservations over, first at the School Board workshop earlier in the day, and again at its meeting. She said she wanted more of a focus on instruction time over assessments, stating all students were different regarding how they learn.
“I am concerned that we are allowing a grade and a test score to define who our children are, instead of taking them where they’re at and working, even if they take baby steps for a year," she said.
In a year where many students have missed out on instructional time due to the pandemic, Haynes questioned the timing of implementing this part of the plan.
Fritz said he believes they don't need as many standardized tests as they administer, and that the district will be looking at which ones are required and which can be reduced, but they also have to understand their "marching orders."
“If we’re going to improve this district, if we’re going to take it to the next level, where I know the potential is at — yes, will make mistakes, yes, we will have to get better, it is a process — but we can’t back off," Fritz said.
The purpose of assessments is to drive instruction, he said. When he was hired in December 2019, only 7 out of 70 Volusia County schools were an "A" grade school. Without progress modeling, they won't be able to improve their 87.7% graduation rate to the 2019-2020 statewide average of 90%. Without progress modeling, Fritz said the district cannot identify where the learning gaps are.
“I’m not going to relax until our students are getting what they should be getting, what their potential is," Fritz said.
The plan is available online at vcsedu.org/strategic-plan
