WESTFALL, PA — Superintendent and newly minted doctor of education, Dr. John Bell, presented his strategic plan for the Delaware Valley (DV) School District on November 19.

In past, the state education department had all districts prepare cyclical six-year plans. The state no longer requires them, but, “We still need a plan,” Bell said as he began his PowerPoint presentation.

The plan is comprehensive, dealing with everything from setting base-score testing goals, to the wording of the district’s mission statement, which is read aloud at every board meeting.

Bell’s plan includes reintroducing DV into the top 25 of Pennsylvania’s 500 public high schools and the top 1,000 of some 20,000 nationally, by 2020.

But goal planning has to start at the base, which he said requires faculty and staff meetings to consider goals and set timelines for completion.

Recruiting and maintaining high-quality teachers will be a challenge, he said. Statistics show fewer college grads applying for teaching programs. “We’re facing a new teacher shortage.”

Maintaining high attendance rates is a goal that can be enhanced by maintaining and improving co-curricular activities that both attract and instruct students.

Board member John Wroblewski recommended an online co-curricular, which would be attractive for kids who need to go home early to care for younger siblings

“That’s great. I like that,” Bell replied.

Parents need to be motivated to take an ongoing interest in their students’ progress.

“When you see parent involvement, you see student improvement,” board member Jack O’Leary said.

DV needs to make schedules that will facilitate parent participation in parent-teacher conferences, one parent said.

Busing schedules and routes need to be determined so it is not easier to drive children to school than to drive them to the bus stop, another parent said.

The district needs to keep to its facilities goals, share those facilities with the community and share in the communities’ economic efforts, he said.

Board President Zachary Pearce commended Bell for his presentation. “You weren’t required to do this, but it was a process you felt was needed. It’s commendable that you did it,” he said.

In other business the board, as most PA local governmental bodies have been doing lately, conducted a spirited conversation about the state budget impasse, centering largely on measures to eliminate property taxes.

Bell said the legislative estimates of funding to replace the tax are “off by billions.”

There was continuing skepticism about reform, as former Gov. Ed Rendell’s unfulfilled promise to fund education with gaming revenues was aired. “Slots are a shell game,” board member Jack Fisher said. “He promised a 50% reduction in property taxes in ’06. It never happened.”