RPS board approves Strategic Action Plan

(ABC 6 News) – The Rochester Public School board laid out its plans for student success at a board meeting Tuesday night by unanimously approving the Strategic Action Plan for 2022-2025.

This is a very complex plan said Superintendent Dr. Kent Pekel, and the purpose of the plan is to move from a diffuse collection of schools in Rochester to a real, collective school system.

"A lot of strategic plans, they sit on a shelf and nothing really happens. We are really really committed to making sure that this actually gets brought to life," Pekel said. "Literally, thousands of people across Rochester contributed to what is a very complex document and we take their feedback that they gave us really, really seriously."

Pekel said students, staff and the community will see a number of things that are going to look different within the first year of this plan being implemented such as every middle and high school student in Rochester Public Schools has a plan for education and a career after high school.

"Because that we know is critical and the cool thing about Rochester is we actually have those jobs in our community. We just have to make sure kids are developing the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in them," he said.

Pekel added that although this plan is district-wide and that each school is very different, RPS will make sure that each school has the flexibility to meet the needs of students and families.

The biggest thing that will come out of this plan is that there will be new tiers of support for students who are struggling, Pekel said.

"One of the things that I think is a real opportunity for us and frankly an urgent need is when a kid comes to Rochester Public Schools and is maybe two, three or more grade levels behind for whatever reason, we need to make sure we have got educational strategies that accelerate that students learning and right now we don’t have enough of those," Pekel added.

He said Rochester Public Schools will have different schedules, staffing patterns and curricula three years from now as a result of this plan.

Another priority in this strategic plan is recruiting more staff of color to make all students feel included and that RPS is a place where staff who share racial and cultural backgrounds with the students feel they can be their full selves and feel welcome and supported.

Pekel said he hopes the outcome of this plan will result in RPS being nationally recognized as one of the country’s leading school systems in terms of helping all kids realize and recognize their purpose in life.

The entire RPS Strategic Action Plan can be viewed below.