State officials are looking to local school divisions to develop some world-class, in-the-field ideas to reform education. Following an application process, the state will award five school superintendents with $50,000 each for grants to craft innovative plans for their districts. Superintendents are being asked to “dream big”—and contemplate how they would run their schools with complete flexibility for two years.
One goal of the Innovation Planning Grants is to turn those schools into laboratories of cutting-edge approaches and best practices that could be duplicated elsewhere.
Delegate Tag Greason says the state is asking superintendents to plan as if they had a blank sheet of paper—and design their educational environment with no constraints.
“We didn’t want to influence the planning and the thought process by saying, ‘Here are some restrictions you have to adhere to.’ But rather, ‘Let’s really brainstorm on what you might do if you had no restraints.’”
The final plans will need state clearance. Greason says officials are finalizing the details of the application process—and that ALL superintendents in Virginia can apply.
Greason described the new program during a meeting of the state Standards of Learning Innovation Committee in Richmond.
