District Vision

District Vision and Mission

Creating a vision and a mission for a district is an important piece in connecting the school district to the community.  My current district is in the beginning stages of updating our vision and mission.  We have started the discussion at the board level and will move into the community as we look to involve all stakeholders in the process.  Our class discussions along with the readings will be valuable as a guide for me when I am involved in setting the direction as a Superintendent. 

I have experienced the process of developing a vision and mission in a previous district.  As I look back at the development process it is evident that there were flaws that created a problem in the creation.  While the involvement of many groups within the school and community were involved, there was a lack of direction from the Superintendent.  A firm was hired to guide the process and that seemed to be an issue as they were able to provide the theory behind the need for a vision, they were not able to bring an understanding of the climate and culture of the district.  The groups involved with creating the vision were provided with examples of visions developed by other districts.  The problem was the lack of direction necessary to create a meaningful vision for our district.  Once the vision and mission were created, that was the end of the line.  We never used the language developed to drive the direction of the district.  We never discussed the outcomes of the vision and never used either the vision or the mission statement during my final two years in the district.

As a future Superintendent I see the prior experiences with developing a vision and a mission as valuable.  I have viewed a process that was not successful and I am going to apply that knowledge to the current process as a building administrator.  I am aware of the need to involve all voices in the process but I also see the need to facilitate the work being done by the groups of stakeholders.  Creating guidelines for the group to work with and making sure that I give them a focus as they make decisions about our vision and the direction they would like to see our district take as we move forward.   

The final reflection from what I have learned during our discussions and the readings is the need to revisit our vision frequently and make changes if there are weaknesses that need to be addressed.  Collection and review of data is essential to answering the questions that will provide future direction.  As a Superintendent I would like to know that we are true to our culture.  Is what we are doing making our students successful and are we using our resources to the fullest extent?  Do we need to make changes and if so what changes?