Member balks at statement changes
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on May 7, 2015 1:46 PM
Wayne County Public Schools has adopted simpler, more streamlined vision and mission statements.
The majority of the Board of Education on Monday night approved the new recommendation, with the only dissenting vote, Dr. Dwight Cannon, expressing concern that the board was excluded from the process.
Dean Sauls, acting assistant superintendent for curriculum and instructor/athletics, unveiled the new suggestions for the district.
The former vision statement was, "Wayne County Public Schools provides an exemplary education for all students in a globally competitive 21st Century environment." The mission statement was, "All Wayne County Public Schools students will graduate from high school, globally competitive for work and post secondary education and prepared for life in the 21st Century through rigor, relevance and relationships."
The replacements were less wordy.
The new vision statement is, "Cultivation, Personalization, Innovation -- Every Student, Every Day!"
The mission statement is, "Wayne County Public Schools holds high expectations for all students by collaborating with parents and the community to provide individualized support."
Sauls told the board the change was prompted by a recommendation from the AdvancEd Accreditation External Review Team during its March 2014 visit, that the district implement a strategic process for reviewing and revising the vision and mission statement and involve all stakeholder groups.
Cannon prefaced his remarks by saying he knew any motion to the contrary was "going to be defeated" but nevertheless had questions about "things missing" in the statements and wondering why "certain things" had been taken out.
Dr. Cynthia Reynolds, director of secondary education/accreditation, explained the process behind the effort
"This started at the beginning of the year and the committee came together, but the committee did not decide on this," she said. Both statements went through several drafts before being distributed to each principal, she added.
"It was changed several times, by schools, every principal had a copy. But what came back to us was the one that was most selected. It was also placed on our district website for about two months and we got some good feedback from students."
The now former vision and mission statements had been unchanged for years, Ms. Reynolds said, and the committee decided to look at the sentiment to comply with recommendations by the accreditation team.
"We felt as a team that it was not systematic and the people had no input in the vision that was originally put out," she said.
Cannon maintained that "everybody but the board" had been able to weigh in on the change.
"My thing with the vision, it seems to me that 'personalization' ought to be first," he said. "I just want you to know I didn't get the changes and now we're voting on it."
"I don't disagree with what Mr. Cannon said," board member Arnold Flowers said. "I remember this coming to us before. I would probably put something in there about getting a job."
The board passed the resolution for the new statements, 5-1. Board member Rick Pridgen was absent and Cannon was opposed.