Waterford ? The Board of Education is considering contracting with LEARN Regional Educational Service Center to create a new multi-year strategic plan for Waterford Public Schools.

Strategic plans identify strategies to achieve board-set goals, set district priorities and include proposals for policy changes to help districts achieve goals, and may include reworking mission statements, according to LEARN Director of Development Doreen Marvin. She said the plans also include methods of determining whether a district is achieving its goals.

Materials passed out during a presentation by LEARN at the board's meeting Thursday state a price tag of $7,600 to create the plan.

Board member Jody Nazarchyk said recent completion of a 10-year school construction project created a good opportunity to shift the district's focus toward creating a new strategic plan, which would focus on operations of the district as opposed to capital projects. The district's last plan was for 2001 through 2006.

"I'm just so happy we're doing this again," said Nazarchyk, adding later that developing a new plan would allow the district to "get back" to the students.

LEARN has in the past developed strategic plans for districts including Lyme-Old Lyme, Colchester, Norwich, Fishers Island, Ledyard, Groton and East Haddam, according to a power point presentation LEARN gave at the meeting.

Board member Gregory A. Benoit questioned why the district had only solicited planning services from one vendor thus far.

Superintendent Jerome Belair said he thought LEARN was the best candidate based on conversations with other area school districts and said he believed the organization offered competitive pricing.

Nazarchyk, who noted that she had participated in creating past strategic plans for the district, said past efforts had been much more costly than the price LEARN has proposed.

The proposed timeline for planning is July 2015 through March or April of 2016. The planning process involves forming committees of what Belair described as stakeholders in the district, which LEARN Executive Director Dr. Eileen Howley said could include students, teachers, parents, members of the Chamber of Commerce and others deemed to have stake in the school system.

Marvin recommends creating a plan that encompasses two to three years, but said some aspects may be applicable up to five years out from the plan's initiation.

t.townsend@theday.com

Twitter: @ConnecticuTess