Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras presented the first draft of the division’s new strategic plan
Monday night, laying out “an ambitious list of goals meant to help every RPS student pursue their dreams.”
Kamras introduced the first version of Dreams4RPS
in 2018. The plan was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but in January, RPS reported
it had made progress toward meeting several of its targeted goals by the end of 2023.
Now, the district is building on the structure of that earlier plan and making changes.
Matthew Stanley, the district’s director of advocacy and outreach, said RPS held over 190 public meetings and collected more than 1,600 “Dream Cards” with feedback on proposed priorities. Stanley said RPS used ChatGPT to analyze the data and ensure an objective review by eliminating potential issues.
The feedback helped reinforce three of the district’s primary goals for the next five years: increasing the number of schools graded as “on track” or “distinguished”; improving graduation and college attendance rates; and boosting proficiency in key subjects like third-grade reading.
Kamras outlined several “big bets” to help the district reach its goals — including an expansion of the RPS200 program
, which extends the school year by beginning classes in mid-July
, to all elementary schools.
Several school board members voiced concerns about the program during the meeting Monday: Stephanie Rizzi wanted to see more data from the pilot program before expanding it to all schools; Garrett Sawyer worried about teacher retention; and Kenya Gibson said she couldn’t support sending students back to class in July at schools with inadequate HVAC systems.
Kamras assured board members that the district was not recommending an immediate move to extended the school calendar.
“We just put a stake in the ground to go big at all elementary schools,” Kamras said. “The vision would be that we would get there over the course of five years.”
Another priority RPS identified was improving teacher compensation. Kamras said the district wanted to continue working on increases across the board, but also to consider differentiated pay for staff in high-need schools or for “demonstrated level of mastery” — a phrase Gibson took exception to.
“Let’s be clear, this is merit pay,” she said. “Merit pay for teachers demonstrably doesn’t work and just creates high-pressure, test-score-driven environments where cheating is more likely to occur.”
Improving the school division’s transportation systems was also laid out in the plan, with an emphasis on improving on-time arrival rates and preparing for a shift to electric and self-driving buses.
During public comment, school bus driver LaTonya Skinner, who has worked for RPS for eight years, said the district should be worried about drivers’ pay.
“I know there are new drivers that’s coming in with lesser [or] no experience making more than me,” said Skinner. “I feel like there was a slap in the face.”
Gibson noted the district’s issues dealing with driver contracts after self-driving buses were mentioned.
“We just sat and listened to several bus drivers talk about the fact that their contracts aren’t accurate, right? One of them was in tears. They love the work that they’re doing,” Gibson said. “If I was sitting there as we suggested that we were going to replace drivers with self-driving buses, I would be offended.”
Shavonda Fernandez urged Kamras and his team to prioritize equity for English language learners as well. A chart in the Dreams4RPS presentation indicated that about 8% of feedback related to support and programs aimed at English learners.
Fernandez said the scope of the issue outweighed the data.
“Regardless of what the data says, equity is something that’s important [and] should remain a top priority,” she said. “We are challenged with English learners and children who exist in places where they live in poverty. So, everything we do has to promote equity and fairness.”
Kamras and his team will revise the plan based on the public’s feedback and present an updated draft for review during the school board’s Aug. 20 meeting at City Hall. RPS is accepting feedback on the draft plan until Aug. 19 by email at [email protected]
.
The finalized plan will be presented for school board approval Sept. 9.
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