Winslow board approves $4,500 contract with NJSBA to lead five-year strategic plan

The Winslow Township Board of Education voted on April 15 to hire the New Jersey School Boards Association to facilitate a five-year strategic planning process for the district at a fee of $4,500.

Michelle Kennedy of NJSBA told the board the process uses a three-meeting "3R" model (reflect, reimagine, realize) to build a five-year roadmap that incorporates stakeholder input and produces actionable goal statements and aligned budgets. "This process will allow you to create your five-year roadmap," Kennedy said.

Kennedy outlined the proposed timeline: a pre-planning kickoff and three meetings (suggested in fall months), followed by two to three months of administrative work to translate meeting outcomes into action plans and a March final presentation back to the board. She said NJSBA would run the meetings and the district would provide space, advertising and a "state of the district" baseline for meeting one.

During Q&A board members asked who would coordinate stakeholder outreach and whether more than four board members could attend advertised sessions; Kennedy said outreach approaches are discussed in pre-planning and all board members may attend if the meeting is publicly advertised.

A motion to bring the service to Winslow Township passed by roll call with all present voting yes. After the vote board members discussed next steps; Mr. Matthews was asked to chair the committee that will coordinate the district side of the process.

Votes at a glance: the board recorded roll-call approval for the NJSBA contract (unanimous yes among members present). The meeting also included routine roll-call approvals for minutes, the superintendent's report, the business-administrator report and the personnel report; a handful of members recorded formal abstentions on specific line items (see provenance).