FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 28, 2022

PBSD to Share Overview of Five-Year Strategic Plan for Feedback

PBSD Launch Video Will Provide Community Another Opportunity for Input & Collaboration as They Move to Implementation

Pine Bluff, AR: Pine Bluff School District (PBSD) staff and Community Advisory Committee members will come together in late October to create a special video recording, informing the community about the major elements of the district’s strategic plan, the top five strategies that the district will implement in the next five years, and ways for Pine Bluff businesses, organizations, and community members to provide input and collaborate. The strategic plan, developed over the last twelve months with broad community input, focuses on improving student outcomes by addressing critical areas of need in the district. The long awaited strategic plan will be a key indicator for the Arkansas State Board of Education to determine whether PBSD is ready and able to return to local authority after it completes the five year span of state control on June 30, 2024.

The plan includes five strategies that address expanding learning opportunities for students, creating safer environments, improving school facilities, increasing the number of excellent teachers and leaders, and building trust in the district. Each of the strategies will be implemented over the next five years. Community members can learn more about the vision, goals, strategies, and implementation plans when the recording is released on November 1, 2022. To view the recording, visit: pinebluffschools.org.

For additional information on the PBSD strategic planning process, please visit https://sites.google.com/view/pbsd-strategic-planning.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 1, 2022

Community Members and PBSD Choose 5 Strategies to Improve Schools

PBSD is Looking for Community Partners

Pine Bluff, AR: Pine Bluff School District (PBSD) and community members have identified five priority strategies to expand learning opportunities for students, create safer learning environments, improve school facilities, increase the number of excellent teachers and leaders, and build community trust in the district. Each of the strategies will be implemented over the next five years, starting this school year, as part of the PBSD strategic plan.

The strategies deemed most likely to make a positive impact at PBSD included:

1. Allies for Achievement - Expanding student opportunities and services by forming partnerships with community organizations

2. Soft Skills at School - Building students’ interpersonal skills for future success in college and the workforce

3. Grow-Your-Own Great Staff - Supporting new teacher to get their credentials so they are better prepared for the classroom

4. Elevate Educators - Retaining existing staff through reward and recognition programs and opportunities for leadership

5. Inform to Fix it Faster - Building a transparent system to understand and address concerns

The strategies were carefully selected by a community advisory committee based on research on best practices done by an outside agency and extensive input from the community. In addition to over 500 responses to a community survey, over 50 students, parents, teachers, higher education staff, PBSD staff, local business leaders, and other community members participated in focus groups to advise the community advisory committee on the selection and implementation of the strategies.

Beginning this September, each strategy will be further developed and monitored by a working group made up of community leaders, PBSD staff, and representatives of partner organizations. PBSD is currently seeking community partners who are interested in participating in the working groups or contributing to the success of the strategies. Please complete this form (https://forms.gle/bWXWfhbff57oVQWV9) by September 14, 2022 if you or someone you know is interested in partnering with PBSD.

For additional information on the PBSD strategic planning process, please visit https://sites.google.com/view/pbsd-strategic-planning.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2022

Pine Bluff Works to Define Priority Strategies

School District Engages Community Members in Focus Groups

Pine Bluff, AR: The Pine Bluff School District (PBSD) is recruiting community stakeholders to participate in focus group discussions to inform the development of its strategic plan. The focus groups will give community members from a wide range of backgrounds an opportunity to hear about and share their perspectives on several improvement strategies being explored. These strategies address the range of concerns and hopes shared by over 500 students, parents, teachers, school staff, and other community members in the January 2022 Community Input Survey. Strategies are based on research and address the Pine Bluff community’s desire to improve facilities, feel safer at school, increase the number of excellent teachers and leaders, engage the community more deeply, and improve opportunities for students to flourish and succeed. The focus groups are part of the district’s larger strategic planning process occurring throughout this school year. PBSD has been prioritizing the voices and perspectives of a wide range of community members in creating its plans and will use input from the focus groups to decide on three to five strategies to include in its strategic plan. Parents, PBSD staff, community members, and students who are interested in sharing their ideas and perspectives can sign up to participate in virtual small group conversations between May 10th–24th.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 1, 2022

PBSD Uncovers Top Issues that Matter in Pine Bluff

Community Survey results highlight key priorities and challenges

Pine Bluff, AR: The Pine Bluff School District (PBSD) recently asked for input from community members via a short survey to inform their planning for the future of education in the district. Over 500 stakeholders of the district responded.

The survey asked students, parents, staff members, and other community members to weigh in on what they value about PBSD and what they wish would change. Hearing from this wide range of people helps PBSD develop a responsive plan to provide the best possible services for students. PBSD’s goal is to create a hub of excellence and learning for the entire Pine Bluff community. This survey is the first opportunity of many in the strategic planning process for ALL stakeholders to have their voices, ideas, and experiences considered as the plan takes shape. The district will reach back out to the community for additional input in the spring.

PBSD leaders have analyzed the survey responses and found a variety of strong trends among the data. Many survey respondents mentioned that they are proud of PBSD’s caring staff, proud alumni, sense of community, strong athletic and musical programs, and rich history. However, many other survey respondents found it difficult to identify anything they were proud of in the district and cited multiple opportunities for improvement. Most frequently, respondents noted a desire to enhance facilities, increase safety in and around schools, improve school disciplinary practices, and increase the capacity of school and district leadership. Many respondents also noted that teachers need more resources and professional support to be successful. Respondents hope in five years Pine Bluff School District schools will be safe, successful, organized, improved, well-resourced, and set high expectations for students.

PBSD leaders, along with the Community Advisory Committee, will continue to review the collected data to shape the vision, goals, and values of the strategic plan. The information will help PBSD to begin to identify priorities and develop strategies to realize these aspirations. Interested community members should stay tuned to the PBSD Facebook page and district website for information on the next input opportunity in Spring 2022.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 11, 2022

PBSD Wants to Hear from You

The local school district launches a community input survey

Pine Bluff, AR: Now through February 1st, Pine Bluff School District is looking for input from community members about its future via a short survey: www.surveymonkey.com/r/PBSDHearsYou. 

The district has recently embarked on a yearlong comprehensive planning process to envision the future of education in Pine Bluff School District schools. This strategic planning process intentionally includes community members, both as trusted advisors and as the intended audience for the plan.

In the survey launched today, the district hopes to hear from a variety of community members: parents, students, teachers, neighbors, and partners. The survey asks community stakeholders to weigh in on what they value about PBSD and what they wish would change.  It asks about recent experiences and impressions of PBSD schools and hopes for the future.  While there will be more, this survey is the first opportunity in this process for ALL stakeholders to have their voices, ideas, and experience considered as the plan takes shape. The district hopes to hear from as many people as possible from the community. Take five minutes before February 1st to share your thoughts: www.surveymonkey.com/r/PBSDHearsYou

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 23, 2021

Pine Bluff Invests in an Innovative Vision for Student Success

School District Engages Community Leaders to Set Path Forward

Pine Bluff, AR: Pine Bluff School District (PBSD) just launched a strategic planning process with the goal to build and implement a long-term vision that could set in motion new opportunities for its schools and the greater community. “The overall goal of our work together is to create the optimal conditions for all students in Pine Bluff to be successful, both in school today, and in the future. We have an opportunity to capitalize on wide-spread community commitment to become the achieving district of choice for the entire Pine Bluff community,”  Warren explains.

This initiative comes on the heels of the Arkansas State Board of Education ordering the annexation of the Dollarway School District into the Pine Bluff School District effective July 1, 2021. At that time, the Pine Bluff School District officially grew from six to nine campuses.

“The strategic planning process will enable Pine Bluff School District to approach this unique moment of opportunity with bold vision, ambitious goals centered on the instructional core, engaged community partners, and a thorough, thoughtful plan of action,” states Pine Bluff School District Superintendent, Barbara Warren.

The strategic planning process will take place in four phases over the upcoming year: setting the direction and vision for the school district, determining specific strategies to move forward, garnering community-wide commitment, and setting in motion specific action steps to reach the goals.

To support this process, the district has convened a Community Advisory Committee of 20 diverse and representative local leaders, who will meet once a month for 12 months to advise and support district leadership on the design and implementation of the strategic plan.

The Committee’s work and the planning process overall will be spearheaded by Superintendent Warren and her team. Warren has chosen a team of facilitators from WestEd, a nonpartisan, nonprofit agency that has decades of experience partnering with school districts across the country on similar strategic planning efforts. These facilitators will help the Community Advisory Committee by structuring their conversations, informing the discussions with national research and analysis of the local context, and ensuring that the broader public is both engaged with and informed of the strategic planning process along the way.

Beyond the committee members, the Pine Bluff community-at-large will have multiple opportunities to provide input and feedback into the vision, priorities, goals, and action plans of the strategic plan. This input will be used to inform a final strategic plan which will be shared with the public. By this time next fall as a result of this project, Pine Bluff School District staff will be poised to implement and monitor a concrete plan of action to accelerate the district’s progress forward and ensure that all Pine Bluff students have what they need to succeed.

About Pine Bluff School District: Pine Bluff School District is headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and serves approximately 2,700 students.