BCPS already working on 'pillars' in state's strategic plan

North Carolina education leaders are preparing to unveil the state’s long-awaited five-year strategic plan on Aug. 20, but Burke County Public Schools isn’t waiting around. The local district launched its own roadmap for the future during the 2022-23 academic year, outlining key goals for student success, staff support, and community connections.

In other words, Burke County Schools is ahead of the game.

Next week, State Superintendent of Education Maurice “Mo” Green and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) will host a launch event to explain the state’s plan. Green and DPI developed the project after the superintendent held “listening sessions” across the state to get input from teachers, parents, and other stakeholders.

According to Burke County Schools Assistant Superintendent Dr. Karen Auton, the local strategic plan, known as the “All-In Promise: Leading the Way,” is built on three main benchmarks: Academic Opportunities for All, All Schools Connected to the Community, and All-Around Well-being.

“We came up with those three main benchmarks and that’s what we focus on,” Auton said. “We use metrics, like attendance, academic growth data, graduation rate, and staff retention, to measure if we’re making progress on the three parts of our strategic plan.”

The Burke County plan includes goals such as:

• Provide multiple avenues to meet individual learning needs.
• Provide parents with resources to support student learning.
• Maximize instructional time.
• Support effective communication.

Burke Superintendent Dr. Mike Swan said the local district is already hard at work on improving the county’s graduation rate, a key part of the state’s plan.

He explained the BCPS family services department begins focusing on students as early as second grade, zeroing in on those deemed most at-risk to potentially drop out as high schoolers.

“We try to connect them young with some system of support,” Swan explained, “and it has paid dividends. Our graduation rate went up a point.”

“So as these students move on, hopefully we’ll see an upward trend in our graduation rates, too,” he added.

The state’s “Achieving Educational Excellence” endeavor includes eight “pillars,” goals North Carolina’s schools and school employees are to aim for between 2026 and 2030.

The pillars are: Prepare each student for their next phase in life; Revere Public School Educators; Enhance Parent, Caregiver, and Community Support; Ensure Healthy, Safe, and Secure Learning Environments; Optimize Operational Excellence; Lead Transformative Change; Celebrate the Excellence in Public Education; Galvanize Champions to Fully Invest in and Support Public Education.

Auton said she feels like the All-in Promise will merge well with the new state plan.

“I do think that our three-pillar approach probably encompasses the eight pillars (of the DPI strategic plan),” she stated. “From what I’ve read, I feel like it’s going to blend together really well.”

She said both the state and the district have the same goals: to provide safe schools where students can get excellent educations, to recruit and retain the best school employees, and to build partnerships between schools, parents, and the communities.

“We may call them (the goals) different things, but at the end of the day, the meaning is the same,” Auton said. “From the smallest to the tallest, we want to make sure everybody’s engaged, from our adults, to our children, to our families, to the community.”