Petersburg City Public Schools working on 5 year strategic plan, using community feedback

PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) -- Petersburg City Public Schools officials are creating a five-year strategic plan, which Superintendent Yolonda Brown said will serve as a 'north star' for the school system.

The school system's last strategic plan went into effect back in 2022, and with major leadership changes since then, PCPS began creating a new plan earlier this month. The process has included focus groups, surveys and a community town hall that took place Monday, Oct. 20.

Brown said feedback from the community is key to planning the district's future.

"Some of the feedback we've heard is about, what type of student are we creating?" Brown said.

"They gave us ideas about what type of student do we want to graduate in Petersburg, what type of skills do we want them to have? What do we want our schools to look like? As far as performance over the next five years," Brown said.

Brown has been the district's superintendent since 2024.

PCPS has been under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Virginia Board of Education since 2016. In this, the system agreed to take corrective actions until every one of its schools was accredited. Since then, VDOE has changed its standards for accreditation, so Brown said the memorandum will be changing as well.

"That's going to look different, but it still boils down to how are schools performing and how are kids demonstrating what they know, understand, and [will] be able to do at the levels that is expected?” Brown said.

The strategic plan is separate from the memorandum and any corrective action plans previously in place. Brown said the new plan will guide and focus the work and investments the school system makes going forward. The plan is still being formed, but she said there are key items she wants to see in it.

"Teaching, learning and performance," Brown said. "Teaching and learning is our core business. It's the core business of anything in a school division or school district. And so that's what I want to see as superintendent.”

Another focus of the plan will be talent recruitment. The school system has a shortage of licensed teachers.

"How do you recruit and retain talent? Because all of that goes together with teaching, learning and performance for kids," Brown said.

Brown will present a draft of the plan to the district's board in November, with an official recommendation in December.