The Bedford Central School District wants you. 

The school board plans to announce an "all call" for volunteers to serve on a steering and sub-committee to help draft a long-term plan for the district during its July 1 re-organization meeting.

Superintendent Jere Hochman announced his plan at last week's school board meeting during a presentation on the results of the district's "In Focus" sessions. In Focus is a program that was held by the district earlier this year to gain public input on the outlook of Bedford schools.

Community sessions and telephone surveys were held during the past few months in an effort to gather as much information from the public as possible, Hochman said.

"It helped us see what the community thinks what the priorities should be for our school district," Hochman said.

Hochman said it has been years since the district has had a long-range plan in place and he is hopeful that the next plan serves as a blueprint for the district in the future.

The district's next step is to create a steering committee composed of residents, teachers, staff, students and liaison from the school board to help create draft mission, vision and guiding principle statements for the district.

The committee will also review items such as the district's demographics, building conditions, financial standing and achievement data. The group will also review other issues that may pose a challenge in the future, such as unfunded mandates.

Afterward, Hochman hopes to have more in-depth topic committees that will conduct additional research into issues pertaining to student performance and district operations.

After that data is collected, the steering committee will meet with district residents and gain their input before crafting a draft action plan. Once the long-range plan is complete, a timeline will be developed for its implementation.

Hochman  is hopeful that the board will announce its steering committee on Sept. 15 and that the committee will begin its work on Sept. 20.

Although district officials have small window of time to recruit volunteers and form a steering committee, Hochman is confident that it won't be a problem.

"I think that we had a lot of people involved in the community engagement sessions and they are aware of what's coming next," Hochman said. "I don't think we will have any problem getting people to step forward."

More information about the school district's In Focus outreach is available here. Anyone who wants more information about the steering committee can contact district offices at  (914) 241-6000.