The Ouray School’s Strategic Plan
by Tim Finkbeiner, Elementary School Principal and Deputy Superintendent of Ouray SchoolsSep 23, 2008 | 30 views | 0 | 0 | | BOARD BULLETIN

The concept of strategic planning has been utilized in the corporate and business world for decades. It has only been in the last 15 years that school districts around the country have begun implementing strategic plans to improve education. The Ouray School District has formulated its first strategic plan to guide the board, administration, teachers, staff, and the community for the next five academic calendar years, through June 2013.

The overarching goal is that: By June 2013 the Ouray School will be recognized as a top 10 percent school on the CSAP test while educating the complete child.

We believe that this goal and the accompanying supporting goals are challenging but realistic and achievable. Success will require a dedicated effort by the entire district and community. As described in previous Bulletins, funds from passage of the mil levy override on this November’s ballot will be used to support important programs that would not otherwise be funded. Many of these programs will require extra funds because their normal funding will be required to support unfunded mandates by the state of Colorado that by law must be implemented.

The plan is being used to establish a common basis and direction for the school and the community to achieve our full set of goals. It is used to set budgets, establish curricula, evaluate the compatibility of potential new hires, hold the district accountable, and to communicate with the community progress towards our mission statement.

The plan was formulated using a process that involved planning teams consisting of district teachers, staff, administration, the board, and the community. This process created:

* a common vision for the future of the school;

* a mission statement to provide a concise yet comprehensive way to communicate articulation of our vision;

* goals, the end points to achieve during the planning period; and

* approximately 100 programs that we will implement to achieve the goals.

The vision and mission statement provide the framework for the plan; the goals and programs constitute the plan itself.

The plan is structured in three major areas, each of equal importance:

* excellence in education fundamentals,

* excellence in education enhancements, and

* excellence in education enablers.

For each of these main areas, the planning teams drafted top-level goals for the school and from these, developed the lower level goals necessary to achieve them. Each goal has a benchmark by which progress and success can be measured.

Once direction was established by the goal setting, the planning teams then defined the individual programs necessary to achieve the goals – how to reach success. Each program incorporates a year-by-year action plan which includes estimated costs by year and the individual responsible for the program.

Progress for each major area will be reviewed on a rotating basis by the board at monthly meetings. Adjustments will be made on an annual basis to reflect the current environment and progress, which will be used to extend the plan for an additional year.

The plan is available for viewing at the school’s website, http://ouray.k12.co.us (click on the District and then the Strategic Plan tabs), at the school office, and at the Ouray Public Library.

Written by Tim Finkbeiner and posted by Erin Eddy

August 22, 2008
It’s turning out that, for the local economy, 2008 may be turning out to be “one of those years,” reminiscent perhaps of the fire and drought-hampered down year 2002.

We just got back the first important indicators for the all-important summer season. While not disastrous, they are a bit gloomy, about what one might expect in the current climate of high gas prices and a housing crunch.

The City of Ouray just received back its sales taxes from Denver, those collected in June when tourism time was kicking in. The tax number was $81,500, down about 7% from the same period in 2007, though nearly identical to the June 2006 collections.

For the first eight months of 2008, overall sales tax collections remain down by about 1.5%, an amount that translates to a measly $7,500 downturn in tax receipts to the city.

The hotel numbers echoed the sales tax, down from 2007 (52% occupancy rate vs. 54%), and on par with 2006. (And with an extra buck on the lodging tax, those receipts are running almost 40% over last year).

Likewise, admissions to the Hot Springs Pool were off 6%, but in line with 2006.

Glass half-full-type people might say that in the current economy, Ouray seems to be holding its own, that single-digit declines are tolerable.

They might purport that we’re still attracting about the same number of tourists, but casual observation indicates that the $4 gasoline means they’re coming from closer places, such as Grand Junction and the Front Range. Presumably, many people are choosing to vacation here instead of the big trips to Europe or Disney World.

But the pessimists might look at the June numbers and wonder if we’re just waiting for the other shoe to fall. Could the current slow-down just be the tip of an iceberg of serious financial difficulties?

Economic crystal balls are notoriously opaque, so we’ll just have to see how it plays out.

Regardless of how the monthly tourism-driven numbers continue to roll in, Ouray enjoyed a jolt of news this week that relates to its economy. And it can only be considered positive.

That, of course, is the purchase of the relatively new water bottling facility that never got over the hump for its originally intended purpose, when 80 or so jobs were first promised.

Now, after years of the seeing the plant/warehouse facility wallow in a morass of legal and financial condition, it is owned free and clear by two local young and energetic entrepreneurs, Ben Lockard and Eli Doose.

With the water bottling equipment headed to Arkansas, that business plan has been thankfully put to rest. Instead, Lockard and Doose intend to use the facility to help create “a new economy” for Ouray, one where small enterprises manufacture specialty products.

We’ll eagerly watch to see how this mixed-use light industry develops under the guidance of Lockard and Doose’s High Country Development Group.

So for now, while the local economy’s not great, this fiscal sky is definitely not falling. And on the horizon, we see some great promise to finally realize the potential of the big facility in north Ouray.

— David Mullings