District 200 sets goals for new school year

Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 Superintendent Brian Harris has his marching orders for his second year at the helm.

The board of education this week approved a list of goals for the superintendent that will provide Harris a road map for the 2011-2012 school year.

The list will become a part of his contract and his annual performance evaluation will include an analysis of progress toward each of the goals.

Harris and board members Jim Vroman and Barb Intihar worked to craft the list, which included four items that fell under the umbrella of three goals the board had previously identified for the district. They are:

Ÿ increase student learning and mastery of 21st-century skills;

Ÿ attract and retain highly qualified staff;

Ÿ and achieve long-term financial stability by prudent management of district resources.

The goals were intentionally broad, Vroman said, to allow the staff and Harris to develop the actual details.

Harris’ list included moving toward a common core curriculum, which had been identified as a need as part of the district’s college and career readiness initiative. Additionally, he said he hopes to implement programs that use the most-modern teaching skills.

To achieve long-term financial stability, he said he would aim to meet budget projections and communicate any progress to the community.

During the discussion, Harris said recommendations for ways to achieve his goals would be brought forward in the future.

The ongoing process ramped up last month when board members pitched their ideas for board goals. The three-member committee then cut those down to a more manageable list.

“We ended up taking things from that laundry list and saying, ‘Here is what we can do, here is what we ought to be doing ... and some other things may need to wait until subsequent years,’” Intihar said.

District officials also said they hope to start an ongoing list of possible future board initiatives to use as a springboard from year to year.