After deciding to return to the building blocks, the Park City School District is laying its base foundation again.

The district decided a few months ago that it was time to revisit its mission, vision and values, and it did so with strategic planning meetings throughout October and the first weeks of November. The Park City Board of Education met with parents and community members during open meetings as well as staff from each school. Now, a strategic plan is coming to fruition.

The Board will vote on the finalized version at its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 21.

The plan, which had not been updated in seven years, began with defining the district’s core values as a community. Anne Peters, one of the Board members, was given the task of taking everyone’s comments and making them fit somewhere in the district’s plan.

“With every single comment, we’ll do something with it,” she said. “I don’t want the community to feel like, ‘Here we go again. I met with the Board and nothing came of my comment.’ We will, we promise. It may take a lot of time, but we have a lot of data to sort through, and we want to organize it and figure out the best action plan.”

Some of the motivation for the updated strategic plan came after the Board voted against putting a bond measure on the ballot for the recent election. Instead of moving forward without general support, it wanted to reassure the public that their voices are heard and opinions are taken into consideration before the Board makes decisions.

The Board also received feedback from teachers during the meetings and in a survey, and they expressed concerns about how things like truancies and homework will be handled in the future.

The Latino community was represented at a Spanish meeting, and their concerns mirrored English-speaking parents – they wanted more communication.

Peters said that several parents have expressed gratitude for the ability to discuss the plan with the Board.

“They are really happy to be able to collaborate and to be heard,” she said.

Meg Leaf is a parent in the district who attended strategic plan meetings. At the last one, she said that she felt the current Board members were listening to her and others’ concerns.

“They’re endeavoring to act upon what they are hearing,” she said. “After so much discussion that was open and honest like this, they’re going to be held to task.”

After the strategic plan is voted in by the Board, it will begin the RFP (Request for Proposal) process. The members will start a search for someone who will gather data and plan the next steps in order to begin building the district’s master plan. Master planning will take place in January.