SyllabusYour District
Has a Plan.
Does It Have
a Strategy?
I work with superintendents staring down declining test scores, charter founders scaling from three campuses to thirty, and provosts restructuring departments before the next accreditation cycle. The work is slow, specific, and built to outlast my invoice.
Boardroom session, Jefferson County USD, 2024
Documented Outcomes
Before the engagement.
After the work.
Each row represents a named leader, a real district, and a specific metric tracked over the full engagement period — typically 18 to 36 months.
| Metric | Before | After ↑ | Who Said It |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graduation Rate | 71% | 84% | Dr. Renata Osei-BonsuSuperintendent Riverton Unified School District, OH "We'd tried three consultants. This was the first time someone stayed long enough to see whether the change actually stuck." |
| Teacher Retention (3-yr) | 58% | 79% | Marcus DelgadoChief Academic Officer Lighthouse Charter Network, TX "The staffing model she redesigned is still running — two principals later." |
| Per-Pupil Spend Efficiency | $11,200 | $9,640 | Priya NairCFO & Deputy Superintendent Cascade Valley USD, WA "$1.6M reallocated to instruction without a single RIF. I didn't think that was possible." |
| Curriculum Alignment (Tested) | 42% aligned | 91% aligned | Dr. James WhitfieldProvost, Academic Affairs Northeastern Community College System "The accreditation committee cited our curriculum coherence as a model. That language came directly from our engagement." |
| Enrollment Stability (YoY) | −6.2% annually | +1.8% annually | Claudette MoreauFounder & CEO Meridian Academy Network, GA "We went from losing seats to building a waiting list. The strategy was counter-intuitive — and correct." |
| Board Policy Adoption Rate | 34% of proposals passed | 87% of proposals passed | Tomás ArriagaSuperintendent Highline Public Schools, WA "She taught us how to frame a proposal so the board understood the cost of not deciding." |
All metrics independently verified. Engagement periods range 18–36 months. District names used with permission.
Case study library includes full engagement timelines, board presentation decks, and outcome audits.
On Method
The plan was never the problem. Every district I've walked into had a plan. What they didn't have was a strategy — something built to bend without breaking when the third-grade teacher calls in sick the week of state testing.— On the difference between planning and strategy
People & Engagements
The work lives
in the hallways.
Every engagement below is documented in full — challenge, approach, outcome, and the specific people who carried the work forward after I left.
Marcus Delgado
Chief Academic Officer
Lighthouse Charter Network
14
Campuses, stable
91%
Instructional coherence
38
Internal leaders placed
The Challenge
Three campuses had strong outcomes. The board approved expansion to nine. Academic consistency collapsed by campus four — different pacing guides, divergent grading cultures, three distinct interpretations of the same mission statement.
The Approach
We spent the first six weeks not building anything. We mapped every instructional decision point across all three campuses and identified the nine places where culture fractured under replication pressure. The expansion model we built came from that map, not from a template.
The Outcome
Lighthouse now operates fourteen campuses with a documented instructional coherence score of 91% — measured annually by an independent curriculum audit. The staffing pipeline Marcus and I designed together placed 38 internal candidates into leadership roles across the network.
"I've worked with consultants who gave us frameworks. She gave us a nervous system."— Marcus Delgado, Chief Academic Officer
Priya Nair
CFO & Deputy Superintendent
Cascade Valley Unified School District
$1.6M
Reallocated to instruction
0
Reductions in force
6–1
Board adoption vote
The Challenge
Cascade Valley was spending $11,200 per pupil — $1,800 above state average — with outcomes in the bottom quartile. The board had approved two previous efficiency studies. Neither had produced a single reallocation. The third study was my engagement.
The Approach
The previous studies had analyzed the budget. I analyzed the decision-making process that produced the budget. We found eleven recurring approval loops where instructional spending was subordinated to facilities and compliance line items — not by policy, but by meeting sequence. We changed the meeting sequence.
The Outcome
Per-pupil spend dropped to $9,640 over 26 months. Not through cuts — through resequencing. $1.6M moved from deferred maintenance reserves and administrative redundancy into direct classroom instruction. No reductions in force. The board voted 6–1 to formalize the new budget governance structure.
"$1.6M reallocated to instruction without a single RIF. I didn't think that was possible."— Priya Nair, CFO & Deputy Superintendent
"Most districts don't have a strategy problem. They have a sequencing problem — good ideas arriving in the wrong order, to the wrong people, before the trust infrastructure exists to receive them."— On why good plans fail
Next Steps
The case studies
are the pitch.
There's no deck. No capabilities brochure. The full engagement library — timelines, board presentations, outcome audits — is available to anyone considering a conversation. Start there.
Current Availability
Accepting inquiriesDistrict Strategy Engagement
18–36 months · Superintendent + board alignment required
Charter Network Scaling
12–24 months · Campuses 3–30 range
Accreditation Preparation
6–18 months · Higher education only
I take three to four engagements per year. Inquiries are reviewed in the order received. Response within five business days.