PLANO ISD
ACADEMY VISIONING COMMITTEE MEETING
MAY 24, 2010
Meeting began at 7:03 p.m.
Welcome
Board President Lloyd “Skip” Jenkins welcomed and thanked everyone for taking time to
serve on the Academy Visioning Committee. President Jenkins stated that Public
Education in Texas is about how and where environments were created for students and
giving them and their parents more choices. He said that the secret is engaging children
and that this endeavor is an opportunity to change public education in Plano ISD to keep
up with the pace the world is changing.
Introductions
Deputy Superintendent Danny Modisette listed the cross section represented in the room
and introduced staff resources that the visioning committee will have access to
throughout the process: Karla Oliver, executive director for government and community
relations; Jim Hirsch, associate superintendent for academic and technology services;
Richard Matkin, associate superintendent for business services; and Bruce Larson,
director of new construction. SHW Group consultants in attendance were Trey Laird,
and Konrad Judd. Roz Keck from Cambridge Strategic Services was introduced as the
group facilitator.
Ms. Keck asked everyone to introduce themselves and asked various committee members
to share the latest thing they learned with technology. After introductions were made,
Ms. Keck asked that everyone view each other as visioning committee members with
equal voices regardless of titles or positions held.
Role of Committee Members
The Academy Visioning Committee has been created by the Plano ISD Board of Trustees
to study and advise the feasibility of creating a Grade 9-12 option for students that offers
choices for programs not currently available in the comprehensive high schools and
senior high schools.
In discussing the role of committee members, Ms. Keck asked for a commitment to
attend every meeting possible as plans and decisions will be made throughout the
process. The committee’s role is not to make the decision, but to make a
recommendation to the superintendent who will take the committee’s recommendation to
the Board of Trustees for review. The committee will come up with an initial plan,
holding an education summit for the broader community to provide input. The
committee will continue meeting to consider and discuss community input. Ms. Keck
asked that committee members be of good will, come with an open mind, be willing to
negotiate and listen/consider what others want to say and be ready to share their best
thinking. Members will work collaboratively with the group, sometimes engaging in
smaller group work. Staff resources are available to help guide the process and answer
questions.
Parameters
Ms. Keck explained that there are established, approved parameters the committee will be
working within. The Plano ISD vision statement, portrait of a graduate and mission
statement were reviewed and discussed. All of these statements are available on the
PISD Web site at http://www.pisd.edu/about.us/mission.goals/index.shtml.
Plano ISD wanted to involve a broad group to study and review the feasibility of creating
1) a program that will serve grades 9-12, and 2) a program that will provide for college
and career-ready students.
Schedule of Meetings
A detailed meeting schedule and proposed timeline is available on the committee Web
site.
Technology Tools
Jim Hirsch demonstrated the wiki site created to support the committee’s collaborative
efforts in a digital format. The site has various features including meeting agendas and
notes, an interactive calendar of events and background reference resources. Members
can choose to add information via discussion threads located on each page as well as a
page dedicated for group posting of content. Members will receive an e-mail invitation
with instructions on how to join the “community” on May 25. In addition, a public Web
site will be maintained at academy.pisd.edu to ensure the public has access to committee
agendas, notes and work product.
Mr. Hirsch explained that wireless internet access would be available at subsequent
meetings if committee members want to bring laptops. One computer per table will be
provided for committee members to access.
Homework
Ms. Keck assigned the following homework to be completed before the first committee
meeting on September 1.
1. Accept e-mail invitation to “community” – invitation will be sent Tuesday, May
25;
2. Read at least one of the articles in the 21st Century Learning Resources;
3. Familiarize yourself with at least one school that has an existing magnet or
academy program. (This is not a proposal but a way to get committee members
thinking about the future of Plano ISD);
4. Familiarize yourself with Achieve Texas;
5. Familiarize yourself with Career Academy National Standards of Practice; and
6. Between now and September, begin collaborating through posts.
Committee Questions
 Would it be possible to visit Frisco school? This can be planned for a smaller
representative group of the committee.
 Workload of the committee? Ms. Keck explained that a group may be asked to
gather outside of meetings to finish discussions, articles may be assigned for
homework and posts should be read and responded to accordingly.
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How will we capture student feedback? A student panel will be brought in for
feedback on various occasions as needed.
Will there be 24/7 support for the Web site? The site is not manned 24/7, but
there is a “Help” option on the page.
What is the location of the proposed school? This is not known, with current
timeline and funding, it is not anticipated that this would be a new building.
Committee Feelings/Feedback
Ms. Keck asked the committee to share their initial feelings after the overview.
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Excited, kids need and deserve this.
Flow of information?
Is EDS building a possible location?
Will we have a student survey to see what they want as our customers?
“All student” vs. “academy” do not go together – we need to identify what it is
and how to maintain for any and all students.
If our focus is technology driven, we need to deliver on technology for our
students; lacking equipment in our classrooms.
Encouraged to see broad community representation.
Technology important but should not be driving force on all.
Students not inspired, need more technology.
The first meeting will be on Wednesday, September 1, 2010, with a light dinner served
from 5:30 – 6:00 pm and the meeting held from 6:00 – 8:30 pm.
Meeting adjourned at 8:53 p.m.