Board selects Student Centered Services for district strategic plan; portrait-of-a-graduate to be considered

The Grayslake CCSD 46 board on May 13 voted to hire Student Centered Services (SCS) to lead the district's next strategic planning process following a multi-stage procurement and finalist presentations.

Board members said stakeholder engagement and implementation support were key selection criteria. Trustee Braden described a rubric-based review of seven initial applicants and four finalists; SCS was recommended as meeting criteria for robust stakeholder engagement, implementation alignment and price.

Trustees debated whether to include a separate "Portrait of a Graduate" scope and post-plan implementation support in the contract. Incoming Superintendent Dr. Carmona said the portrait provides destination-level clarity that helps translate strategic-roadmap outcomes into measurable decisions and recommended including stakeholder-driven portrait work; he added that internal leadership could manage ongoing implementation without adding vendor follow-up services immediately.

The board voted to approve the contract as presented and agreed to consider an addendum at the June meeting if members decide to incorporate the portrait-of-a-graduate work into the contract scope.

Next steps include vendor contracting and a fall launch of the strategic planning process with explicit student voice opportunities, according to board comments.