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LAUREL – The Laurel-Concord- Coleridge School administrators and board of education received valuable feedback at two recent community engagement sessions.
More than 40 people participated, representing students, parents, teachers, adminstrators, staff, community business partners, patrons, and current and incoming board members.
One meeting was held at the Laurel campus while another was held at the middle school in Coleridge last week.
“The Board of Education appreciates everyone who took the time to participate in the community meetings, and values the input, questions and suggestions received,” said Superintendent Jeremy Christiansen.
Facilitated by the Nebraska Association of School Boards (NASB), participants engaged in a number of presentations and small group discussions on topics like the school’s vision and mission; student achievement; safety and well being; community partnerships; facility updates; family engagement and communication; extracurricular and enrichment opportunities; and future goals.
“There were open and engaged discussions at both meetings,” Christiansen said.
The board will receive a preliminary summary report from NASB by its regular December board meeting.
Christiansen anticipates the board reviewing the information over the next few months as it considers development of a revised strategic plan and goals.
Additional engagement sessions will take place in March to publicly share findings and communicate school district priorities, he said.
At its last regular board meeting, members finished reviewing its last series of policies in what was a 26-month process.
The policies were adopted at the point of consolidation in 2015.
“Each year, there have been and are policies that get reviewed and updated due to legislative or policy changes at the state or federal level,” Christiansen said. “This most recent focused policy review process strategically reviewed all school district policies, series by series, to ensure accuracy and alignment with practice.”
Although it was time consuming, to have a comprehensive policy review completed is a significant accomplishment, he said.
“They (board members) have indicated that they each have a better understanding and working knowledge of school district policy also,” Christiansen said.
The board’s policy committee recommended and developed a threeyear process for continued comprehensive review which will begin in January.
