OXFORD — The 22-member Strategic Planning Committee for SAD 17 will meet this week to prepare for a public forum on mapping the future of the school district.

“To strategically plan for the next five to 10 years is a must,” committee Chairman Jared Cash of Norway said.

The forum is set for Dec. 4.

“The world has changed technologically faster than any time period before,” he said. “We need to do our taxpayers, and most importantly our the children of our eight-town community, the service of taking an open look at both our successes and weaknesses,” he said.

Duke Albanese, senior policy adviser at Great Schools Partnership and state education commissioner during Gov. Angus King’s term, is committee facilitator.

“The last districtwide strategic planning process was coordinated in the late 1990s, which coalesced with the building of the new comprehensive high school,” Cash said. “It has been more than 15 years since we have returned to such an important process.”

Cash said since that time, state and local taxpayers have invested more than $400 million in SAD 17 and seen more than 3,000 students graduated from the high school.

ldixon@sunjournal.com