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Strategic Plan Part I: New Product or Service

March 6, 2017

The business of education services has evolved from a government sponsored collection of neighborhood schools to a highly competitive industry where policies that encourage parental choice direct the funding towards whatever private, district, or charter institutions can attract the most student enrollments each year. For the past decade, the state of Arizona has sustained an unprecedented growth of charter schools within the boundaries of existing school districts resulting an enrollment decline and subsequently reduced funding for those districts. Up to 17% of all Arizona students attend charter schools which is over triple the national average. (Navarez & Wyloge, 2016) Gilbert Public Schools is just one of many school districts that must find a way to innovate and capture the interest of parents who want the absolute best value of education for their children and tax dollars. In this paper I will propose how the new Academy Choice Team (ACT) will drive strategic planning and resources to build a competitive advantage in this new era of school choice.

The district acknowledges that while the students are the primary beneficiaries of the educational services, the parents are the true customers who ultimately make the choice to enroll or withdraw their children based on what they believe to be in the best interests of their children. And the daily experience of this relationship between the family and the district will ultimately lead towards a decision to preserve the partnership through continuing enrollment. The ACT team will be the innovative strategic division of the district that focuses on the defining and refining the notion of school choice for parents within the Gilbert Public Schools District.

The vision is “To be the First District of Choice for Parents and Students.” This is the passionate goal that inspires those who proudly serve our local community in a district with a rich heritage of quality education for over 100 years. (Dess, Eisner, Lumpkin, & McNamara, 2014)

The mission of the ACT team will be “To make GPS the District of Choice by becoming the District of Choices, showcasing a Family of Academies” This mission will differentiate the District from both districts and charters in the surrounding areas. While some of the surrounding districts have attempted to gradually expand their services by opening a district sponsored charter school or creating isolated academies, none will be as fully committed to the school choice model as Gilbert Public Schools as this strategy will be implemented to transform all 40 schools into a family of academies. Additionally, while the charter schools have been growing in the district boundaries, they each have a limit of specialization in one area per charter school. Even a full consortium of the charter schools in the area will never be as integrated as a school district to take advantages of the economies of scale and efficient use of tax payer funds towards administrative costs.

The ACT division will address parents’ need for choice by providing clear guidance on the suite of specialized curriculum and programs that will be available for their children not only within the limited number of grades offered by the charter schools but throughout the child’s entire academic career. The division will pull in specialists from several key functional areas, academics, finance, facilities, school administration, technology, transportation, human resources, and marketing. This team of consultants will execute the choice strategies through close partnerships and collaborations with local and state businesses and universities who wish to maintain close ties to the community. The ACT team will additionally leverage the district’s close partnership with the Town council to anticipate the needs and provide the educated and skilled workforce that is critical to the economic growth of the town of Gilbert.

Parents will clearly see which schools feed into the specialized programs where their children will excel (Dual Language, Performing Arts, Sports, Medicine, Technology, Agribusiness, Gifted, and Special Education). These programs already exist at GPS. However, they seem to be the district’s best kept secret. The ACT team will work on branding these schools in a way that reinforces the emphasis on the special academies to support these programs from preschool all the way to high school graduation.

Additionally, if the team discovers a change in the trend of expressed needs of community parents, the district will implement carefully planned adjustments to existing programs in response. These actions may include redirection of financial resources, staff, transportation, or marketing strategies to swiftly take advantage of the opportunities. At times this may call for even the creation of new program or elimination of existing programs. However, by organizing programs under their respective academy areas, there will be minimum impact to the branding. For example, the Technology Academy may decide to discontinue a computer engineering program in favor of an aerospace program. The academy would still retain its strong reputation for the engineering track.

The GPS vision is “Ensure exemplary education that inspires excellence and success within every learner.” (GPS, 2017) The ACT vision is focused on making GPS the first choice for parents with the full understanding that parents will make their choice based on what they feel gives their children the best chance of success. Many parents expect the school to do their part by inspiring children to reach their highest potential at the level of excellence they can achieve.

The GPS mission and goal is “Gilbert Public School students are innovative, technologically advanced, global learners. Our goal is to create a nationally competitive PK-12 academic system that engages and supports diverse learners through scholarship, innovation, and technology.” (GPS, 2017) Within these statements is the emphasis on supporting the diversity of learners. These students will thrive as they are drawn to the choices that GPS will offer under the strategic guidance of the ACT team. Parents who are looking for the special program that is committed to inspire and encourage their children to develop their special talents and passions will be drawn to enroll their children at the respective Academy. Additionally they will have the security of knowing that even in the special area, the district will have the financial and technology resources to provide a highly innovative, engaging, and rigorous curriculum.

Additionally, GPS promotes its core values through several statements that focus on the different stakeholders in the process of providing educational services, the students, the parents, the staff, and the community. The values of the ACT team are in complete alignment with these core beliefs.

• This team will ACT on the parents’ desire to see their children thrive in a healthy and safe educational environment that prepares them as the best candidate for employment, college enrollment, or social relationships.

• The team will ACT on the students’ desire to reach their academic potential and realize the passions and specialized skills and attributes that help them stand out as uniquely qualified and confident lifelong learners.

• The team will ACT on the community’s desire to see transparent financial practices and efficient use of resources to guarantee the greatest value added educational services as a proud hallmark of the Gilbert community.

The ACT team will focus on strategies that determine the actual needs of parents in the community. One of the challenges of this focus is that the team does not shift the strategy to the point of alienating current parents who have already chosen the district. For example, many parents in the district feel that the biggest draw to the schools is the close community ties where the student feels that everyone has a personal connection. While this may be true, the parents who are choosing charter schools have a different set of priorities in their decision. They may be more interested in specialized curriculum. The ACT team needs to use discernment in the strategy adjustment that considers that both approaches are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

The ACT team needs to be aware of the key role of marketing to make sure that both parents and students are aware of the choices available and how to be successful in those programs, knowing that they have the full support and resources to realize the student potential.

Finally, the ACT team will ensure that all decisions are well communicated in public forums and easily accessible information published to the district website. This would include detailed budget line items and voucher expenditures that are tied to each of the specialized program offerings. This would be a key deliverable to satisfy the community desire for transparency.

The ACT team supports the goal of social responsibility by committing to the belief that every student that has reached their academic potential will be in the best position to make a positive contribution to society. They will be able to enter in the employment market or, as a homemaker, raise a family with values that contribute to community improvement.

From an ethical perspective the ACT division will maintain compliance and accountability through its transparent financial practices. This will expose any conflict of interest issues that may arise in the procurement process.

The cultural values of the district will still be reflected in the manner that every staff treats one another, the parents and the students. Honesty, integrity, and respect will remain as our brand of customer service. This treatment will inspire everyone to reciprocate by becoming fully engaged in the learning process and collaboratively work to bring the highest quality of supplies, curriculum, and staff to support the educational services.

Dess, G., Eisner, A., Lumpkin, T., & McNamara, G. (2014). Strategic Management: Creating Competetive Advantages (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

GPS. (2017). Strategic Operating Plan. Retrieved from Gilbert Public Schools: http://www.gilbertschools.net/departments/superintendent_s_office/strategic_operating_plan_2014-2017/

Navarez, G., & Wyloge, E. (2016, Feb 24). Arizona: Charter School Attendance Doesn’t Reflect State’s Demographics. Retrieved from NBC News: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/arizona-school-data-shows-uneven-distribution-ethnic-groups-n523796