Morris Plains Schools Ask: What's Our Future?

Here's the plan: Get a plan.

The is considering spending $6,000 to have the New Jersey School Boards Association lead a strategic planning process. Committees of parents, district employees, school board members and other community members would spends months tossing around ideas for the future of Morris Plains schools. They'd explore everything from curricula to facilities to technology.

And at the end of that process, they'd emerge with a set of goals, and plans for reaching them.

"It takes you five years into the future," NJSBA field representative Joanne Borin told the Morris School Board when she met with it Tuesday.

So far, the school board hasn't committed to anything. But Board President Lee Conor said after Tuesday's meeting that while it's not certain Morris Plains will hire the NJSBA, “Morris Plains is going to have strategic planning.”

Borin, who has led strategic planning sessions for school districts for 20 years, outlined a plan that would involve dozens of community members and continue through the early part of next year. Half of the $3,000 payment would be due after the process is complete.

Connor said Morris Plains has never gone through such an involved planning process before—though a few years ago, the board did comprehensive studies on regionalization and transportation. She said that about a decade ago, the board did in-house strategic planning, but new challenges have developed since then, and new people are in administrative roles. The newest is .

If the board takes Borin up on her offer, committees would gather in November to explore different aspects of the district's operation. They'd work closely with Borin and her team, who'd guide the committee members with examples and suggest factors to consider.

In February, the committee members—about 25 to 45 in all—would come together for a weekend planning conference. They'd work to establish a vision for the district, defined in a mission statement. They'd set four major goals, as well as outline strategies for meeting them.

"[This process asks,] 'What do you want 2016 to look like?'" Borin told the board. "We will make sure everything gets done appropriately."