Establishing Lines of Communication

As a parent, it is part of your job to establish lines of communication, if nothing else, with the school and school system your child attends, regardless of whether you able attend School Board meetings, PTA meetings, or school functions.  I was lucky enough to meet in person my representative on the School Board yesterday.

I raised concerns over recent personnel decisions our School System made and also wanted to inform him about the blog.  We had a nice meeting, I shared my many ideas, surely, delivered in a whirlwind, "all over the place" manor...but he did take notes.  I found him open to ideas, not afraid to admit the shortcomings, and aware of the many challenges we face here in Petersburg.  We spoke for over an hour.  I did not hear any solutions, grand master plans for revitalization, or the "out of the box" thinking I was hoping for, but I did see a person open to suggestions, dedicated to improvements, and equally as distraught about the condition of Petersburg Schools.  I think we also agree that just doing things the way we always have or doing things as other schools system do are never going to work to improve our schools.  

As a Petersburg parent and resident, I feel better by having established this connection.  Each parent who cares needs to follow my lead....call or email your representative on the School Board, go to your child's Open House, meet the teachers and principles...establish lines of communication even if you may never attend School Board Meetings or PTA Meetings.  Only then, can we hold them even partially accountable.  Only the combined efforts of parents, the community, the entire School System, City Council, the State of Virginia, and perhaps many more can maybe solve the major issues our schools face.