Hinsdale District 86 Nixes Attendance Advisory in Lieu of Strategic Plan Revamp

HINSDALE, IL - Hinsdale Township High School District 86 has decided against creating an attendance advisory committee to field school boundary quandaries and instead, will move forward with updating its strategic plan.

The district's Board of Education voted against creating the committee at its Sept. 19 meeting. The idea first surfaced during a Sept. 13 special meeting, according to district documents.

"With this decision, discussions of attendance boundaries have concluded and no further discussions on the topic are anticipated," said a community alert. "Rather, the Board will begin the process of updating the strategic plan that District 86 adopted in 2008."

The district's Strategic Plan outlines its mission, core beliefs and focus areas for future planning. Each summer, schools' leaders prepare annual Strategic Plan action goals that directly align with the Strategic Plan.

Throughout the academic year, the district's newsletter, Communicate 58, shares progress toward some of these goals. Most recently spotlighted was a focus on community partnerships.

This year, District 58 has four primary goals associated with key collaborations, including:

• Launch new website: The District is building a new, mobile-friendly website in-house, which will result in cost-savings. The website is expected to launch in winter 2017.
• Expand board community engagement: During its September meeting, the Board of Education discussed opportunities to increase community engagement. Ideas included revising the existing board policy regarding Board meeting reception of visitors, adding a more open public engagement portion to Board workshops, and creating a new Board committee that will comprise representatives from stakeholder groups.
• Evaluate District Communications Plan: During this school year, the district plans to create a communications plan that aligns with the District 58 Strategic Plan and will promote the understanding of schools' goals and initiatives.
• Explore opportunities to update the Board's Strategic Plan: The Board developed a district-wide Strategic Plan in 2000 and revised it in 2011 with input from parents, staff and community focus groups.

The board will consider initiating a new community effort and how to update the strategic plan at its future meetings.