District’s focus to be clarified in statement By josh davidson Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN — The district’s future focus has been outlined in a statement adopted by the Board of Education. The board voted 9-0 to adopt revisions to its vision and mission statement at its June 24 meeting. The statement, reworked by the district’s Reconciliation Advisory Board, will keep the district on the same page and clarify its focus, said Jeff Simon, assistant principal at High School North. "For the most part, everyone is sure of what we want to do; this just makes sure we are on the same page," he said. "The statement will focus all district initiatives, which means that whenever district or school goals and objectives are proposed, they must relate to the mission statement," said board member Marjorie Cavalier. The Reconciliation Advisory Board was originally the board’s reconciliation committee. The reconciliation committee was formed in June 2002 after members of the teachers’ union staged a seven-day strike that resulted in 228 union members being jailed in December 2001. It was the second strike by the union in three years. The committee dissolved itself in March to become an advisory board to Superintendent of Schools David L. Witmer. The district’s vision is to provide an education that nurtures and challenges all of its students, according to the vision portion of the mission and vision statement. That effort will maximize students’ individual potential, making them responsible, productive and enthusiastic lifelong learners in the global multicultural society of the 21st century, the statement reads. The district will prepare each child for the future and encourage and foster an atmosphere that values excellence and mutual respect, according to the mission portion of the statement. Success will result from a sense of ownership by all partners in the education process, who are students, parents, staff and all community members, the statement reads. "I believe [the statement] will move the district forward because of the way it was developed and the key concepts that it includes," Cavalier said. "It started with a discussion at a meeting of the Reconciliation Advisory Board about what the Middletown school district should become. This group included all the stakeholders in the educational community." Those who helped create the revised statement included administrators, parents and teachers, according to Simon. "It wasn’t developed from one angle; it was developed from different inputs," he said. "It was done at meetings. We kept developing drafts until, eventually, we came up with something everybody could agree to." The Advisory Board will meet again in September, at which point each school will be expected to create its own statement, Simon said. "Each school is going to be required to make its own mission statement in line with the district’s policy," he said.