Education Consultant Gathers Input at Community Forum

By Amber Lester Kennedy Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Education consultant Steve Kutno challenged a group of about 30 people on Monday to “be the Wright Brothers before flight” and envision the Williamsburg-James City County School Division of the future.

Kutno, a project director with Public Consulting Group, led the first open community forum to gather input for WJCC’s future strategic plan. His firm was contracted by the division to help facilitate discussions about the community’s goals for the division. Public Consulting Group has already met with a steering committee, appointed by the school division, and some focus groups.

The community forum attracted education stakeholders, from teachers to parents to grandparents to school board members. Kutno posed questions to the attendees, seated at round tables, such as “Name 2-3 skills students need to succeed now” and “What are the 2-3 biggest changes in society in the last 25-30 years?”

The tables collaborated to narrow their options, coming up with several overlapping answers. Several tables said the biggest changes in the past three decades have included technological advancements, globalization and new family dynamics. To succeed in the 21st century, the tables thought students should be literate, critical thinkers who are good communicators with global outlooks.

Kutno asked the participants to share their visions for the future of the division. They responded by saying they’d like to see teachers encouraged to be creative; a proactive, positive approach to discipline; training for teachers to work with different types of learners; emphasis on problem-solving; and a greater effort to make lessons relevant to students’ lives.

Kutno said the goal of the strategic plan is to “sustain change that’s positive for everybody.” He said he’ll speak to approximately 20 community focus groups and education advocates; he’ll meet with the district’s leadership team and review data collection; and meet with the steering committee to talk about developing a vision. He expects to begin distributing a survey shortly before Thanksgiving.

Once suggestions and data have been gathered, the steering committee will establish strategic goals and write the five-year strategic plan. Ideally, a document will be completed by June and put into action by fall 2012, Kutno said.

His plan faced some criticism from attendees Monday who felt the focus group selection hadn’t been inclusive enough. Several people wanted to know how they could reach the focus group members to make sure their ideas were represented. Kutno said he didn’t feel comfortable sharing their information without their permission, but he did say he planned to set aside one day for any groups to meet with him to share their concerns, including anyone who felt their opinions might be underrepresented. “The purpose is to be as inclusive as possible,” he said.

Read more about the strategic plan here and click here to find the members of the steering committee.