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Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad January 30, 2006 School board plans forum to fuse committee work Panel seeks public input before floating a bond in the November election By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings The Ashland School Board this spring will launch a vision-driven strategic planning process to link together the results of several studies and work by board committees. Board members made the decision following more than a dozen hours of strategic planning discussion this month. School administrators and Dr. Kate Dickson, a strategic planning consultant working with the school district, participated in some of the dialogue. “We need to engage our community in the planning process, so that we can hear from them whether we’re going in the right direction,” school board Chair Heidi Parker said. The board will hold a community discussion on the future strategic direction of the school district in March. Prior to that event, board members will meet twice with Dickson to create the structure for the community meeting. The meeting will link together results of a recent facilities study done by Dull, Olson, Weekes Architects Inc., and the Ashland High School master planning process, which Ogden Roemer Wilkerson Architects started this month. Research done by the Kindergarten Task Force, the K-8 Committee and the Bond and Facilities Planning Committee will also contribute information to the discussion because the district doesn’t “need to recreate the good work that has already been done,” Dickson said. The school board will turn to the community to answer questions about where schools should be located, if aging facilities should be repaired or replaced and what programs that should be offered. “I think it’s actually going to be an energizing process,” board member Amy Amrhein said. Decisions about the future use of school facilities need to be made before the bond committee determines the dollar amount of the general obligation bond the school district will float in the November election. The projects that bond will support also need to be chosen. School board members hope the community visioning process will help identify priorities for the district. “We have a great deal of support for our educational programs, but these differences of opinions about how many schools we should have and where they should be located,” Parker said. “So many things have changed in Ashland since the last bond 10 years ago. We need to check in with our community to see what direction they want us to take.” Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 225 or [email protected]. --> Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.