It’s the last week of school and we’re measuring the distance to the finish line in terms of hours rather than days. Thank you for all you’ve done to teach, support and inspire our students. Because of you, they are closer to realizing our new mission statement: success in college, career and community leadership.

Such hard work should be rewarded. We’ve weathered some tough times during the state funding crisis, but through excellent stewardship and planning, we’re now able to look at a pay increase. Our recommendation for the 2013-14 budget is to include a 4% pay raise.

It’s been a year in which we’ve tackled some very big challenges. We completed a comprehensive response to the curriculum audit, implemented new budget processes and influenced the conversation in Austin – through our work with the Texas School Alliance -- concerning school finance and accountability.

Beginning the school year, we embarked on a new kind of strategic planning process – one that involved teachers, parents, students, and representatives of our entire community. We came together in a Singleness of Purpose to build a five-year plan that would continue to grow. Just a couple of weeks ago, our Board formally adopted this new Strategic Plan and now the work really begins.

Along with the Strategic Plan, we’ve introduced the Baldrige Model of Continuous Improvement – setting specific goals and measuring our progress along the way. As we’ve discussed we’re going to be guided by our values: student achievement, leadership development, stakeholder collaboration, respect for diversity, equity in access, perseverance and commitment, and, of course, continuous improvement.

This isn’t something we’re going to try – then, move on. This new approach to work is here to stay and we will hold ourselves accountable to this process. The Department of Program Efficiency, Effectiveness and Sustainability – also known as PE2S – will support us as we set goals, draw up action plans and implement the work.

One of the strategic objectives includes improved communications – and we’ve already been hard at work doing just that. Our DERC meetings have continued and we’ve opened the door to a dynamic conversation with students, through our Student Education Advisory Council.

Our first SEAC meeting was so successful we immediately scheduled a follow-up. Altogether, administrators spent a combined five hours intently listening to what students had to say --- and we learned they see far more and far more clearly than we sometimes realize.

After months of interviewing and evaluating products submitted by top vendors, we purchased and began implementing the new District-wide student information system, Focus. We put together Focus Leadership Teams at each campus to assist with training and full implementation in the schools next fall.

We’re also seeing a renewed energy in our relationships with our community partners – and not just through the Strategic Plan. Among our many corporate partners, Chase Bank and its CEO Todd Ritterbusch were instrumental in helping us open the Young Men’s Leadership Academy. From the non-profit ranks, Tarrant NET has led the way with their support of our elementary schools and the Read 2 Win project. These are just two of many examples of collaboration – and our plan is to multiply these relationships in the year ahead.

We’re also moving forward with our new way of recruiting, hiring and inducting new employees. Our intention is to become the District of choice in North Texas.

We’re packing every minute of this school year with work and forward progress. At a time when state accountability and funding are both rapidly changing, we’re keeping pace and focusing on doing what's right for kids. And, we’re finding ways to do it better.

Continuous improvement, we call it – a journey. I’m already looking forward to an even better year ahead with the best teachers, staff, students and community in the country.