Officials from the Lamar County School District Board of Trustees have presented their proposed five-year strategic plan to a strategic planning committee and are ready to take the next step in adopting that measure.
The plan was presented during a two-day meeting on February 22 and 23, where is was reviewed by approximately 35 high school students, community members, parents, teachers, administrators and members of the district’s central office. It updates the district’s last strategic plan, which ran from 2017 to 2022.
“We’re required by the Mississippi Department of Education to update our strategic plan every five years,” district superintendent Steven Hampton said. “And so we felt coming out of COVID and all the changes we’ve had, (that) it was a good time for us to go ahead and redo our strategic plan.
“We reported our progress to (board members), and we’ll have to set another meeting after we get back from spring break.”
The strategic plan addresses items such as academics, core values, facilities, personnel, transportation and food services. Officials even proposed a new mission statement, which is “It is the mission of the Lamar County School District to provide an equitable learning opportunity in a safe environment that challenges, motivates and empowers 21st Century learners.”
“Before we implement anything in our district – whether it be a program (or anything else) - we have to consider those things before we can move forward with it,” Hampton said. “So this is kind of giving us boundaries to operate under. (The meetings were) a very powerful two days, and it’s not just me.
“It was so powerful, the fact that we got together a very diverse group of people … and the whole focus was on students and student outcomes, and what’s best for our students. I could not be more pleased with how that whole process played out, and I appreciate everybody being open and honest. We had some tough discussions about some very real things that are going on in our district, such as mental health issues and the fact that some of our facilities need to be updated.”
As officials already have proposed three major goals for the plan, the next meeting will focus on strategies regarding how to accomplish those goals moving forward.
“Within those strategies, we’ll have measurable outcomes that we will measure throughout the five years of implementing this plan to move forward,” Hampton said. “It’s a process, so we really don’t know how many (more) meetings we’ll have.
“It’s just whenever we feel confident we’ve got a great strategic plan. But I would imagine with this group, as focused as we were the first time, I think we’ll be able to come up with some really good strategies to move forward. Once we have that, we’ll take it to the board, and then each year we’ll follow up.”
The plan was adopted at a December board meeting. Officials then sent out a survey regarding the plan to teachers, students, parents and community members before compiling that data to present at the two-day meeting in February.
Development of the plan is being handled by Hattiesburg-based Impact Education Group, a group of professionals in the education arena who are dedicated to improving schools and increasing student achievement.
Impact Education Group’s leadership team includes managing partner Scott Lewis, partner James Hutto, partner Kevin Lewis, chief operating officer Susie Dillard and chief development officer Tom Clark. Consultants include Terry Ingram, Lynn Brewer, Ann Sullivan, Malisha Siders, Tammy Hubbard, Mary Webb, David White, Elizabeth Repsher, Debbye Reed, Si Thompson, Kathy Stennett and Paula Thomspon.
For more information on the group, which is located on Old Highway 11 in Hattiesburg, call (601) 271-7929.
