This evening the Superintendent will highlight for the board and community a number of high level challenges and choices that the district will have to consider and address over the next two to three school years.

While the focus areas of the strategic plan have now been articulated, and near-term priority actions and projects have been defined in relation to those overall goals, understanding the resource, revenue, and potential financial challenges and choices we will face over the next 2-3 years is crucial. Those challenges and choices are critical to understanding the context in which we will be operating and staffing schools over the next few years, as well as forecasting as well as possible the constraints and variables that may impact our improvement efforts during that time frame.

Where our goals have become increasingly sharpened, the conditions in which we will be pursuing them are less clear and warrant an ongoing and open exploration. Those challenges, some of which will be outlined this evening include:

• Economic and enrollment fluctuation at the state and local level
• The pending need to renew or extend local revenue for our overall operation as a school district
• The challenge of recruiting educators in general, along with increasing the compensation that plays a priority role in that effort
• Forthcoming choices that may require us to consider and again discuss the trade-offs involved in maintaining all of our current schools and how that may soon limit the staffing and support levels we will be able to provide at those schools if the community’s preference is to sustain all current schools and programs