PONDERAY — Lake Pend Oreille School District trustees will be voting May 22 on whether or not to approve the five-year priorities and metrics outlined through a strategic planning process.

LPOSD Superintendent Shawn Woodward gave the board an overview of the priorities and metrics on Tuesday, which were formed by a strategic planning committee following public outreach efforts, including meetings, workshops and an online survey. 

"The idea behind developing a plan that people could get behind was to be sure to get a lot of input," Woodward said. "The plan, or at least our priorities, are based on all of this input."

The strategic planning process began in October in an effort to drive future decisions of the district by outlining needs and goals over the short- and long-term. The five overall priorities outlined by the committee include ensuring academic success for every student, engaging the community, recruiting, training and retaining highly effective personnel, utilizing resources effectively and being fiscally responsible, and providing safe and innovative learning environments.

Some examples of action that could be taken in these areas by 2023 include providing relevant curriculum, improving communication with parents and community partners, provide a positive work environment and competitive compensation for employees, expand on grant funding to support the the strategic plan, and provide well-maintained, safe and modern facilities.

Woodward also went over the goal metrics for the district, including current performance, target performance and state average of assessment indicators in early literacy and grade level proficiency in English and math.

The district's early literacy percentages for K-3 are at or above the state average. The district's target performance by 2023, if the metrics are approved would be a 5- to 10-percent increase for each grade.

Second-grade literacy across the district, for example, is at 72.9 percent, while the state average is 69.9 percent. The target performance by 2023 is 81.4 percent.

For grade level proficiency, while the numbers are not far off from state average, they are much lower than the early literacy numbers. The lowest number is the percentage of tenth graders meeting or exceeding state standards in math at 31 percent. The state average, however, is only 32 percent. The district's target performance in five years is to raise the local number to 54 percent.

The metrics also include a measurement of academic progress in reading and math for grades three through eight. The number of students in those grades meeting growth targets in those areas range from 47 to 60 percent. The proposed target performance ranges from 64 to 73 percent — a 10 to 17 percent increase in each category.

"Some of those are big percentage jumps," said Board Chair Geraldine Lewis. "It's very ambitious."

"I commend the high jump," said Trustee Purley Decker, who pointed out that, for example, the fourth graders in the current metrics will not be the same fourth graders measured in 2023.

Woodward agreed and said district officials hope to see the percentages increase into the 60 to 70 range "no matter what" in five years.

If the board approves the priorities and metrics outlined, the committee will move on to action planning for each of the five priority areas, and how to approach each one over the next five years.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.