BELLE — The Maries County R-2 School District is preparing to streamline its long-range strategic improvement plan after receiving positive feedback from state education officials during a recent review.

During the June 30 meeting, Superintendent Dr. Lenice Basham said the district earned all possible points on its Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP), but was also advised by a Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) regional supervisor that the plan contains too many goals and objectives.

“So this is the end of the year, so all the data that the principals have given you is kind of reflected into this tracking tool,” Basham said. “We had a meeting with the regional supervisor for our area for DESE... we got all the possible points on our CSIP.”

While the district’s plan received full marks, Basham said state officials encouraged the district to simplify its priorities.

“When he came down to talk to me about it, he said we have way too many goals, we have way too many objectives,” Basham said. “They really want us to get down to two or three goals total.”

Although the formal CSIP will be simplified, Basham said the district still intends to monitor much of the same information internally.

“I will probably still track a lot of that stuff because I think it’s still good information. It just won’t be tracking it from the CSIP perspective,” she said.

As part of the update process, the district has begun seeking community input. Basham said surveys distributed directly to parents generated numerous responses, and approximately 15 people volunteered to serve on the committee that will help develop the next strategic plan.

“I think there’s probably 15 people who volunteered to serve on the committee, which surprised me,” Basham said. “We’ll gather those people in, and we’ll start figuring out what really... what is important.”

Basham said academics will remain a priority but wants community members to help determine what additional goals should be emphasized.

“For me, it’s academics. I feel like you have to have an academic goal, but I’m not sure we necessarily need to track my professional development or your professional development... because those are all things that are required by law,” she said.

She also said facilities and school safety should continue to play a role in the district’s planning process.

“I do think facilities still needs to be a goal,” Basham said. “I think it’s important for parents to know that we’re working on those things.”

The district plans to continue gathering community feedback before presenting a revised CSIP to the board later this summer. During the discussion, Basham also said she added a question to one public survey asking whether residents would support a future bond issue for new facilities, though she emphasized the district is currently focused on gathering public input rather than pursuing any specific proposal.