Plymouth Schools Chief Outlines Ambitious Goals for Coming Year

Superintendent focuses on attendance, budget transparency, transportation, and diversity

PLYMOUTH, MA - September 9 - Plymouth Public Schools Superintendent Chris Campbell presented four ambitious goals for the 2024-25 school year at Monday's school committee meeting, targeting key areas to improve student outcomes and district operations.

The goals, aligned with the district's strategic plan, focus on reducing chronic absenteeism, enhancing budget transparency, optimizing transportation services, and strengthening diversity and inclusion practices.

"These goals are presented as a foundation for a broader vision," Campbell said. "While they focus on specific initiatives, they don't encompass every action that will be taken and every metric related to our strategic plan."

Addressing chronic absenteeism is a top priority. Over 16% of Plymouth students missed 10% or more of the school year in the past academic year. Campbell aims to reduce this by 5% through targeted interventions, data analysis, and community engagement.

"Our data from past academic year shows that over 16% of students in Plymouth missed 10% or more of the school year," Campbell explained. "This issue affects not only our academic performance but social emotional development and just overall well-being."

Proposed strategies include implementing monthly attendance reviews, developing individual attendance plans for at-risk students, and launching awareness campaigns.

The superintendent also plans to enhance community understanding of the school budget through comprehensive communication initiatives. This includes hosting quarterly budget forums, publishing regular financial reports, and partnering with local media outlets.

"We know that budget transparency is crucial to build trust and collaboration with our community," Campbell stated. "We really want to do this more and more, really strengthen our initiatives, information sessions, financial reports, educational campaigns, comparative analysis, digital media platforms."

Transportation services are another focus area, with a goal to reduce overall expenses while maintaining service quality. Campbell plans to conduct a comprehensive analysis of routes, evaluate vehicle options, and explore collaborations with providers.

"By the end of 24-25 school year, we'll analyze our transportation system with a variety of stakeholders with the goal of reducing our expenses, not in totality, but to try to reduce, you know, bring costs down, explore alternatives, enhance efficiency," he said.

The final goal centers on strengthening diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging practices across the district. Initiatives include reviewing curriculum for diverse representation, providing training on inclusive teaching practices, and conducting a comprehensive equity audit.

School committee members expressed support for the goals, with some requesting additional details on implementation and measurement. Committee Chair Michelle Badger praised the inclusion of measurable benchmarks, stating, "I really appreciate the measurables. I know you know that that's my thing."

Campbell emphasized that these goals represent ongoing commitments that will evolve over time. "This is the first year of planning, this is the first year of how we move this forward," he noted. "It's not just okay this year we're gonna do it and we're gonna check a box and move on, this is long term."