Manatee schools shift into a higher gear with three-year strategic plan

Manatee Momentum is a common term heard within the School District of Manatee County.

The district's strategic plan is now titled Manatee Momentum and, after seven months of work and various workshops, has been approved through 2029. 

Associate Superintendent Kevin Chapman said it took a lot of surveying of the community, including parents, teachers and students.

“Manatee Momentum represents our shared focus on the whole child and the belief that, together, we will ensure every student is prepared to succeed and contribute meaningfully to their community and beyond,” Superintendent Laurie Breslin stated in the strategic plan. 

The purpose statement reads, “The School District of Manatee County, grounded in the portrait of a graduate, develops every student for life, learning, and leadership, and prepares them to succeed and contribute to their community.” 

The core values of adaptability, awareness, communication, critical thinking, integrity and resilience are listed under the portrait of a graduate, which “represents our commitment — beginning in early childhood and sustained through graduation and beyond — to develop every student’s academic, social, and life skills through the intentional partnership of our schools, families, and community.”

School Board Member Charlie Kennedy said he likes the format and ethos behind the strategic plan. 

“If we can increase growth in our graduation rate, literacy proficiencies and student outcomes, we’ll be a top five district in the state,” Kennedy said.

He appreciated that it is for a shorter time frame — three years instead of four. The four-year plan that just retired was called "Ready 2026."

“We’ve chosen to emphasize fewer metrics so the vision is more focused on the core of instruction, stable financials, and continued community and business partner collaborations,” Kennedy said.

Instead of including key performance indicators within the strategic plan, they will update those numbers annually.

“As we know, the world around us changes,” Breslin said. “Sometimes the rules that we play by in education shift slightly.”

There are four main priority areas: “Student Learning and Support,” “Employee Retention and Wellness,” “Community and Family Engagement,” and “Financial Stewardship and Long-term Sustainability.” 

“Through the priority areas, and incorporating the portrait of a graduate, our commitment is to focus on our students' success and ultimately the sustainability of the district,” Board Chair Cindy Spray said. “The mindset for me with this plan is to create a roadmap to Manatee Technical College, State College of Florida, New College and other universities.”

School Board Member Heather Felton said the discussion and process of approving the strategic plan was fruitful. She especially appreciates the "Employee Retention and Wellness” priority. She said it was previously listed as staff hiring back when she was a teacher, with no mention of wellness or retention. 

“I talk to teachers every day — whether they're teachers I taught with, teachers who find me on Facebook, teachers who spot me in the grocery store —about how they're doing in their work,” Felton said. “What things do they need, who can I connect them with? Every person who works for us as a district is our biggest asset.” 

“That's why that word wellness is added, that's an important word," Chapman said. “We're going to concentrate on that because our budgets are limited. We can only offer what we can offer, but there's so much that we can do in other ways that make people feel welcomed, valued and appreciated.”

To do that, a new wellness coordinator was hired and there will be a video series on wellness.

School Board Member Chad Choate said everyone involved did a good job of bringing stakeholders together and inquiring about what they wanted students to learn once they were graduated. That way, the stakeholders have any idea of how they can partner with the district.

Kennedy said the plan “originated with the people that make this district go” and the school board is there to give final approval. He said he is grateful for the hundreds of people who worked on the document and especially credits the graphic design team. 

Keaven Zheng, a senior at Lakewood Ranch High School, was one of the 35 students who were part of committee to work on the strategic plan. He said it is an important initiative the district is taking to strengthen relationships between the admin team and students.

"I am grateful that the new district leadership is experimenting new and more effective ways to implement student feedback and hope to see these collaborative approaches continue in the future," Zheng said.