Oxford school board approves strategic plan

By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
ssoldan@mihomepaper.com
OXFORD TWP. — During the regular meeting on June 24, the Oxford Community Schools Board of Education unanimously approved the district’s strategic plan.
“I’m super excited,” said Superintendent Tonya Milligan. “And very, very proud of the work of my team.”
Work on the strategic plan began this past school year and included community forums, surveys and stakeholder feedback before arriving at a final plan.
The strategic plan includes the district mission – to provide a supportive, safe and opportunity-rich educational experience that fosters belonging, builds self-empowerment and prepares learners to contribute to a connected community. It also includes the vision of empowered learners, building community and inspiring futures, and the core values of empowerment, belonging, innovation and integrity.
The plan also includes four strategic goals, and each goal has various aligned actions to achieve those goals.
“The aligned actions are basically our highest priority items that we’re going to try to tackle in order to achieve these goals,” said Christy Smith, executive director of communications.
Goal 1: Safe, supportive and connected schools
The first strategic goal is to have safe, supportive and connected schools. The first aligned action includes increasing student psychological safety and wellbeing by enhancing trauma-informed student support systems and mechanisms that use comprehensive data reviews.
“Some of the strategies for 1.1, establish interdisciplinary teams in order to analyze data, build staff capacity, elevate student voice and belonging and evaluate data to enhance trauma-informed practices,” said Smith.
The second aligned action is to strengthen parent engagement and provide clean, consistent and inclusive communication.
“We’ve already made some progress in this area, there’s obviously a lot more work to do,” said Smith. “And the strategies here include implementing consistent, user-friendly communication systems that highlight parent voice, strengthen engagement and enhance access to timely, relevant information.”
The third aligned action is to increase consistency of implementation of a DK-12 school-wide behavior response management program to ensure fair and equitable discipline practices across all schools.
“This is something that’s come up in the school quality surveys throughout the years,” said Smith. “Some strategies would be to develop clear protocols, consistent data tools, and role-specific training including in restorative practices to ensure cohesive and effective behavior management across all schools.”
Goal 2: Knowledgeable, critical thinkers and communicators
The second goal in the strategic plan is to have knowledgeable, critical thinkers and communicators. The first aligned action is to define, develop, implement and evaluate an OCS Instructional Framework that improves student ELA and Mathematics outcomes. One of the steps to achieve that includes developing and implementing a district-wide instructional framework with ongoing learning and discipline-specific literacy practices.
The second aligned action is to strengthen the district’s Multi-Tiered System of Support by enhancing data-informed practices that promote student success, well-being, and safety.
“We want to foster supportive learning with stronger relationships targeted at secondary supports, ninth grade transitions, and data-driven collaboration,” said Janet Schell, executive director of innovative and alternative programs.
The third aligned action focuses on increasing student access to learning pathways and career-ready options.
“So we would create inclusive, personalized learning by integrating career pathways, community partnerships, trauma-informed practices, and flexible student-centered systems,” said Shell. “And define the key performance indicators that align with future career trends and equip educators to support students through targeted training.”
The final aligned action for goal two is to revise, develop, and implement the Portrait of a Graduate to reflect current and future workforce and societal needs.
Goal 3: Empowered and engaged staffing team, staff wellness
The third goal in the strategic plan is staff-focused, and aims to have an empowered and engaged team.
The aligned actions for this goal include strengthening district-wide systems that support staff wellness and ensure competitive compensation, positioning the district as an employer of choice to sustain optimal staffing levels, and establishing a comprehensive professional growth system for all staff that fosters continuous learning, mentorship, and role-specific support that includes safety protocols and procedures.
Goal 4: Innovative, sustainable systems and structures
The fourth and final goal in the strategic plan is to have innovative, sustainable systems and structures.
The first aligned action for this goal is to assess and address infrastructure, accessibility and space utilization needs to ensure equitable access to high-quality, sustainable learning environments across all facilities.
“Things like setting standards as to what each facility should have the capability of doing, and using that as a guide for a master plan,” said John Fitzgerald, assistant superintendent of business and operations.
The second aligned action is to evaluate security infrastructure for efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability to support a culture of safety.
“Implementing a regular review cycle for the security systems, expand safety training and define criteria to evaluate effectiveness of safety practices,” said Fitzgerald.
The third aligned action aims to advance district technology to enhance instructional effectiveness and operational efficiency, and the final aligned action under goal four is to enhance operational systems by streamlining resource management and implementing fiscally responsible strategies that promote efficiency, sustainability and long-term infrastructure support.
The district plans to have the full strategic plan available on their website, including quarterly updates on goal progress and an interactive data dashboard to be able to see the percentage of action implementation and goal progress.

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