The Excelsior Springs Board of Education has approved the first phase of a fiveyear strategic planning process, clearing the way for community action teams to build the final plan for later approval this spring.The first phase of the planning effort was built through two and a half days of meetings — bringing together district leaders, board members, teachers, parents, students and community partners — to define what Excelsior Springs schools should stand for and where they should be headed over the next five years.“This was not the easiest process to do and this is not the cheapest strategy to do,” said Superintendent Dr. Mark Bullimore.“We are using a process that is vetted in some very successful districts and corporations have done this before. These three days were probably a more comprehensive process than we’ve ever done as a district before.”Bullimore noted he and Career Center Director Ben Rubey fir...