West Carroll board holds strategic planning workshop to revise mission, craft vision and values

The West Carroll Community Unit School District 314 Board of Education and district leadership met on Jan. 10, 2026, in the West Carroll High School library for a strategic planning workshop focused on the district’s mission, vision and core values. The meeting opened at 8:02 a.m. and ran until the board adjourned at 1:01 p.m.

The meeting agenda listed the workshop’s core tasks, including to "Review/revise the District Mission Statement" and to "Develop a District Vision Statement," and identified follow-up work to "Identify and develop specific action steps for the broad goal areas" and to "Develop the Cadence of Accountability for the plan." Those items framed the morning’s and afternoon’s facilitated sessions led by Superintendent Dr. Heidi Deininger and Principal Rein.

Board members in attendance — President Fred Tipton, Greg Stott, Zac Vandendooren, and Jeff Woodside — participated alongside Superintendent Dr. Heidi Deininger and Principal Rein; Dawn Rath joined at 8:09 a.m. The board recorded no public comments during the meeting’s public-comment period.

The workshop was organizational and goal-setting in nature: it focused on drafting the district’s high-level guidance (mission, vision, core values) and on converting those broad goals into actionable steps and an accountability cadence to track progress. The minutes do not record formal votes related to any plan elements or adoption of new language; the work was advisory and preparatory for subsequent drafts and future board consideration.

Next steps in the record are limited to the planning process itself; the minutes do not specify deadlines, assigned staff for implementation, or dates for follow-up board review. Those follow-up details were not specified in the minutes and would need to be added in later board packets if the district sets formal adoption timelines.