The Troup County School Board voted to approve a strategic plan for the school system at Monday night’s meeting.

The plan was introduced during last week’s work session and is highlighted by four overall goals — student achievement, safety, stakeholder engagement and organizational efficiency.

“I think the real power from this is we use it, and everyone can rally behind it,” said board chair Kirk Hancock. “It’s a living document and we can adjust accordingly as time and results change. It’s a good source to get an idea of what the school system is working on.”

The strategic plan also includes targets for raising the system’s graduation rate, CCRPI scores and third grade reading.

The current district CCRPI score is 71.6, but the system aims to increase that to 76 within one year. Currently 47.9 percent of third grade students read on grade level and the goal is to raise that score to 49.2 percent within a year. The school system’s graduation rate improved to 77.9 percent this year, but the goal is to see it rise slightly to 78 percent next year, and 87 percent by the 2021-2022 school year.

Priorities for the school system this year include a culture focused on success, relevant and rigorous instruction and literacy (reading, writing, vocabulary).

The plan also lists strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

The strengths include the employees that work for the system, facilities, written curriculum and resources, professional development and academic coaches.

Weaknesses listed include test scores, literacy, graduation rates, support for student social/emotional health issues and achievement gaps among student subgroups.

“Literacy is not where we want it to be. It’s a huge focus in our county and our school system,” said Superintendent Cole Pugh last week. “Even though our graduation rate is improving, it is not where we want it to be.”

The entire strategic plan can be viewed on www.lagrangenews.com.