INITIAL STEPS

1.       Each school should assemble an energetic, dedicated planning team.  This group of people will be responsible for leading and coordinating the entire planning process and meeting all official dealines.  The success of the planning process will depend in large part on their work.  In putting this team together, a few basic guidelines:	Resources
Include teachers, teacher union representatives, parents, and school partners, and people with specific knowledge and capacity, such as budget/finance. To broaden “buy in” from the faculty and help develop trust in the planning process, members should be selected to represent a broad range of interests, experience, and roles.  The principal can appoint some members, but should not appoint all. Each school undergoing the planning process in a given district should include a point person from the central office on the planning team to help inform and coordinate activity taking place at the district level (e.g., contract negotiations, transportation adjustments, etc.). Develop a schedule of regular meetings up front and be sure to make the meetings at convenient times and locations.  Coordinate the work of the ELT planning team with the key school committees, including the leadership team and School Advisory Council, as well as with district goals and priorities through continuous communication and joint planning. NOTE:  District personnel need to be actively involved in the planning process, not only to take care of logistical challenges, but to align the ELT redesign process of individual schools with district goals and priorities.  In larger districts, where many players are involved in the daily operations and educational development of the schools, it is valuable to convene a district management team of curriculum and operations supervisors to monitor the redesign process of the schools.  (In smaller districts, this district management team may not be possible or necessary.)  This team may also require assistance from a facilitator to administer the workload (see Step #2).	Planning Team Agenda Action Steps Timeline Offical state DOE timetable District planning team task list
2.      Assign one person on planning team to serve as facilitator to manage workload.  When possible, contract with an independent facilitator or consultant to help manage the redesign process for two key reasons:
Teachers, principals and other administrators are usually too busy to devote the significant number of hours it takes to manage this process. This part-time individual can help enormously ease the work burden on the planning team. It is usually valuable to have an individual without a particular point of view leading discussions and helping diverse groups come to consensus decisions.	Job description for facilitator
3.     Go public early.  Be very open about the exploratory nature of the planning process, the decision making process, and the way that parents and the public will be kept informed along the way. Informing key stakeholders (e.g., school committee) and the entire school community helps to minimize feelings of exclusion or having individuals or groups “react to the unknown.”  (See “Building School and Community Support”)	Communications plan