East Granby Board of Education Sets 4 Major Goals

The East Granby Board of Education spent the majority of its regular meeting deciding on a set of goals to guide the board in its future activities Monday night at .

The four goals, approved by a unanimous vote, cover a wide range of the board’s responsibilities and efforts: getting the most out of school system resources, setting high quality curriculum and standards, the effectiveness of the board itself, and communication and community outreach.

The board worked quickly through the actual goals with a focus on presentation, making the language of each active and succinct. Debate on whether to include specific, actionable items following the sweeping goal statements popped up in various forms during the meeting. Board members decided to finalize and vote on the broader goals. They will continue to work on the actionable items at future meetings.

The specific goals are paraphrased below.

1. Communication and community outreach: Develop and implement a plan to inform and encourage involvement from stakeholders in the East Granby public school system.

2. Board effectiveness: Increase the board’s effectiveness and participation by board members.

3. Maximize resources: The board will identify ways to further promote efficiencies in the East Granby public school system.

4. Curriculum and standards: The board will provide a rigorous curriculum aligned with the appropriate standards, high quality instruction and appropriate support and services to attract and retain students.

Joe Townsley, a consultant from the Capital Region Education Council (CREC) with 20 years of experience as a superintendent, acted as a facilitator for the board’s goal-setting process. Townsley, who has helped other Connecticut education boards set and write their goals, worked with the East Granby Board of Education during its June 25 meeting to narrow 14 suggested targets to the final four voted on during Monday’s meeting.

“I think you’ve done a great job,” Townsley said to the board after more than an hour of discussion and consensus building on the goals. “I’ve seen [this process] take months.”

Board of education Vice Chairman Kirby Huget called the session a very productive exercise, reflecting the opinion of many on the board.