PERRYSBURG — The school district has begun considering the ways it must continue reacting to growth of
the community.
Despite a new school already being built and an operational levy being secured long-term, board members
are turning their attention, in the face of the city’s expansion, to future finance, facilities,
academic and staffing needs within the next few years and beyond.
The district started its Vision 2020 planning process a few months ago, Superintendent Tom Hosler said
Tuesday at the first meeting of a steering committee formed to oversee the effort. A larger, 30-member
Core Team conducted four planning sessions beginning in September. Consultants with the Ohio School
Boards Association are assisting with the process.
“That is looking at where we are today, where we want to be in the future and then setting out a course
for us to get where we need to be,” Hosler said.
“This kind of outlines the comprehensive plan that we want it to be: the blueprint for us as we move
forward, in being a guide when it comes to making decisions. The things that are most important to the
board, to the district, to the community, should be those things that guide us as we look at the
future.”
School leaders came up with core values and have broken the plan itself into four “pillars”: Finance,
Facilities, Academic Needs, and Human Capital and Resources. Leading groups that will spearhead those
respective areas are Treasurer Pam Harrington; Hosler; Kadee Anstadt, executive director of teaching and
learning; and Aura Norris, executive director of human resources and operations. Each spoke briefly on
Tuesday about the details and objectives of their component of the plan.
Finance will involve planning for a “healthy fiscal future” and being able to explain why a levy is
needed and what it would pay for. Among other goals, Harrington said she wants to make the district’s
five-year financial forecast more accessible to the public.
“I can remember the first couple times I went to a board meeting and thought, ‘That was the most boring
thing I ever heard in my life, that five-year forecast.’ Well, I think you have to make it so that it’s
user-friendly and people-friendly so that people understand it, and I think (for) this committee, that’s
a challenge. Let’s face it: I find it very interesting, but most people probably think it’s a little
boring.”
She suggested posting to YouTube shortly after school board meetings, with fiscal information and videos
for the public that would “constantly educate them and keep them in the loop about where we are with our
financial news.”
Hosler said the district currently relies upon city and township zoning administrators for information on
planned developments that will impact school enrollment. As part of the Vision 2020 document, it will
study more demographic data, seeking to quantify and plan for future growth.
“We focused really on 2020 because we know that in that short period of time, as short as it sounded …
we know that there’s going to be a tremendous amount of growth, and things are going to be taking place
over those next four years where we really need to position ourselves for whatever the future will
hold,” Hosler said.
An executive summary of the full Vision 2020 Plan is available at
http://www.perrysburgschools.net/Downloads /PerrysburgSchoolsVision2020 PlanSummary.pdf
Over the next few months, each group will form a committee that includes staff and community members, in
order to create action plans related to their group’s goals. They will present their plans, goals and
timelines at board meetings beginning in the fall.
Hosler said he expects the plan to be a “lens” that encourages decision-makers to consider its core
values and goals within the school district.
“We really want this to be a living, breathing document that is somewhat fluid in that it moves with our
needs.”