Finding out what’s already right with Vicksburg schools and coming up with ideas to make them better are items high on Dr. Elizabeth Duran Swinford’s to-do list.

On the heels of three community forums the Vicksburg Warren School District superintendent held earlier this month to receive input from parents and community members, her monthly school leadership meeting had the same focus: the good things happening in the district, the opportunities that exist for improvement and the characteristics of an ideal school district.

“What we are hoping will come out of this is a strategic plan that will drive everything we do,” Swinford told the group of about 25 meeting Wednesday at the district office on Mission 66. They included school principals; heads of finance, transportation, security and other departments; and special education and instructional support staff.

After collecting their ideas, Swinford asked them to canvass teachers, assistants and all staff members, collect their responses and turn them in to her by Dec. 3.

The superintendent hopes to have a strategic plan developed, approved and in force by July 1.

“We need to do it now, as soon as possible, and it’s a lengthy process,” she said.

Suggestions gleaned from the community meetings included math and reading intervention, more funds for classroom supplies and more technology, including “Smart boards” and laptop computers for students.

The district has an existing strategic plan, but it was adopted in 1997. “It’s just a document we have out there, sitting,” Swinford said.

The superintendent, as others have before her, meets monthly with administration and leadership to pass along information from school board meetings, develop procedures, discuss policies and share ideas.

Wednesday’s discussions also involved improving the reading abilities of students. Swinford handed out data collected from the most recent round of state testing in April which shows 21 percent of students in the district scoring in the Minimal category on tests of reading or English skills. Another 39 percent scored Basic, 35 percent Proficient and 5 percent Advanced.

“Obviously, we want to increase the number of Advanced and decrease the number of Minimal,” she said, as well as move Basic readers to Proficient and beyond. “Reading has to be one of the things we pay the most attention to. If the kids can’t read, they can’t do science, social studies or even math.”

Working in groups with the same facilitators who led community groups, administrators shared methods used at their schools, including a focus on vocabulary, staff development and the use of videotaped lessons for students assigned to in-school suspension.

Other topics discussed Wednesday included suggestions for raising the district’s public profile; the need to review and change, if necessary, the professional dress code for employees as well as the elementary school supply lists; the district’s new bullying policy recently adopted by the board; proposals for upcoming teacher work days; and policies with regard to test instructions and school visits from the Department of Human Services.

The new bullying policy, adopted Nov. 11, requires adults who work in the schools to report instances of bullying or face disciplinary action.