Livingston Schools Awarded $120,000 State Grant for Strategic Planning
LDOE Grant Aimed at Developing Sustained Improvement
LIVINGSTON, La. – Livingston Parish Public Schools will invest more than $120,000 into strategic planning for improving the district’s overall outcomes, thanks to funding from the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) through its Reimagine School Systems grant program.
The state program is aimed at districts that are interested in bold, systemic change to improve access to high-quality instruction for students and families.
The Reimagine School Systems program works with school leaders to create new high-quality educational opportunities through innovative and sustainable Reimagine School Actions that are aligned to school system strategies and to community needs.
“We are excited about taking advantage of these resources to further examine our system for new and bold ways to improve,” Superintendent Jody Purvis said.
Purvis said the district’s efforts will be guided by professionals from the School Leadership Center (SLC) of New Orleans who will review district action plans and gather input from all stakeholders – students, parents, teachers, staff, supervisors – to gain perspective on current plans and activities. From that research, the SLC team and the LPPS Strategic Steering Committee will develop a five-year focus to aid the district in continuous improvements.
Purvis noted that the district will take an intentional approach in identifying improvements that maximize growth, while being efficient.
He said the entire process should take about eight months to complete.
“This will be a major undertaking, somewhat akin to the LEAN Frog analysis we recently completed to look at our system’s salary structure and overall employment configuration. This effort will be geared more toward our instructional alignment and what changes we can make to advance classroom learning,” Purvis said.
“It’s important that we use resources available to us to make our district stronger and more responsive to our stakeholder communities,” he added.
LDOE Deputy Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Tuttleton said her department will provide funding and technical assistance through the grant.
“LDOE is committed to ensuring that successful Reimagine School Actions supported by this grant can continue to thrive over the long haul. School transformation initiatives are more sustainable when the school has a formal structure for preserving and adapting the school model to meet the needs of the local school community as long as it meets system-defined performance criteria,” she said.
Purvis said the district plans to share the results and recommendations with the community at large once the process is complete.