By PAT NEWMAN
Staff Writer

Fayette County school officials have dusted off a 10-year-old strategic plan, revised it and presented it to the public for comment, with the idea of having a blueprint to follow for the next five years.

The 15-page document opens with a mission and belief statement and sets goals for communication, curriculum and instruction, growth organization, human resources and support services. Financial goals will be included in the updated version, an area which did not appear in the original plan.

About 35 school staffers, school board members and interested parents looked over the draft copy of the strategic plan recently during a community round table meeting at the Lafayette Education Center.

Round table participants were urged to review the plan and submit suggested changes, additions and deletions by Dec. 1.

School superintendent Dr. John DeCotis said the plan was revisited last spring with recommended changes made during the summer by staff members meeting in committee.

“We'd like to get this to the Board of Education within a month... before the budgeting process starts,” DeCotis said. “The budget will be tight, however,” he warned.

Dr. Bob Martin, principal of Braelinn Elementary School and a committee member working on the strategic plan, called it a “living document.” “If it creates distinct problems, we can work back through it,” he said. “It can be changed every six months,” Martin added.

At this point the draft plan is very broad in its scope and will not be any more detailed until it is approved by the Board of Education. “Once you agree on the goals, you get people together to see how to meet those goals,” DeCotis said. Priorities would be set on an annual basis, he noted, mostly to be decided by the board. “What they can and cannot do, a lot of it, comes down to resources,” he explained.

Some of the goals set forth in the plan include developing a public relations program headed by a full-time employee, and setting up a system of evaluating the public's perception of the school system for communications. The first goal outlined in curriculum and instruction proposes developing “an enhanced curriculum based on research findings and effective practices.”

It also intends to “meet the needs of individual students.” The third area focuses on growth organization and “developing a process for the coordination and utilization of resources in planning for growth,” and “following procedures for using existing facilities and building new ones based on program needs.”

The human resources section goals covers “innovative programs for staff development, developing equitable personnel policies and procedures, and “employing superior personnel through recruitment.”

Support services addresses counseling issues, psychological services and multimedia equipment and materials, support staff and maintenance.