Bogalusa City Schools

Blueprint for Progress

Change in the wind in Bogalusa Public Schools
BY LOU MAJOR SR
The Daily News

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first in a three-part series on the "Blueprint for Progress", a Strategic Plan for the Bogalusa School System written by a citzens Task Force appointed by Supt. Jerry 0. Payne. It is a plan designed to bring about educational excellence in the city's school system for the near and long-term future. It will be acted on formally by the Bogalusa School Board at its July meeting.)

PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
MISSION STATEMENT

BOGALUSA— Ironically, the Introduction to the Strategic Plan was the last thing the Task Force did. For seven weeks, the 20-plus members gathered at the School Board office at 4 p.m. on Thursdays to map a strategy for the Bogalusa School System starting this Fall.

The Mission Statement was the first thing they worked on and the Introduction to the entire Plan was the last thing they worked on. For purposes of this series, however, the elements are going to be published in the order in which the final document was assembled. Obviously, the Introduction is the first part. The Mission Statement will also follow in today's Part One following the Introduction.

Some of the members attended every session and most attended the majority of the sessions, following through on their initial commitment to the process. Only a handful attended only one or two of the sessions. There were intense and lively discussions as ideas were proposed, scrutinized, reviewed and reviewed again and again.

Following is the Introduction:

There's a new sound to the school bells ringing across America — and Bogalusa must listen. A new technological world has been born and it demands that the best of the old way and the best of the new be combined in our school classrooms to elevate the quality of our public education. This is the new school bell we heard ringing, which brought into assembly a cross-section of Bogalusa's citizens to produce a roadmap for the future.

The Bogalusa City School System was created as a direct result of the actions of citizens in the community seeking to provide for the educational needs of students. These visionary citizens created a school system that became a model of an effective city-based school system.

For many years the system thrived inside an ever-expanding city. During these growing years, the Bogalusa City School Board built new buildings, added educational programs, hired outstanding educators, sent students to colleges, universities and the work force that were equipped educationally to succeed and be leaders in many areas.

A number of years ago the City of Bogalusa entered a difficult time. The economy weakened, businesses failed or moved, and the population dropped significantly. The school system was not immune to the struggles going on throughout the city, and it too, suffered from dwindling resources and a growing sense of pessimism about the future, however, throughout these years the system continued to have a sterling group of School Board members, administrators and educators.

The entire community is indebted to the leaders and educators who did their work with passion and commitment during long and challenging years.

The city of Bogalusa, indeed, the entire area, is now on the cusp of another time of change — this time for the better. While we are only in the first moments of this new day, it is surely coming. Now is an appropriate and exciting time to re-dream the vision for the Bogalusa City School system.

So it was that when Superintendent Payne arrived in January of 2005 to lead the Bogalusa City School system, he was both pulled by opportunities that that lay ahead and pushed by systemic problems growing out of the struggling years. He responded to these things by asking the School Board to approve and support the formation of a community based group that would be charged with the task of developing a strategic plan for the Bogalusa City School System.

Following a citywide public forum in March 2005, called by Bogalusa School Superintendent Jerry O. Payne, he searched the city for a group of people interested in the betterment of the school system who would also commit themselves to the task of developing a Strategic Plan for the schools.

He found a willing group of citizens who shared his vision of bringing about meaningful changes and progress.

On Saturday, April 9, 2005, the group met for the first time with Superintendent Payne, facilitator Andrew Hill, Chair Janis Buckalew, and Co-Chair Debbie Jenkins, both of the city school staff. The Task Force included: nine school system representatives, one school board member, two from education systems outside Bogalusa City Schools, one from the community-at-large, one from industry, four students, four ministers, three parents, and two political office representatives.

For the next seven weeks, the Task Force met to formulate the plan, working together to develop the Missions Statement, Core Beliefs, Parameters, within which the plan would function, Objectives and Strategies. The work was centered around the five principal concerns, as outlined at the initial public forum in March: Discipline in the Schools; Teacher Recruitment and Retention; Funding and Safety; Student Achievement; and Parental Involvement.

The Task Force members believe that adoption of the Strategic Plan, titled "A BLUEPRINT FOR PROGRESS", is an expression of our confidence in the future of the Bogalusa City School System and is critical to the system's educational advancement.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the Bogalusa City School System, in partnership with families and the community at large, shall be to provide to all students a broad-based education to maximize their academic excellence, social responsibility, and good citizenship to prepare them to be fully productive in an ever-changing world.