What’s At Stake: Illuminating The Voices of Community Stakeholders Engaged in District Strategic Planning

Over the last few decades, the saliency of district strategic planning has increased with state mandates and federal implications, coupled with school districts and individual schools autonomously electing to engage in the planning process. Since the perspectives of community members and parents have often been marginalized in strategic planning scholarship, it is important to investigate the experiences of community stakeholders who participated in strategic planning. Using a single case study design, this dissertation investigated the nature of engagement of strategic planning participants who were community stakeholders at an urban school district. This study examined primary and secondary sources and involved 19 interviewees: twelve community members who participated in the planning process, five Rosewood residents, and two district leaders. The findings show that Rosewood Public School’s strategic planning was managed in such a way that community stakeholders were excluded from meaningful engagement. Though strategic planning participants initially felt welcomed, they were also relegated to specific sessions, given limited roles, and excluded from important decision-making opportunities. The findings make it clear that without adequate accountability or the willingness of district leaders to consistently include community perspectives, this urban school district's strategic planning process reinscribed dominant cultural practices and structures of power.