Director of Secondary Schools Pam Dalton presents a draft of the system’s strategic plan to the Habersham County Board of Education during a called meeting on February 2.Â
Habersham County will soon join other school systems in Georgia that have adopted the state’s Investing in Educational Excellence (IE2) program. The board of education Monday night unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the local school system to sign a letter of intent to join. Superintendent of Schools Matthew Cooper says that letter will be mailed today.
IE2 was established by the Georgia state legislature in 2008 as a way to provide more local control and flexibility to school districts in attaining student achievement. Partnering schools sign 5-year contracts with the State Board of Education based on strategic plans developed in partnership with the Georgia Department of Education. Progress is monitored annually by the Governors Office of Student Achievement (GOSA). Local school boards lose governance over any school that does not meet its agreed upon performance standards for three consecutive years.
According to the GaDOE website:
If at the end of the contract any school has not met its performance goals for at least three consecutive years of the contract, the LBOE (Local Board of Education) will lose governance of those schools. The LBOE may decide to a) convert those schools to charter schools, b) transfer governance to a non-profit or for-profit education organization, or c) allow a nearby, successful school district to assume governance responsibilities.
Habersham County Superintendent Matthew Cooper says, in the past, the IE2 program was considered much more punitive but now, it’s considered beneficial because the state school board is going to stop offering waivers on things like mandated class sizes. “We need the flexibility on class size, especially,” Cooper says. He says the accountability required by IE2 is reasonable. “We need those waivers and we’re not afraid of accountability.”
Habersham County school system’s strategic plan
Habersham County school administrators have been working on the strategic plan for months. A draft was released last week during a BOE called meeting. The plan is based on feedback from stakeholders at all levels, from administrators and faculty to parents and students. It includes key strategic actions that will be implemented towards reaching those goals, including:Â
| Create flexible and innovative learning opportunities for all students with a focus on next-generation instruction and assessment. |
| Increase our technology capacity. |
| Conduct a Habersham County Schools Job Fair and expand efforts to recruit highly effective teachers and staff. |
| Train and maintain a district evaluation team for both the Teacher Keys and Leader Keys Evaluation Systems (TKES and LKES). |
| Maintain Southern Association of College and Schools (SACS) accreditation and make progress on SACS Required Actions. |
| Ensure quality and efficiency in all system operational areas. |
| Create and adhere to an annual budget with balanced revenues and expenses that is fiscally responsible to all stakeholders |
A public hearing will be held before the county’s final IE2 application is submitted to the State.
