Strategic Plan should not be Political

By Patricia A. Booker

Over 100 people in this community contributed to the Strategic Planning initiative. All of us with different view points but all committed to creating a roadmap for our schools. While this document has some issues, it is not all a waist of time and it is time for the School Board to provide their insight so the team can get on with it's work. With all of the time and money spent on this project, it is wrong to make it a political issue.

The fact is the failure to move forward with the Strategic Plan with any certainty is a result of nearly endless debate by the school board at the March 13th meeting -- debate that did not produce direction for changes or enhancements but rather resulted in an approval by the Board, including Mr. Zajac, to move forward that was tentative at best.

If members of this board had a concern about the direction outlined in the draft they had a responsibility to provide the necessary input to re-direct the work. If Mr. Zajac had a concern about the frustration of those involved or about the $50,000 spent to date he would have stepped up and provided leadership to correct the path being taken, instead he chose to make it a campaign issue.

The Democrats suggest accounting changes, but adding line items to the budget will not help to get the budget under control. Bold new action is needed. Cost of education is not going down and we can't wait for meaningful relief from Harrisburg, we need to find ways, besides increasing property taxes, to pay for the educational excellence Radnor has come to expect. Private funding for advanced programs using state tax credits is one such option. We have people in Radnor who can partner with the School Board to find private funding for these cutting edge programs. That kind of effort coupled with informed disciplined spending will help control the taxes.

The School District has spent $50,000 on this process and countless hours have been invested by over 100 people from the community, teachers/staff, parents and students. If the Board has specific concerns about the content or lack there of, then let's get that documented so we can get back to work and finish this Strategic Plan. It is a good Strategic Plan that steers the setting of annual district goals and budget, not the other way around.

Pattie Booker Radnor