ROADMAP TO SUCCESS

uperintendent Pascal Mubenga arrived at Durham Public Schools in 2017 with a clear mission: establish a Strategic Plan to ensure that the educators, school and district staff, and community partners supporting our students would be working in alignment toward the same goals.

“Our families were asking us for a greater sense of direction and purpose, and we delivered,” said Dr. Mubenga.

Five years later, DPS has completed the final year of the 2018-2023 Strategic Plan. The 52 educators, community leaders, and parents who were part of the strategic planning committee had no idea that the priorities and goals they drew from community feedback and proposed to the school board would have to carry the district through an unprecedented pandemic.

“We established a new mission for Durham Public Schools,” said Dr. Nakia Hardy, DPS’s Deputy Superintendent: Durham Public Schools embraces, educates, and empowers every student to innovate, serve and leave. “That mission says so much. It begins with care and support for Durham County children, which enables academic excellence, and leads to students taking charge of their destiny. And then there’s the most important phrase in the mission: every student.”

The initial years of the strategic plan saw immediate results, with a sharp drop in the number of schools labeled “low performing” in the state’s accountability model and an increase in student enrollment to launch the 2019-2020 and we delivered.” school year. The district met its strategic plan benchmarks for academic performance and growth, as well as the graduation rate. Virtually every school reported that it had an active community partner supporting academic, social-emotional, or career growth for its students.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, having the 2018-2023 Strategic Plan in place helped blunt the impact of students having to learn at home and being isolated from their peers.

“From the beginning, technology was a vital part of our academic goals for the Strategic Plan,” said Dr. Hardy. “We were providing professional development to help teachers make the most of the powerful technology at their fingertips to support their students. We accelerated that effort to ensure that every student had a Chromebook at home to support their learning during COVID. Even though our students are back in the classroom, that access to technology for both teachers and learners is a game-changer for equity.”

With students having completed their second full year of in-person learning since the pandemic, DPS expects to celebrate a strong finish to the final year of the 2018-

Strategic Plan Core

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Strategic Plan Highlights

• Increased teacher compensation to stay among the top-paying districts in North Carolina

• Implemented Student Success Coaches

• Reduced suspension rate

• Launched Ignite! Online Academy

• Made bus routes more efficient

• Improved two-way communication between district, families, and community

• Provided Advanced Academics professional development to all DPS educators

2023 Strategic Plan when academic results are available in September. At the same time, the district launched an even more expansive community engagement strategy to garner input on a successor strategic plan for the next five years.

“We are building on the mission, vision, and core beliefs of the original Strategic Plan,” said Dr. Mubenga. “We are also casting our nets wider to ensure that more of our community’s voice is heard as we develop a new Strategic Plan. Durham is changing and our students’ needs are greater. We want to make sure we’re seeing all of those needs before we focus on the areas where we can have the greatest impact.”

DPS partnered with RTI International’s Center for Education Services to facilitate that community process, engaging with district personnel, parent/guardian and community stakeholders, and students to gain insight. The result was an affirmation and refinement of the Strategic Plan’s original five priorities along with new goals, benchmarks, and strategies reflecting what the district learned from 2018 to 2023.

One member of the original committee is looking forward to the work of the next Strategic Plan. Dr. Kimberly Ferrell was principal of Burton Elementary at the time and is now one of two DPS assistant superintendents overseeing elementary schools.

“Alone we do so little; together we can do so much,” said Dr. Kimberly Ferrell quoting Helen Keller. “As a principal I was honored to be on the committee. Our meetings were well planned with expected outcomes that would forge our work to heightened levels. In my new role, the Strategic Plan guides my work daily in leading principals in embracing excellence.

“A Strategic Plan is the blueprint that makes the difference.”

2023-2028 Strategic Plan Priorities

• Priority 1: Foster Academic Excellence

• Priority 2: Provide a Safe and Healthy School Environment That Supports the Whole Child

• Priority 3: Recruit, Support, and Retain an Exemplary Staff

• Priority 4: Cultivate Meaningful and Authentic Community Engagement

• Priority 5: Conduct Business, Administrative, and Operational Functions Responsibly and Equitably