Girard School Board to hold workshop session for new strategic plan

The Girard City School Board will be meeting on Wednesday for a special workshop session for a new strategic plan for the district.

Superintendent Bryan O'Hara tells 21 News the district hired Hudson, Ohio-based marketing agency The Impact Group to lead a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis session at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The goal of the session is to extract valuable information for the strategic planning process.

O'Hara told 21 News he chose to hire The Impact Group for the strategic plan after doing extensive research and seeing the reputation the agency had in matters like this.

The agency was hired for $33,500 paid for with the district's ESSER funds.

O'Hara provided 21 News with a copy of the overview for the project, which states the end goal is to implement the new strategic plan while aligning stakeholders with the district's mission and vision.

"We will develop responsible critical thinkers who will make productive contributions to the community as lifelong learners. We will accomplish this through rigorous and relevant academics integrated with real life discovery, awareness and application," the document reads.

Board members will break out into group sessions with Impact Group team members for various topics including the district's current standing and visions for its future.

Wednesday's meeting marks the first phase of the project with the second phase focusing on engagement with the community and key stakeholders through focus groups, online surveys and phone interviews and the third phase focusing on developing the district's goals and objectives.