PUBLIC TAKES PART IN STRATEGIC PLANNING DISCUSSION FOR BRENHAM ISD

Josh Blaschke November 11, 2020

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Brenham ISD Superintendent Dr. Tylor Chaplin (right) talks with community members ahead of the start of Tuesday night's group discussion on Brenham ISD's belief statements.

Local community members got involved with Brenham ISD’s strategic planning process at a roundtable discussion Tuesday night.

Around 35 community representatives met at the Brenham Junior High School cafeteria to discuss ideas for reforming the district’s mission statements. Participants included members of the Brenham School Board, principals, students, staff members, parents, citizens, and other members of the public.

Superintendent Dr. Tylor Chaplin said a lot of hope is being placed in this planning process, but there was plenty of positive discussion Tuesday night.

Brenham School Board Secretary Susan Jenkins (second from right) discusses ideas for mission statement beliefs with her assigned group at Tuesday's meeting.

Discussion Tuesday night was mostly freehand, but was guided by Buck Gilchrese and Lloyd Graham of Moak, Casey and Associates, an educational consultant out of Austin. Gilchrese said this meeting consisted of mainly “big, broad ideas” about what the district is and what is it doing. Board President Natalie Lange said it has been about seven years since the district last went through this process.

Participants broke into six small groups to jot down their thoughts on what the belief statements should be for six stakeholders: students, parents, teachers, campus leadership and principals, the superintendent’s office and central office, and the school board.

An attendee lists her group's thoughts on what Brenham ISD's mission statement should be for students.

Each of the statements began with, “In Brenham ISD, we believe ___,” with the blank being filled by one of the six groups previously mentioned, along with the group’s ideas. Some of those ideas raised included giving the community direction, operating as one unit, establishing and maintaining relationships and trust, keeping accountability, being progressive while also holding to tradition, and ensuring the student is the top priority.

The next meeting of the “team of eight,” consisting of Dr. Chaplin and the school board, will take place Tuesday, November 17^th at Brenham High School. At that meeting, the team will review the feedback gathered from Tuesday night’s meeting to further formulate the district’s vision and mission statements.

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