Archives > Plano Star-courier > News
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Plano school board previews coming year
By Jon Vanderlaan, jvanderlaan@acnpapers.com
The Plano ISD school board kicked off the start of its session with the first meeting of the 2010-2011 school year, laying out the groundwork and basic guiding goals for the coming year.
Doug Otto, superintendent of PISD, spoke to the board about the continued education of principals and how they influence the students and teachers at schools.
“It’s not just students that need to be illuminated on a daily basis -- it’s all of us,” he said. “Anybody can try to be a leader, but you’ve got to be a leader in the right way.
Otto said it is more important now than ever to not only provide a top-tier education to students but to view students and parents as consumers because of the growing trend of charter schools in North Texas.
Better preparing principals and further emphasizing the role of the principal as a leader in the school are ways the district can keep Plano ISD a top choice with parents, Otto said.
“If we don’t continue to make our classrooms the most relevant for students, comfortable for parents, we may find ourselves in competition,” he said.
The district also will be moving toward implementing six principles spelled out in the visioning document, which Otto said will usher PISD into a new era.
The principles are the new digital learning environment, new learning standards, assessments for learning, accountability for learning, organizational transformation and a more balanced and reinvigorated state and local partnership.
Skip Jenkins, president of the school board, said he is excited about the coming year and how it could see the implementation of many ideas that have been coming through the pipeline.
“It seemed like four or five years ago we were talking about these things in a very abstract way, and we were wrestling with how we could take these principles forward and do a better job with keeping up with the curve,” he said.
Next month’s meeting will see a more specific overview of district goals, Jenkins said, as Tuesday’s just laid the groundwork to some major changes in philosophy that include specialized curriculum, which is part of the charge of the Academic Visioning Committee.
He said last year was tough for the district and the board, with realignment changes being debated, and he hopes this year will bring the district back to a normal state.
However, Jenkins said the budget issues at the state level may dampen those hopes.
“Funding is a big issue,” he said. “It’s a big issue at the state level and with us, and it will impact what we do and how we do it.”
Jenkins said district officials will spend plenty of time in Austin lobbying for Plano ISD and will also use time while in Plano to tweak the strategic plan around the six principles in the visioning document.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: News «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
