Can All Children Learn?
At Monday night's Spotsylvania County School Board meeting, concerns put forward regarding ambitious goals in 2025 - 2030 Strategic Plan that was approved on a 5-2 vote.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Email Martin
Can all children learn?
That question was front-and-center on Monday night at the Spotsylvania County School Board meeting, where the final public hearing on the 2025 - 2030 Strategic Plan was held.
The 2025 - 2030 Strategic Plan has been in development since October 2024 and has been the subject of a number of community summits as well as School Board discussions in February and May.
The plan, which was approved on a 5-2 vote, with Board members April Gillespie and Lisa Phelps voting against it, sets a very high bar for students, faculty, and staff members in the district. It rests upon five pillars:
Academic Excellence and Achievement - Each student will access a rigorous and engaging curriculum with multiple pathways that creates and supports proficient readers, critical thinkers, problem solvers, and career readiness.
Safe, Engaging, and Supportive Learning Environment - Each student will benefit from access to well maintained, safe facilities and infrastructure conducive to learning.
Joy, Health, and Wellness - Each student will learn in a safe and dynamic environment that fosters strong, positive relationships, creates a sense of belonging, and promotes physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being.
Diverse, Innovative, and Supportive Workforce - Each student will be empowered to reach their highest potential, nurtured by our diverse, professionally trained staff, who receive high-quality, ongoing professional development and support.
Family and Community Engagement - Each student will benefit from a collaborative effort between SCPS and community partners to have access to comprehensive support services addressing academic, physical, mental, and social needs.
Board chair Megan Jackson told the Advance in a phone call on Tuesday afternoon that the plan “highlights the tremendous amount of work that went into it by everybody, and it’s a bold striving for excellence.”
That striving for excellence, however, seemed to unsettle some Board members.
Dr. Lorita Daniels expressed appreciation for the work that went into the process, and all the community members who likewise were engaged. Then, she shifted gears and added, with respect to the goal of 100% graduation rate: “I appreciate the ambition … but I’m just afraid that if we say 100%, we’re not going to get to 100%…. It’s statistics.”
Vice Chair Belen Rodas skirted a similar issue involving reading proficiency, referencing special education students and how they might reach those goals. “I know what that can look like for our students with disabilities and their individual goals, but I just don’t know that it says that here.”
Superintendent Dr. Clint Mitchell responded that by going more “granular,” saying “that will then go the IEP [Individualized Education Plan] goals that are written, because clearly we want every kid to make at least a year’s growth in reading or more… Ultimately,” he continued, “would we like every kid to meet or exceed it? Absolutely.”
Board member April Gillespie then followed by stating: “So on objective point 1.1, all students will meet or exceed grade level literacy and numeracy benchmarks…. That’s a great goal … in a perfect world…. But it’s a possibility that they’re not going to reach the literacy standards. So putting that all students will meet or exceed, I just think that’s a little pretentious.”
Gillespie also expressed concern with the mission statement. It reads in the new 2025 - 2030 Strategic Plan: “The mission of Spotsylvania County Public Schools, a cornerstone of the community, is to support educators, partner with families, and engage the community to provide a high-quality education that empowers and inspires students to become resilient, critical thinkers who reach their highest potential to positively impact a global society.”
Gillespie, however, felt that all that needs to be said is “The mission of Spotsylvania County Public Schools is to empower and inspire students to become resilient critical thinkers who reach their highest potential to positively impact society.”
She expressed concern that the rest of it sounded like a “global society” and “community schools.”
Phelps picked up on the community schools point. “The vast majority of people that I’ve spoken to believe that we’re doing a good job and we don’t need to overstep any boundaries having a community school like Harlem.”
Community schools, broadly defined, are “public schools that provide services and support that fit each neighborhood’s needs, created and run by the people who know our children best—all working together,” according to the National Education Association.
Mitchell pushed back on the idea he was promoting community schools, noting there was nothing in the strategic plan about them.
In a call with the Advance on Tuesday afternoon, Mitchell said of that debate, “At the moment, we’re not looking to promote a community school model in Spotsylvania County Public Schools because it’s a heavy lift that requires collaboration between local government, the school division, and local partners.”
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