Weston Public Schools – Hope is Not a Strategy
Weston Town Crier, February 25, 2021
The following was submitted by Frank Caine
Because “hope is not a strategy,” successful organizations create plans that outline goals, actions, and accountability. The Weston School District needs to develop a comprehensive plan to ensure its long-term success, a plan that focuses on outcomes – again, are we getting what we are paying for? – and lays the groundwork for creating reasonable budgets, measured success, and a competitive advantage over other towns.
Now is the time to act, as there are several key challenges facing the district:
Our school enrollment is shrinking and is projected to do so for the next 10 years
Our cost-per student is by far the highest around and has increased by 64% over the last 10 years with only average outcomes (such as rankings, test scores, etc.)
Our percentage of school-aged children going to private school is increasing and is the highest, by far, of any surrounding town.
If we don’t act now, we risk ending up in a self-reinforcing downward spiral. For example, the flight to private schools decreases enrollment which makes it harder to offer a rich curriculum and programs, which then creates more flight to private school, and so on. It’s a competitive world out there and we are simply being outcompeted.
The district will tell you that they have a strategic plan and that its currently being revised. The current plan is significantly deficient and generic, and could in fact be the strategic plan for almost any district in the county, let alone our area. The current 3-page plan does not address specific issues, indicate key performance metrics, hold anyone accountable, or detail specific timetables or action items or goals. We need a new plan to address how Weston is differentiated and how to use our advantage to become most excellent.
First, the district must start with a review of its goals and objectives. What does a Weston graduate need to know by graduation? What are our objectives? What constitutes success? And from one year to the next, how will we know whether the outcomes are good or not-so-good? If they’re not so good, how do we change or modify our programs, curricula, and training?
As anything worth doing is worth measuring, the district must develop a strategic plan that incorporates accountability (who is doing what?), measurement (is it working?), and reporting (show us the results). All of Weston’s teachers go into their classrooms with a plan, assess and measure their students’ progress on a regular basis, and report back to parents on their children’s achievement and continuing needs. Shouldn’t we be doing the same for our schools? Don’t our children deserve as much from the School Committee and administration?
And Weston’s taxpayers, too, are entitled to know that the money we are spending on education is delivering good value, and that what we are doing is working. The economics of our school system are as important as any academic metric because resources are not unlimited, and to misallocate or overspend will ultimately undermine our ability to deliver the best curriculum to our children.
Second, because enrollment is declining, Weston no longer has the luxury of simply taking each year as it comes. Everyone knows we are responsible for teaching students who “show up at the door”, but that does not excuse us from the obligation of planning for success, right sizing classes, and adapting to changing conditions.
We can no longer “hope” that enrollment will increase next year; we need to actively plan for a smaller district without sacrificing quality. The continuing decline in enrollment (and the resulting increase in cost-per-student) means that we really do not have a baseline from which to measure changes in the budget from one year to the next. The concept of “level service” – which in practical terms means level headcount with increased spending – cannot continue to be a valid budgeting guideline.
Third, we must plan to keep our best teachers, the Weston schools’ most valuable resource. If we reactively lay off teachers every year, we are constrained by the union-dictated LIFO rule (last in, first out). That means the last hired teacher is the first one to be cut, no matter how talented and amazing they might be, or how mediocre a longer tenured teacher might be.
To have control and work to keep our top teachers we must develop specific long-term strategies in line with our changing budget. We can’t be driven by a reactionary system that simply takes each year as it comes. The town expects and wants top-ranked schools, but we can’t get there without a well thought out vision. We need leadership that can envision, plan, execute, evaluate success and adjust on a long-term and annual basis.
Finally, given where we find ourselves, we need to think differently about who should be involved in developing a true strategic plan. Teachers, school administrators, and School Committee members should all make contributions, be involved in debating the issues and designing options. However, the last thing we need is a warmed-over version of what we have now, or a strategic plan full of small changes that won’t move the needle. We need a way to identify and attract some of the many exceptionally talented members of the community who have the strategic planning experience required to guide the process.
Weston is populated with smart, hardworking, and successful people who want to get what they pay for. As a town, we insist on having a highly competitive district where our schools are Weston’s crown jewel. The schools educate and prepare the next generation, define our future, and support Weston’s property values. But this is a time for hard decisions and accountable leadership. We need more than just “hope”. We need a winning strategy.