Newark Schools Take Another Step Towards Local Control With ‘Strategic Plan’

NEWARK, NJ — Newark Public School officials took another step towards the return of local control when they unveiled a “three-year strategic plan” for the district last week.

During a public meeting at Science Park High School on Aug. 26, school officials revealed the plan which focuses on “improving district performance across four key priority areas”:

• Strengthening academics and students supports
• Ensuring great talent in every school and department across the district
• Engaging the community
• Providing efficient operations, sustainable budgets and skilled governance

“This strategic plan is the third giant step this month toward the return of local control,” Mayor Ras Baraka said. “Together with the recommendations of the Newark Education Success Board, it represents a milestone in planning conducted with input from parents, students and community leaders.”

According to school officials, five community partners were involved in the development of the plan: Ironbound Community Corporation, La Casa de Don Pedro, Newark Fairmont Promise Neighborhood & Urban League of Essex County, Strong Healthy Community Initiative and United Way of Essex & West Hudson.

Earlier in August, the Newark Education Success Board released a report that stated if all goes according to plan, Newark may regain full control of its public school district after 21 years of state oversight during the 2017-18 school year.

• See related article: Newark Schools May Regain Local Control By 2017

Newark’s schools have been under various degrees of state control since 1994, when New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) declared that widespread mismanagement and instructional inadequacies in the district were a “result of the Newark Board of Education’s failure to meet its governance responsibilities and the executive superintendent’s failure to lead and manage effectively.”

• See related article: Hundreds Rally for Local Control of Newark Public Schools

However, the district has been clawing its way back to local control, regaining power over three of the five areas required via the Quality Single Accountability System (QSAC), the NJDOE’s monitoring and evaluation system for public school districts.

• See related article: Newark School Officials Regain Personnel Control From State DOE

Now, with their new three-year plan, the district is one step closer to total local control, Newark school officials say.

“The next three years is a living document; it is one that we will be guided by, and it is one that we will re-visit and access at regular intervals,” said Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson, Chairperson of the Newark Board of Education. “It will serve as a reminder of our goals and benchmarks for developing the Newark Public Schools as a comprehensive student and community centered district.”

Read the full report online here.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain

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