The focus of Monday’s special called Cleburne school board meeting was strategic planning. But the emphasis, as has been the case in recent days, was on swine flu.

Cleburne schools will be closed the remainder of this week and are scheduled to reopen next Monday. CISD followed the recommendation of Texas Education Agency and Department of State Health Services, which advised that any district with suspected swine flu cases should shut down.

The question many are asking, Cleburne superintendent Dr. Ronny Beard said, is whether the swine strain of flu is more dangerous than previously identified strains such as bird flu. That question remains to be answered by health officials.

“That’s a question I asked in a conference call Sunday,” Beard said. “As they gather information about a flu strain they had no information about before, they will monitor the data and see if [swine flu] proves to be more dangerous or no more contagious.

“When they determine that, they may change their recommendations, but they did not give me a timeline on that.”

Four Cleburne ISD students have tested positive for swine flu. Seven other cases involving students have been diagnosed as probable.

Cleburne ISD opted last week to close shop before knowing about the positive results.

“I’m pleased with what we did,” Beard said. “It was hard to do because you never want to close down the schools, especially during TAKS testing. But I understand the process. Had this been a deadly disease, we would have been singing the praises of the process right now instead of wondering why we did it.”

School will not extend to June, Beard said.

“The TEA said any missed days will be waived. We will end school at the normal time [May 28]. Graduation [May 29] has not changed.”

TAKS tests have been rescheduled next Wednesday through Friday. The missed days impact some extracurricular activities, Other activities are being rescheduled, Beard said.

“We’ve had some parents concerned about the band trip. A lot of money has been invested in that. That trip is scheduled May 16. As far as I know, all the trips in question have been rescheduled. Parents concerned about losing money don’t have to worry about that.”

On a related topic, the board approved a memorandum of understanding with Texas Department of State Health Services for use of Coleman Elementary School and Smith Middle School as emergency innoculation sites in the event of an epidemic. Adams, Irving, Marti and Gerard elementaries already serve in that capacity.

Trustees, and various guests, also heard a presentation from Cambridge Services on CISD’s strategic planning program.

School district leaders were encouraged to “engage your community, decide how to spend new money, determine which programs are right, communicate and create a shared vote, and ensure that construction and other expenditures are driven by learning goals.”

Preplanning, including staff development and student focus groups, will involve a committee of 25 to 30 persons selected from the public and school rosters. That committee will be involved on the ground level in determining the district’s needs.

Among the goals of the strategic plan, a Cambridge representative asserted, is to unite the community around the school district, a point that was not lost on Beard.

“That’s the purpose of this,” he said. “If you don’t involve the community in the development of the plan, it can sometimes lead to hurt feelings. This way, we allow the process to work. I’ve used this process several times, and it’s very effective. And if it does lead to a bond issue, that will come from the community. I think that’s important.”

Community members will undergo five days of training with Cambridge officials. The first three are expected to involve long hours.

“The next step is to identify people in the community who are willing to give their time to being part of the process,” Beard said. “It’s going to take some time to develop the plan. It’s going to take people who are willing to dedicate the time. I suspect we’ll have a lot of people interested in that.”