FREEPORT — The Regional School Unit 5 Board of Directors is working to create a strategic plan with measurable goals for academics, innovation and finances.

The purpose is to provide effective, sustainable schools that will give the children of Durham, Freeport and Pownal the knowledge and skills to succeed as productive citizens, workers and leaders in the 21st century, school officials said.

Using grant money, the board is working in cooperation with the Great Schools Partnership at the Sen. George J. Mitchell Scholarship Research Institute, which is supported by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Co-executive directors Duke Albanese, the former Maine commissioner of education under Gov. Angus King, and David Ruff, an educational reformer and a graduate of Freeport high school, will lead the strategic planning project.

The work will begin at a community forum from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, in the Freeport Performing Arts Center. 

“This is an opportunity for the community to contribute to this
discussion,” Superintendent Shannon Welsh said.
“The information received will guide our strategic areas of
focus and our allocation of resources in the upcoming years.”

Angus King will open the evening with a presentation on learning needs for the 21st century. Albanese and Ruff, co-executive directors of the Great Schools Partnership, will provide benchmarks to help guide decision-making.

Following the presentation, there will be group discussions to respond to the presentation, to identify characteristics of a prepared graduate at elementary, middle school and high school levels, and to set high-level, three-year targets in each of the goal areas.

The information will be compiled and presented to the Board of Directors in early October. The board will use the information to create targets for student performance, annual indicators that measure progress in achieving goals, and a comprehensive three-year prekindergarten to 12th grade strategic plan.

At the end of October, a second community forum will be held to obtain feedback on the plan. The board will then finalize the plan.