Christopher Peak Photo
Parents Sarah Miller and Fatima Rojas at Monday’s Board of Ed meeting.
Two Columbus Family Academy moms in Fair Haven have launched a grassroots effort to help school officials and other members of the community communicate better.
They drew 51 parents, teachers and alders to an inaugural forum last Thursday. Representing 19 schools, the attendees posed questions about the district’s operations, while Ed Joyner, the Board of Education’s president, answered what he could and promised to find out more about what he didn’t know.
The dialogue, organized by two moms from Columbus Family Academy in Fair Haven, represents a grassroots effort to change the way that people involved with the schools communicate with officials.
“We want to change the dynamic with parents. We don’t want to be confrontational, but we want to be included,” said Sarah Miller, one of the organizers. “We want to be in the conversation.”
In the past, in brutal public participation sessions at the Board of Education’s semi-monthly meetings, board members have felt bashed unreasonably by an angry public, while parents have felt the board didn’t care about their issues. The forums represent a new attempt to listen to each other and see if constructive action results.
“If we want to change things, first we have to start listening,” said Fatima Rojas, one of the organizers.
Up to now, parents have felt shuffled around when they seek answers. “Every question that we have is directed somewhere else,” Rojas said. “‘Go check with the teacher.’ Okay, the teacher has no answer. Then the principal: no answer. The director of instruction: no answer. The supervisor: no answer. We’ve been to different channels.”
Another parent at Edgewood School agreed parents have felt left out of decision-making. “They don’t really want to hear from parents. They say they want engagement from parents, but their actions show otherwise,” said Tagan Engel, a graduate of local schools with two children in the system.
Rojas said that the forum was a way to get more parents involved, despite any previous disengagement. She added that the informal, grassroots effort isn’t competing with the Citywide Parent Team, just providing another avenue for engagement.
Among the questions that parents asked at the wide-ranging forum: Why is there no security guard at Columbus? How can parents be included in the development of the School Improvement Plan (SIP)? What is the current status of school-based budgeting? How will our district fully implement transformative programs like Comer and restorative justice, not partially? How can we attract staff of color? Why is the district paying two salaries for superintendent at the same time that teacher funding is being cut? Why are the buses late and not showing up? How do we get more help for daycare?
So far, participants said that they appreciated how informative and interactive the first forum was, but they’re also waiting to see if the district follows up on some of the issues they expressed.
“We’ve asked for concrete next steps,” Rojas told the rest of the school board at Monday’s meeting at L.W. Beecher School. “We promised to do a presentation for the Board of Education, so check!
“Dr. Joyner promised to respond to questions and ideas in motion that were not asked in the forum,” Rojas went on. “And Dr. Joyner was going to speak with Dr. Mayo about the lack of a security guard at Columbus School.”
“Check!” Joyner said. Joyner also vowed to change when public comment occurs at board meetings, giving parents the chance to weigh in before the evening drags on (as it did at last meeting’s three-hour marathon) or before votes are cast.
On future check-lists, Engel suggested that the district focus on professional development for principals in “respectful” and “non-defensive” listening, giving weight to the School Planning and Management Teams that the Comer School Development model recommends, and finding productive ways for parents to volunteer inside the schools. “There’s a whole list of ways that you can instruct schools to become communities,” she said.
Another forum is already being planned with Darnell Goldson, the school board’s other elected member, but a specific date hasn’t been picked yet.
Parents who want to get involved can email Miller and Rojas (in English or Spanish) at newhavenpublicschoolparents@gmail.com.