Oxford Community Schools invites community input on strategic planning

By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
ssoldan@mihomepaper.com
OXFORD TWP. — The Oxford school district is in the beginning stages of constructing their new strategic plan to establish a clear direction for the district’s future with the aim of defining the district’s vision, goals, and values.
“Strategic planning is a structured and comprehensive approach that a district undertakes with the intention of improving the quality of education and operation,” said Superintendent Tonya Milligan during the board of education meeting on Nov. 26. “That’s the end goal to, essentially, make things better. In order to do that, we have to define as a community what that looks like. What do we envision for that future? And then set strategic goals as well as develop actionable steps to accomplish those goals.”
Work has already begun on the new plan within the district, including preparation for community input and reviewing the current strategic plan. The community forums will be on Jan. 22, from 1-3 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. RSVP is required to ensure the proper room size is reserved.
“This process is an opportunity to pause and chart a thoughtful course for the future of the district,” Milligan said. “It is not just about setting goals—it’s about ensuring that everyone who is invested in the success of our schools has an opportunity to contribute. By considering many perspectives, we can create a strategic plan that truly reflects the values and priorities of Oxford.”
The Community Input Forum is open to anyone who lives within the district’s boundaries, has children attending Oxford schools, or contributes to education in Oxford in any way. This includes parents, students, staff, community leaders, nonprofit organizations, local businesses, residents and more.
For those unable to attend in person on Jan. 22, the district is also offering an opportunity to provide input through an electronic survey.
“Our primary focus, because it’s what will drive the vast majority of the work, is to really make sure our vision, mission and core values align with what the community feels is most important,” Milligan said. “We do have a current strategic plan that has been in place for quite some time. It really is a beautiful document, and as the cabinet has been reviewing it, the biggest thing with it is it just doesn’t feel aligned. It’s a good five, six, seven years old, and our community has been through a lot in that time period. And so, the most important thing is aligning it with who we are today.”
There will be planning for the rest of the calendar year with the cabinet and the ad team, and following that there will be community input sessions.
“We’ve been working with the cabinet and the ad team to really dig into our understanding around vision, mission, core values and portrait of a graduate,” Milligan said. “We’ve had multiple conversations, multiple work sessions, lots of input. We’re going to craft some information for the community to consider at our strategic planning session which will be in January.”
“The most important thing our community can do is join us,” she said. “It will be very structured, very organized,” Milligan said.