JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Dr. Nikolai Vitti is giving you a chance to speak your mind, to offer some advice on how you think Duval County schools can improve. After hosting a series of town hall meetings, he's getting an idea about what parents think is most important.
He said more than anything he's heard about, "the need to bring back the arts, and to bring back music."
He says art electives and magnet school transportation have been hot topics. With that in mind, he's formed a strategic plan with four main goals: making teachers great, engaging parents, making the best use of resources, and developing the whole child, not just grooming them for standardized tests.
"Somebody might look at it like it's just bunch of words, but it's not," said Vitti. "It's really our road map to go from good to great."
He said going from good to great includes making arts and music core classes, making them as important as reading and math. He said he's using parents' priorities to help shape the district and ultimately start to develop a budget.
"You make decisions on how you spend your money based on your values, what you feel is important," said Vitti.
The first public forum on the strategic plan was tonight at Fletcher High School. The next one is March 7 at Lee High School. The final meeting is March 12 at Andrew Jackson High School. All meetings begin at 6 p.m.
You can also take a survey on the
strategic plan online.
