Page 2 - Coffee County Strategic Plan FY19-FY23

From the Superintendent

DR. MORRIS LEIS
Coffee County Board of Education
1311 South Peterson Ave., Douglas, GA 31533
912-384-2086

April 27, 2018

To the citizens of Coffee County and the staff of the Coffee County Schools,
Over the past nine months, our school system has been engaged in a formal planning initiative designed to
continue to transform our system into one that provides the highest quality educational experience possible
for all of our students. Our goal is to become a world-class school system focused on our core business
of teaching and learning. The Coffee County Board of Education adopted a resolution, in October 2017,
authorizing the superintendent and staff to develop a new five-year strategic plan.

Prior to this planning initiative, the school board, our staff, and I engaged in a series of activities to continue
AdvancED/SACS accreditation and to renew the school system charter with the Georgia Department of
Education. In March of 2014, a team from AdvancEd/SACS evaluated our school system, and we received
notification that our system was reaccredited for a five-year period, from 2014-2019. In the Fall of 2017, the
Coffee County School System began the process of renewing the system charter. After an on-site visit and
review by the Georgia Charter System Division, the State Board of Education granted a new five-year charter to
extend from 2018 through 2023. The Coffee County Schools will engage in its next AdvancED/SACS review in
February of 2019.

Guided by the Ford Next Generation Learning model, we began our planning process by holding a community
conversation with approximately 75 participants including business leaders, teachers, parents, students and
other stakeholders. The purpose was to ensure that we understood the vision our citizens have for their school
system now and in the future. We have held conversations with students at the high school and middle school
levels. We have engaged in conversations with business and industry, city and county elected officials, the
faith community, South Georgia State College and Wiregrass Georgia Technical College. We have also met with
the system’s parent and school advisory councils, the superintendent’s teacher advisory council, and other
individuals and groups to share our plan as it has evolved and to receive feedback.

A formal review process was established to examine the work of our strategic planning team and to make
recommendations for improvement. A crosswalk was conducted to ensure that the plan aligns to the
recommendations of the Georgia Vision Project, AdvancED Standards, Ford Next Generation Learning
Essential Practices and Charter System Performance Measures. Presentations were made to the Board of
Education, an executive committee which includes business and education partners, and to school system
staff. In this document we share the plan that has been developed. The plan contained here is the basis for
our continued work as a Georgia Charter System and the foundation for our continuous improvement efforts
leading to re-accreditation through AdvancED/SACS in February of 2019.

I wish to thank everyone involved in the strategic planning initiative for their work, their support, their vision,
and their constructive feedback which has resulted in a plan that we believe will transform our school system.

Superintendent
Coffee County School System

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