5-10 Year Planning Horizon
Assumptions Regarding the Relevant Future for the Bozeman Public School District
In order to make progress toward the 20 year Envisioned Future, the Bozeman Public School District must constantly anticipate the strategic factors likely to affect its ability to succeed, and to assess the implications of those factors. This process of building foresight about the future will help Bozeman Public Schools update the strategic plan on an annual basis to ensure its relevance and focus. As the outcome-oriented goals that will form the basis of the long-range strategic plan will be based on this foresight, annual review of these statements will be an appropriate method of determining and ensuring the ongoing relevance of the strategic plan. Creating the Assumptions: The Bozeman School Board and Staff Leadership Team agree that the following assumptions are likely to have the greatest influence on the development of the Bozeman Public School District strategic plan.
Mega Issues Facing the Bozeman Public School District
Mega Issues are issues of strategic importance, which represent choices the School District will need to make in defining the ultimate direction of its long-range plan. These issues represent potential impediments to achievement of the Envisioned Future, and form a basis for dialogue about the choices facing the School District. These questions can serve as an ongoing "menu" of strategic issues for the Board to systematically address. Discussing, studying and analyzing these issues is a key factor for Bozeman Public Schools to anticipate and be prepared for change.
Curriculum and Instruction
- The skills students need to succeed in the global community and marketplace are changing rapidly.
- The skills and knowledge needed to succeed in post-secondary education and in the workforce have essentially converged.
- To successfully engage student, curriculum and instruction must be highly relevant.
Mega Issue Questions
Mega Issue: What can Bozeman Public Schools do to ensure our curriculum and instruction is best-of-class and truly aligned with our goal to prepare students to succeed and positively contribute in a global community.
Demographics/Social Values
- The Bozeman area will continue to experience substantial growth, which will trigger an increased need for community resources and which may also create a continued need for the District to build more schools.
- As the community grows and increases in its diversity, it will become more difficult to create and/or identify community consensus.
- As our population continues to age, we will have to ensure the involvement and support of people in our community who don't have children in our public schools.
- Our student population will become more diverse, both ethnically and economically. As a result, increased reliance on social service partners, volunteers and private organizations, as well as supports within our District, to assist in educating students.
Mega Issue Questions
Mega Issue: What can Bozeman Public Schools do to best keep abreast of growth in the Bozeman area and its impact on our ability to provide a quality education to the children of the District?
Mega Issue: What can Bozeman Public Schools do to ensure that new arrivals to the community and those without children in our public schools understand the value of what we do for the Bozeman community? How can we translate that understanding into greater involvement and support by such people?
Mega Issue: What are the most effective strategies that Bozeman Public Schools can employ to address increasing ethnic and economic diversity in the Bozeman community? What research-proven strategies show the greatest promise in overcoming achievement gaps that are a function of economic circumstance?
Business/Economic Climate
- The cost of living (e.g., housing, healthcare, daycare, etc.) in the Bozeman area will continue to rise, impacting our ability to recruit and retain a qualified workforce necessary to improve student achievement.
- The growth of high tech businesses and extensive research at MSU contribute to a highly educated citizenry and dynamic business and civic environment. This creates outstanding opportunity for Bozeman Public Schools to establish partnerships, internships, dual enrollment opportunities and more.
Mega Issue Questions
Mega Issue: What can Bozeman Public Schools do to help ensure that the cost of living in the Bozeman area does not become a significant barrier to our ability to recruit and retain the quality educators we need to ensure improved student achievement?
Mega Issue: What can Bozeman Public Schools do to ensure we coordinate federal, state, and local community resources to adequately fund community requested programming?
Technology
- We will experience continued challenges in keeping abreast of technology improvements to ensure that we maximize the opportunities for use of technology by the children and staff in our District.
- We will experience a growing need for technology education in order to be competitive in a global environment.
- As our use of technology increases, we will need to plan for, monitor, and guide appropriate uses of technology in our School District.
- The growth and advancements in technology will present increasing quantity and quality of distance and other virtual learning opportunities.
Mega Issue Questions
Mega Issue: How can Bozeman Public Schools best achieve enhancements to its technology over the next 3-5 years to ensure that staff and students of the District are provided with the opportunities necessary to compete with their peers around the world?
Mega Issue: What are the most effective ways that Bozeman Public Schools can encourage increased use of technology by students while also monitoring and guiding appropriate use? What can be done to ensure that we avoid isolating and denigrating the value of personal interaction and the development of social skills of the children in our schools?
Legislation/Regulation/Politics
- We will continue to experience the negative effects of under-funded federal mandates and loss of local control in funding allocations at both the state and federal levels.
- Montana will continue to struggle in developing comprehensive tax policy, which will have a corresponding negative effect on the pursuit of adequate funding for quality education. Regardless of what funding is provided, we need to work with what we have, be creative, and prioritize.
- We will have to engage in a sustained, effective and concerted effort with our local legislators to ensure a proper understanding of and support for our financial needs. We will need to facilitate a greater level of involvement of the community in these discussions to help make our case.
Mega Issue Questions
Mega Issue: What are the most effective means that Bozeman Public Schools can utilize to bring public attention to and find solutions to the problems created by unfunded or underfunded state and federal mandates and loss of local control? How can we best balance the time we spend in pursuing solutions to these issues while also working with what we have and learning to better maximize the positive impact of all resources we receive on behalf of the children in our public schools?
Mega Issue: How can Bozeman Public Schools best facilitate a common understanding and shared goals regarding needs of the District with the Community and area legislators?