Marcia Abbott Weeks

This strategic plan outlines the Cape Elizabeth School Board's goals for 2025-2026, focusing on seven key areas. These include creating a fiscally responsible budget to support high-quality education, monitoring and modifying policies and instructional programs with an equity lens, attracting and retaining staff, and enhancing district communication. Additionally, the plan prioritizes maintaining a long-term fiscally responsible plan for school building updates, advancing the efficacy of the Board, and fostering a supportive and inclusive school and community culture across academics, extracurriculars, athletics, and social-emotional programming.

The Cape Elizabeth School Department's Pathways Strategic Plan (2024-2027) is designed to cultivate curiosity, expand opportunity, and foster community through relevant and challenging educational experiences. The plan is guided by core values including utilizing multiple learning pathways, prioritizing student voice, developing student skills and agency, and integrating community partnerships. Strategic goals encompass raising community awareness, building staff capacity, establishing community roundtables, and continuously evaluating and improving outcomes. Specific objectives target strengthening existing programs like Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) at the high school, expanding Project Based Learning (PBL) at the middle school, and creating career-connected education opportunities across all levels to prepare students for postsecondary success.

The strategic plan goals for Cape Elizabeth School Department focus on providing a supportive learning environment that values and promotes physical, social, and emotional well-being. It aims to develop personally responsible, aware, empathetic, and engaged local and global citizens. The plan also emphasizes valuing, promoting, and celebrating multiple pathways and definitions of success, ensuring safe and effective facilities, and prioritizing environmental responsibility, including stewardship and sustainability.

The Policy Committee meeting addressed several key items, including a review of Policy JJI concerning athletic philosophy and beliefs, with a recommendation to include JJI-R in the Policy Manual for guidance on extracurricular activities. Policy KCD regarding public gifts and donations was discussed, focusing on adjusting the gift value requiring School Board approval and ensuring public notice for donations needing reciprocal action. Additional language was recommended for Policy IJOC on school volunteers to align with current practices, particularly concerning the capturing of photos and videos. The committee also reviewed Policy BCA on Board Ethics, recommending changes for clarity, and Policies BEC and FFAA, making clarifications and minor adjustments, respectively. Furthermore, Principal Springer proposed changes to graduation requirements starting with the Class of 2029, including an increase in Social Studies credits and the addition of World Language II.

This special business meeting focused on the strategic plan goals, including health and well-being, global competency, multiple pathways to success, safe and effective facilities, and environmental responsibility. Key agenda items included an update on the "Middle Ground" design draft site plan, consideration of a $42 million school bond proposal, a discussion of returning a 1930s building to the town upon construction of a new middle school, and adjournment.