Forest Lake Area Schools — Transcript
Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Strategic Planning and Board Self-Evaluation
Superintendent Search Impact on Planning
Engagement with MSBA
Votes (1)
Recommendation for Strategic Planning and Board Self-Evaluation Process
Dissent: None; the subcommittee reached a consensus on the proposed recommendation.
The subcommittee deliberated on the optimal timing and scope for updating the strategic plan, considering the upcoming retirement of Dr. Massie and the search for a new superintendent. Key points included the benefits of a 'stop-gap' solution to avoid a period of ambiguity, the value of a board self-evaluation for team building and goal setting, and the practical challenges of simultaneously conducting a superintendent search and a full strategic plan rewrite. It was agreed that using MSBA for a self-evaluation first, followed by a full strategic plan rewrite in 2027, would best integrate a new superintendent and leverage election cycles.
Notable Quotes (6)
do we feel prepared to digest all of that and to build a recommendation for the full board or do we want to bake on that for a little while and then reconvene in a say a week or so and put together our final recommendation and deliver that to the board on either the 23rd or the 6th of November?
Well, it sounded to me like we should do a stop gap solution. That that seems like the the better process. We don't end up in this uh moment of ambiguity where we have nothing.
I would suggest that we make a recommendation to the full board that we do go along with um, MSBA and um, use their services.
I would assume a search for a new superintendent is going to be time consuming and there will be community meetings and input and all kinds of things. So I I'm not sure the the wisdom or the sort of bandwidth to run a strategic plan and a superintendent search simultaneously.
The evaluation I think if I recall will give the board some feedback on those different pillars, those different standards. Yeah. and create some uh provide information have conversation around functionality as a board along those standards that then prepares the board for the work of the next rewrite.
I feel like the recommendation is that we come back to the the board either on the 23rd or the the 6, maybe even the 23rd, with a recommendation that we we start with a school board self-evaluation. ...And at the same time, we procure MSBA services to do a full strategic plan um tuneup um immediately in 2027.
Ordinances & Resolutions (3)
A short-term solution proposed to address immediate strategic needs and provide guidance until a full strategic plan can be developed.
The district's comprehensive, long-term planning document that defines goals and objectives; the existing plan is dated 2025 and requires updating.
A process facilitated by MSBA to assess the board's functionality, conduct, ethics, vision, structure, accountability, advocacy, and standardization, intended to inform future planning.