System Goals 2018-2021

Strategic goals were established by the Board of Education to provide staff with direction and focus.

Charles County Public Schools will use these goals to guide decision making as we develop new programs and allocate scarce resources.

Charles County Public Schools

• The Board believes parents/legal guardians, students, teachers, staff and administrators, Board members, state and local elected officials, and the community share in the success of each individual student and the school system as a whole and, therefore, strives to create and nurture a collaborative relationship among all stakeholders.

• All students deserve an equal opportunity for a quality education.• Intellectual growth occurs best:

Through a comprehensive and challenging curriculum that incorporates scientifically proved pedagogical techniques.When parents/legal guardians, teachers and students work collaboratively as equal partners in education.

• A wide range of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities affords students, families and employees additional opportunities for intellectual, social, physical and emotional growth.

• There is value in diversity and every student is endowed with unique talents and entitled to mutual respect.• The ability of Charles County Public Schools to fulfill its mission is dependent upon comprehensive long and short term

planning and appropriate and efficient managerial organization. • A fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers exists and requires services rendered be appropriately tempered by fiscal

responsibility.

Core valuesWhat do we believe?

The mission of Charles County Public Schools is to provide an opportunity for all school-aged children to receive an academically challenging, quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares for life in an environment that is safe and conducive to learning.

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Our mission

The vision of Charles County Public Schools is to create the best environment where all students experience academic success, develop personal responsibility and achieve career readiness for the 21st century.

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Our vision

Strategic PlanIn September 2017, Charles County Public Schools embarked upon a strategic planning process to develop a new set of goals for the school system.

The process included:

• a review of existing goals by a committee of Board members and staff

• an environmental scan of community needs which consisted of a community survey that had almost 3,000 respondents.

• survey responses as well as performance data from the existing goals, were utilized by the Board to create new strategic goals based on the existing mission and vision of Charles County Public Schools.

This strategic plan will provide direction for our work as we prepare students for success for life after high school.

Seven goalsEach goal has several indicatorsthat measure progress toward the goal. The goals will remain the same for the three-year period, but indicators may change annually. The indicators will serve as a way to measure progress toward achievement of each goal.

Goal 1: Increase student achievement by utilizing the integration of best practices in technology and instruction.

• Exceed the 2017-2018 baseline data by 6 scale score points in reading and math at each level as measured by the state assessment program by 2021.

• The percentage of females in computer science and PLTW courses will correlate with the percentage of females enrolled in CCPS. Data will be reported annually.

• Reduce the number of African-American students with duplicated suspensions by 5% annually.• Increase the number of students scoring 3 or above on AP exams by 2% annually. Report demographic

data on students who enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) courses with a focus on ensuring that this data correlates with the overall demographics of CCPS students.

• Utilizing the new assessment for English Learners, increase the number who exit the program by 1% annually. Disaggregate data by level.

• 80% of students will be reading on grade level by the end of 3rd grade as measured by the Fountas and Pinnell Rigby assessment by 2021.

• The graduation rate for all students will meet or exceed 96% for the Class of 2021. The graduation rate for special education students will meet or exceed 85% for the Class of 2021.

• The graduation rate for FARMS students will meet or exceed 92% for the Class of 2021.• The graduation rate for African-American students will meet or exceed 95% for the Class of 2021.• The number of non-graduates for the Class of 2021 will be less than 5% of the total enrollment of the Class

of 2021.

Goal 2: Provide a safe, orderly and caring environment for students and staff.• Implement a new screening process for all parent volunteers, instructional assistants and substitutes by August of 2018.• Document training required for coaches and club sponsors who are not CCPS employees.• By August of 2018, expand current background checks for all employees to include an outside vendor assessment as well as an

expanded DSS check.• By August of 2019, implement random background checks on current employees completed by an outside vendor.• Retrain staff in active shooter response and emergency first aid by September 4, 2018.• Train a team from every school on restorative practices by the end of the 2018-2019 school year.• Add the ASPIRE program for behavioral supports to 3 additional elementary schools by school year 2020- 2021.• Add 3 full time school psychologists at the elementary school level by school year 2020-2021.• Partner with the Center for Children to pilot therapeutic services in four secondary schools by September, 2018. Report number of

therapy sessions held per school.The indicators below will provide baseline data for future indicators with measurable metrics.

• Report the number of violent incident (as described by MSDE) suspensions.• Report the number of office referrals at each level.• Report the number of suspensions and total number of assaults on staff.• Report the number of physical or paper arrests for fighting, assault, or weapons on school grounds• Report the number of student bullying reports.• Track and report the number of times alternatives to suspension such as parent shadowing, therapeutic in school interventions and the

Farming4Hunger experience are utilized for middle and high school students.• Track and report the number of students enrolled in Virtual Academy or taking advantage of the opt-in alternative programs at the

Robert D. Stethem Educational Center.

Goal 3: Recruit and retain a qualified, highly effective and diverse workforce.

• Staff demographics for newly hired certificated staff will be above the state and national averages for diversity. Report diversity and retention data to the Board annually.

• Rank in the top eight districts in the state for starting teacher salary.• Document connections with students in the TAM program, provide them with substitute training and

keep in touch with them throughout their college experience.• Document the number of candidates who attended job fairs and signed contracts to teach with CCPS.• Reduce the number of conditional teachers needed to fill teacher openings as measured on the first

day of school.• Report efforts to partner with CSM to expand opportunities for CCPS students to pursue teacher

certification locally.• Expand employee health and wellness programs, document the number of employees who take part.• Investigate the feasibility of job sharing to retain certified teachers. Report the number of staff

members utilizing these options.• Track use of tuition reimbursement and report total dollars spent annually.• Report expenditures related to paid professional development – include internal staff development

opportunities as well as conferences.• Revise assignment sheets to include salary as well as the cost of benefits for each employee by June,

2021.

Goal 4: Communicate, engage and partner with our parents and community.

• Using 2015 survey results as baseline data, increase by 5 percent parent satisfaction with the number of opportunities to express concerns and opinions about important issues impacting schools as measured in a 2019 communications survey (In 2015, parent response rate was 54 percent).

• Using 2015 survey results as baseline data, increase by 5 percent the percentage of parents who rate finding school or school district information easy to find as measured in a 2019 communications survey (54.2% of parents said in 2015 they could easily find information about schools that was important to them).

• Using 2017-18 data as a baseline, increase the number of community engagement activities conducted by the Board and the Superintendent by 5% in the 2019-20 school year.

• By June 2019, increase the number of people who attend events at the JER Science Center by 10 percent as compared with 2017-18 baseline data.

• At the end of the 2018-19 school year, report data on number of social media followers by platform showing at least 5 percent growth on Facebook and 3 percent growth on Twitter compared with June 2018 data.

• Report data annually on website “clicks” per page.• Using the 2018 strategic planning survey results, increase the number of respondents agreeing that CCPS provides

many opportunities for parents and community members from 64 percent to 70 percent by 2021.• Increase availability of PTO meeting information by training school staff prior to December 2018 to conduct PTO

meetings that are virtually accessible. Archive these videos on school websites. Encourage school PTO groups to provide summaries of each meeting on the school website.

• Utilize video conferencing for parent training (math night, financial aid, etc.) and parent conferences offered at school to keep parents involved in their child’s school. Provide a count of the opportunities available virtually.

• Investigate re-establishing a Board Foundation with Board members and provide report by May 2019.

Goal 5: Promote a variety of pathways to prepare students for college and/or career success.

• Increase the number of students enrolled in the visual, fine and performing arts by 3% annually.

• Investigate the feasibility of a fine and performing arts center at McDonough High School. Initiate a dance program at McDonough by August, 2021.

• 80% of students enrolled in a CTE program will complete their program. Data will be reported annually.

• Revise the application process for CTE programs at all schools to ensure equity for all students by August of 2019.

• Report the methods used to promote information to parents about CTE programs.

Goal 6: Support the use of environmentally sound practices in the construction, renovation and operation of our facilities.

• By June, 2019, a solar site will be established on the Piccowaxen Middle School property.

• By June, 2019, identify an alternative vendor for solar services to replace our current relationship with Tesla/Solar City.

• Report energy usage and production at each CCPS solar site annually.

• Expand the use of geothermal systems in future renovations and new construction.

• Establish additional rainwater harvesting systems at two CCPS high schools by June, 2021.

Goal 7: Ensure responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars by implementing effective practices to best utilize local, state and federal funding.

• Report additional cell tower sites annually and provide a list of projects funded with cell tower revenues.

• Report Clifton Larsen and Allen audit findings annually. Report findings from MSDE, MSRA, IAC and Legislative audits as they occur. Report SC&H internal audit findings as needed.

• Report data for credit card point of sale usage annually.• Report income from competitive grants awarded annually.• Report income received from tuition reimbursement “paybacks” from employees

who leave CCPS before the end of the established time commitment.• Report examples of discounts received when utilizing collaborative purchasing

relationships.• Report the interest income from investments as compared to previous years.

Next steps

• Board review of current core values, mission and vision, possibly during a retreat

• Progress monitoring

• Annual review of indicators

• Continued community engagement