BUCHANAN — Buchanan Community Schools officially began a community input phase of a new three- to five-year strategic plan Monday, partnering with Michigan Association of School Boards to help gather, synthesize and interpret data.

The kickoff comes as the district laid out a series of collective commitments to students, parents and community members as part of its work toward a professional learning community status. It also came as students, parents and teachers union members have criticized the board and Superintendent Tim Donahue for allegedly disregarding teachers and providing poor communication.

Donahue said the strategic plan is meant to fit in with both the district’s new commitments to student success and its potential shortcomings.

“We do this comprehensive analysis on all fronts to ensure we’re finding out everything that we can about our current operations and our current reality,” he said.

When Donahue came into the district as its superintendent in 2017, the system’s previous strategic plan was wrapping up, having met its goals in student achievement, improved facility operations, better campus climate and incorporation of technology into learning.

The new strategic plan will highlight four to five general topics to address — such as academics, finances and personnel — and assign measurable goals to them.

“We’re looking to really have a strong, comprehensive assessment of what our current strengths are, what our current weaknesses are and to have a facilitator really guide us to strong, smart goals,” Donahue said.

That facilitator is Mark Dobias, school board association consultant. He recently finished up consulting Edwardsburg Public Schools on a similar project.

Dobias, a former superintendent, addressed the Buchanan School Board at its Monday evening meeting, asking them to identify the district’s strengths, opportunities for improvement, barriers to implementing a plan and vision for the near and far futures.

He then asked these same questions to staff, students, parents, administration, community members and other stakeholders participating in a series of group sessions. Donahue said he was happy with the input received.

People can still add their perspectives through a survey at surveymonkey.com/r/Buchanan2019SP or by calling Dobias directly at (269) 532-0543. This input phase lasts until Sunday, Dec. 8.

A few dozen people representing the different stakeholder groups of the district will then be chosen by administration for a day-long retreat in January. Participants will work together to determine the general goals the district should see in its strategic plan.

Once the strategic plan’s goals, and steps to get to them, are established, Dobias will work with administration to synthesize district information in areas such as academic achievement, finance, personnel, facilities, learning environment and culture.

Dobias said he will not only analyze Buchanan’s data but five reference districts and statewide information.

“One of the key things is ensuring that every employee knows how they fit into it, and that takes some work,” Dobias said.

Ultimately, Donahue said he hopes the plan will help Buchanan become more competitive with other area districts than it already is, thanks to student success, opportunities and culture.

He said a veteran school board will help see the plan through. Its president has been on the board for 20 years, and many members have been on for at least six years.

“I think they have a very knowledgeable perspective on the district’s strengths and weaknesses,” he said. “I think the meetings that we’ve had in the past few months, we’ve gotten some engagement from community members about better ways to communicate, better ways to provide information, so I think our board has been very responsive to that.”