BSD 2012 Operating Referendum – PARENT EDUCATION

Thank you to Lancashire PTA for allowing me the chance to speak about the upcoming BSD Operating Referendum and my observations and background knowledge as a parent on the topic. It is a LOT OF INFORMATION that parents must digest in order to understand future actions needed.  I believe we need to start educating ourselves now so that, as parents, we can understand these pending events that can impact our kids for years to come.  If we are passionate about something that’s happening in our district we need to raise our voices sooner rather than later.  There is strength in numbers!!

Here are 2 interests that came out of that presentation that I am looking for parent action by responding to this blog posting.

1.)    Transportation costs and safety of current routes – I am further investigating these costs within the district budget.  I mistakenly indicated that they were an individual school line-item, but they are on the district level and I am inquiring.  I will post my findings on the blog when received.

Similar to my experience, a few other parents after the meeting have voiced concerns about stops along Naamans, the speed of traffic and omission of stops within neighborhoods.  I’d like to begin collecting specific parent names & emails that are interested/concerned about this topic.  Future presentations, attendance at district meetings, offering solutions and just showing our collective parent voice, can help raise the safety concerns we have.

2.)    Testing and Assessments – More parents need to raise their voice if ANY PART of the current assessment is an issue for them.  AND WE NEED TO FIND EACH OTHER AND SPEAK UP.  There is definitely strength in numbers on this topic as well and I need to hear from other parents to share information, outline results and actions coming this year.

I too am very upset with where the state testing is today – DCAS is not what was promised, decisions that DDOE has made have been costly mistakes that are not only impacting our children’s schedules but also the district’s services.  BSD has to bring in MORE TESTING because DCAS is limited and the DDOE needs to be held accountable for bad decisions made.  They know the testing is inadequate but we need to make sure further mis-steps don’t put us further behind and waste more valuable resources.  I’m gathering information from as many different resources as I can – both internal and external to DDOE – and want to share them with those parents who can help and want to organize a consistent voice.

Thank you again to the all of the parents who have been following this blog and also the PTA at Lancashire.  I look forward to continued discussions together. Parents are a powerful force in children’s lives and their educational opportunities when we are engaged together.