RPSD Scorecard (updated December 2019)

Strategic Plan

One-Page Summary

With student success as the primary focus, the plan is organized into three focus areas:

1. Success Ready Students

2. High Quality Staff

3. Financial Responsibility

Each focus area includes a number of strategies to support improvement.

The Board of Education reviewed the District's Strategic Plan during a work session on Feb. 14, 2019.

You can review the latest scorecard and goal statements to see how the district is progressing in the identified focus areas.

• RPSD Scorecard

• Strategic Plan Goals - February 2019

• 2018 Peer Groups - KC Metro

• 2018 Peer Groups - Statewide

• Under a new partnership between the Raymore-Peculiar School District and Compass Health Network, two licensed therapists will provide therapy services at school to Medicaid-eligible students who qualify. The services may include screenings/evaluations, brief interventions, therapy and consultation services for mental health treatment. The District will provide space for the therapy sessions. Expanding mental health supports for students is an important action step in the District's Strategic Plan.

• The Raymore-Peculiar School Board on Dec. 20 took a big step to increase online course offerings for Ray-Pec High School students. The Board approved a memorandum of understanding with the Springfield School District to provide an increased number of high-quality courses through a program called Launch. Online courses provide benefits for students in a variety of ways: increased options for electives and accelerated courses, flexibility for home-bound and at-risk students, long-term suspension solutions, credit recovery programs, and alternatives for scheduling conflicts.

• The District added another section of second grade on Dec. 3 at Timber Creek Elementary School. The school year began with three second grade classes at the school, but enrollment continued to grow throughout the first semester. Ensuring appropriate class sizes and caseloads is a strategy under the Focus Area of High Quality Staff.

• The School Board on Nov. 15 approved adding a teaching position for the 2019-2020 school year for the introduction of an orchestra/strings program. The District plans to hire a certified teacher to begin to implement a strings program at the middle school with the potential to expand the program to the high school.

• Ray-Pec hosted its 2nd annual STEAM Expo on Nov. 13 in the Raymore-Peculiar High School dome gym. This event showcased students in the areas of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics. 

• In a special meeting on Nov. 8, the School Board discussed expansion of the Project Lead the Way program.

• For the fourth consecutive year, the Ray-Pec School District received the Meritorious Budget Award from the Association of School Business Officials International. The award recognized the District for its 2018-2019 submission. The finished product must present financial information, statistical data, and performance data in a clear, easy-to-read way that illustrates the District's short- and long-term strategies and provides transparency in the budgeting process. Communicating information about the District's finances is part of the Focus Area of Financial Responsibility.

• The School Board on Oct. 18 approved the audit of the District's finances for the year ended June 30, 2018. Brad Steele, CPA and partner from Westbrook & Co., P.C., presented a summary report. The District had a clean opinion on its financial statements, compliance with laws and regulations, and internal control over financial reporting. Steele complimented District staff on preparation for the audit and cooperativeness and recognized the Board's commitment to strong financial planning and management. Communication information about the District's finances is part of the Focus Area of Financial Responsibility.

• At its Oct. 11 work session, the Board learned more about recent efforts to incorporate social and emotional learning. The Board also heard about efforts to increase mental health supports for students. The Strategic Plan includes the expansion of mental health supports as an important action step under Success Ready Students.

• Raymore-Peculiar High School field biology students experienced the peak of the monarch migration. Working with Teacher Mike Roberts, they observed about 100 monarchs, and tagged and released 18 monarchs. Students also released three that were raised in the classroom. Increasing science opportunities and incorporating real-world, hands-on learning opportunities are both important parts of the District's Strategic Plan, under the focus area of Success Ready Students.

• After-school tutoring began on Sept. 19, 2018, for students in grades 6-12. Tutoring is one way the District provides our students with intervention and support to reduce achievement gaps, as outlined in the Strategic Plan.  Read more

• The School Board on Sept. 13, 2018, met in a work session to review progress and priorities of the Strategic Plan. A draft scorecard to monitor progress on action steps was reviewed.

• Juniors and Seniors in the Ray-Pec High School Botany course transplanted milkweed plants to the outdoor classroom just east of the pond. Incorporating real-world, hands-on learning opportunities is an important part of the District's Strategic Plan, under the focus area of Success Ready Students.

• Students in the English 3 and English 4 classes at Ray-Pec High School participated in a Motivation Panel on Sept. 11, 2018. Adults representing a variety of careers in the Kansas City area were invited to speak on panels geared toward specific student interests. Students could select which panel to attend. Panel participants talked about their career paths and the five soft skills taught throughout the year in English 3 and English 4.  The incorporation of hands-on learning opportunities and promotion of soft skill development are both focus areas in the District’s Strategic Plan.

• High school juniors and seniors had the opportunity to participate in the annual College and Career Fair on Sept. 11, 2018.

The School Board on Aug. 23, 2018, approved the 2018 tax levy rate at $5.3622. The 2018 rate includes an operating levy of $4.4265 and a debt service levy of $0.9357. The approval followed a public hearing.

The rate reflects a net increase of 45 cents over the 2017 rate due to voter approval of Prop R-P in April 2018. The increase is helping fund key elements in the Strategic Plan.

The Board of Education on Dec. 21, 2017, approved the new Strategic Plan, outlining a five-year road map to the future.

Work by District leaders to revise the Strategic Plan began during the summer of 2017. During the fall, the revision process was led by a group of community stakeholders that included parents, students, community and business leaders, retirees, Board of Education members, teachers, support staff, and administrators. A public forum and a community survey were used to prioritize potential strategies, and more than 750 stakeholders provided feedback.

The Strategic Planning Committee met on Nov. 28 to fine-tune the proposed strategies and actions steps for the updated five-year plan. The committee’s work, which began in September, had reached the stage for final review and editing. Working in small groups, the committee members reviewed each strategy for clarity. This was the opportunity for members to suggest revisions, deletions, and additions - to make the next Strategic Plan a user-friendly document that clearly states the areas in which the District plans to focus. Some of the suggested edits from the Nov. 28 meeting are being compiled into the proposed plan, which is expected to be presented to the School Board at its Dec. 14 work session.

The Strategic Planning Committee also reviewed the District’s current vision statement: Turning Today’s Learners into Tomorrow’s Leaders. Committee members considered other possible statements to replace the vision statement. Dr. Monsees thanked the committee members for their many hours of volunteered time to help guide the strategic planning process.

The Strategic Planning Committee met on Nov. 7 to review feedback from the community forum and a District-wide survey. Approximately 75 people attended the forum, and the District received 685 online survey responses. Consultants from the University of Kansas Public Management Center compiled the results into a report for the committee to review.

Laura Howard from KU guided the committee through the report, which showed the top priorities for each focus area, rankings for all other strategies, and additional suggestions from the community. Forum and survey respondents identified three of the same top four priorities for each of the focus areas. They are:

Success Ready Students

1. Expand STEAM opportunities for all students.

2. Expand mental health supports for students and staff.

3. Promote soft skill development.

High Quality Staff

1. Establish a market competitive salary and benefit plan.

2. Ensure appropriate class sizes and caseloads.

3. Support the ongoing pursuit of advanced degrees and job-related training.

Financial Responsibility

1. Maintain healthy operational fund balances.

2. Identify community partners to support schools and programs.

3. Invest additional resources in ongoing facility maintenance and upkeep.

To see the complete priority ranking results, as well as patron suggested priorities, you may review the report.

The committee spent most of the meeting reviewing the results and discussing which priorities should be included in the Strategic Plan. They also identified some of the suggestions as possible action steps for the plan.

The District would like your input as it revises its Strategic Plan. The Strategic Planning Committee is proposing a list of focus areas and some preliminary strategies about where the District should focus its energy and resources over the next five years.

 A public forum on Oct. 26 was the first step in gathering feedback. If you did not have the chance to attend the forum, you may still provide input on priorities for the District. 

Please take a few minutes to view the presentation below and complete the survey developed by the KU Public Management Center. We want to hear which strategies are most important to you and what we might have missed in the process so far. The survey will be available until noon Nov. 6, 2017. Your feedback and input is important to us! 

Note: The survey was closed on Nov. 6, 2017

To learn more about the Strategic Planning process, please view the presentation narrated by Superintendent Dr. Kari Monsees:

The Strategic Planning Committee on Oct. 18 identified and named three primary focus areas - Success Ready Students, High Quality Staff, and Financial Responsibility. 

In preparation for gathering community feedback, the committee further revised a list of preliminary strategies within each focus area. Beginning with a public forum on Oct. 26, the committee will seek feedback on its work to date. The committee is seeking the public's input to prioritize the strategies and identify other strategies that may have been overlooked.

Committee members were encouraged to share details about the public forum and to invite friends, neighbors, and associates to attend the event. A survey will also be available for people unable to participate in the forum.

On Sept. 19, the Strategic Planning Committee continued to review school district data and began to plan for ways to gather community feedback. This was the second meeting for the committee, which has been formed to help determine “What’s next for Ray-Pec?”

Laura Howard and Patty Gentrup from the University of Kansas Public Management Center guided the group in discussion about the public engagement portions of the process. The committee is developing a draft list of focus areas and strategies for the public to consider. Community members may suggest other ideas during the feedback process.

Mark your calendars for an October 26 public forum to learn more. The committee plans to share information about the planning process and initial ideas for focus areas and strategies. The forum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Ray-Pec High School. In addition to the forum, the committee also plans to use surveys to gather community feedback.

The Board of Education is scheduled to review the District's Strategic Plan during a work session on Jan. 19, 2017.

2016 Ray-Pec School District Goal Progress Scorecard
Goal Progress Scorecard measurement notes
2016 Peer Groups - statewide
2016 Peer Groups - KC Metro
Strategic Plan Executive Summary 2013-2017