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Members of the Coffee County Schools Board of education have approved a new five-year plan for the school district for 2023-2028 in a 7-1 vote Monday, June 12.

Director of Schools Dr. Charles Lawson said during the meeting that the updated five-year-plan was discussed in detail during a board work session Thursday June 1.

“Some members of the board voiced the changes they wanted to see,” Lawson said. “I believe my impression was we were going to move forward with the written component of this plan as the five-year plan and that is why it was included in this action item, with an addendum or a separate document adopted to define goals that the board would like to see completed.”

Board member Thomas Ballard said that while he understood a five-year plan for the school district is a state requirement, he would rather the plan be something the school board could utilize to improve the district.

“I realize we can’t do it right away and we probably need to accept this, but I am not a big fan of just check box items…,” Ballard said.

Board Member Kathy Rose said she gave a lot of thought to the proposed plan following the work session and believes a goal-oriented document would be beneficial.

“I am probably one that beat up this plan, but I just called it what it is,” Rose said. “It is a requirement and it is one of those things that it is a frog, you swallow it and you move on.”

Rose said that she understood that other board members expressed a desire for the new plan to be goal oriented and a useful tool for board members.

“We want something that has some goals we can mark off and say we did that,” she said. “We want something that looks pretty that we can show parents and the community and say this is what we are going to do.”

Rose proposed board members taking on an active role in developing an update to the five-year plan approved during the meeting over the course of the next year.

“We want something we feel like we can put our fingers on and leave a legacy for Coffee County Schools,” Rose said.

Board member Jennifer Peacock Hodge asked that the planning process not be limited to select committee members from the board, but something each member could take an active part in.

Board member Freda K. Jones said she believes the district’s five-year plan is something that should incorporate the feedback of community stakeholders.

“We are going to have to start from the beginning,” she said. “Say a retreat where we have the stakeholders, the civic leaders, the parents, the administrators, the teachers, a composite of people from all over this county.”

Board Chairman Dr. Gary Nester said the consensus of the board seems to be that everyone would like to see some changes take place.

Ballard proposed an amendment to develop a “goal-oriented strategic plan to replace the current five-year plan within the next 12 months.”

The vote passed 7-1, with Jones voting against it and board member Robert Gilley absent.

Jones said immediately following the meeting that she was not comfortable with voting on a document to send to the state only to change it.