School District of Lancaster is planning to spend $75,000 to figure out how to improve its schools.

And in doing so, it hopes to recoup much more than that investment through operational savings.

The SDL board Tuesday approved a contract with The District Management Council, a Boston-based think tank established in 2004 to help public schools operate more efficiently and effectively.

DMC was selected from among five companies and organizations that submitted proposals in response to the school board's goal of developing a plan to improve student achievement as quickly as possible.

DMC will work with district teachers, administrators, students, parents and school board members to develop a strategy to address three rough objectives: improving the district's graduation rate; increasing the number of students who go on to college; and boosting student achievement in math and English at all SDL schools.

The district has the lowest standardized test scores and one of the highest dropout rates of all Lancaster County public school systems.

"We want to get the district to be competitive with neighboring districts so people won't think twice about moving to Lancaster city or township," SDL board president Richard Caplan said.

Exactly what level of improvement the school board will establish as its goal and what changes will be made to reach that target will be the subject of multiple meetings.

Beginning next month, DMC will research the district's current operations, hold focus groups with multiple "stakeholders" and map out a process to update SDL's strategic plan.

By September, the school board hopes to begin implementing the recommendations.

DMC, according to its contract with School District of Lancaster, will develop a plan to:

• Integrate current initiatives and efforts into an aligned framework and plan.

• Articulate a clear theory of action on raising student achievement.

• Create focus through a limited set of goals and initiatives.

• Focus on actions and outcomes as well as planning.

• Develop school-level ownership and central office support.

• Provide opportunities for inclusiveness.

Information on how community members can become involved in the process will be released in the coming weeks.

Board member Todd Heath admitted "it was very difficult to make a decision to spend $75,000" at a time when SDL is facing a multimillion-dollar revenue gap in next year's budget.

"But we're very comfortable that our savings is going to far exceed $75,000," he said.

DMC will share with the district best practices in staffing — for instance, evaluating whether SDL is top-heavy with administrators — and operations that could result in significant savings, Heath said.

"They also have a very firm understanding of the economic climate that we're coming into and that we're going to have very limited resources," he said.

According to its website, DMC has helped other school districts save millions through operational changes.

A newspaper article featured on the site reports that DMC last year helped Montclair (N.J.) School District identify $5 million in operational savings by recommending changes in how it schedules teachers' aides for the district's special-education programs.

bwallace@lnpnews.com