The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Parents talk about good, not so good
Lorain City Schools has started the 2018-2019 school year with improvements visible among the faculty, staff, students and parents.
However, communication needs to improve if the district is to keep the trust of parents, they said.
About 30 people came out for Lorain schools’ inaugural Family First Focus Session, led by district Chief Family Officer Arliss Prass.
It was the beginning of a family engagement process that will continue through the school year.
Prass said a Family University seminar is planned 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 27, with additional seminars to follow in January and April.
Seated in a circle in the Lorain High School cafeteria, participants
met Jeff Keruski, director of scholar and family engagement; Jamie Montague, resource development coordinator; and Jay Nimene, director of student and family outreach.
“These are folks who make up the Chief Family Office and I am introducing them because we are here to, one, serve you,” Prass said. “And the focus for today is really wanting to introduce ourselves to you. Also share a little bit about what we’re doing through the lens of climate and culture, wraparound service and overall broader district initiatives.”
The attending parents and grandparents introduced themselves.
Lorain schools is about five weeks into the 20182019
school year, Pratt said, and has undergone a lot of change this year.
Prass acknowledged she likely would not have the answers to all questions, but there would be opportunities for following up with the parents.
When she invited the parents to talk about what is going well and what needs improvement, they were not bashful. After the introductions, the conversation filled the remainder of the 90-minute meeting.
Many of the parents stayed afterward talking to each other and the school leaders.
At least one said she was satisfied with the conversation, calling it what the Lorain community needs to hear from parents who really care about the district.
“The school was definitely hearing us and I don’t think the community believes that,” said Shelley Stipe, mother of two current students and four Lorain alumni.
The good
Administrators have been positive and focused on being proud to be from Lorain, said a parent who talked about the experience of her son, a high school sophomore.
Parents said when they call the schools, they can speak to someone immediately or, if they can’t, return phone calls are prompt.
At least two parents mentioned various job credentials their high school students have earned, ranging from state tested nursing assisting to welding to safe storage and service for food preparation.
One parent mentioned a teacher sponsoring team meals for the volleyball players. Another mentioned the availability of cap and gown portraits for seniors at the start of the year, a nice touch and a motivator for students, instead of waiting to get the actual graduation caps and gowns at the end of the school year.
School district CEO David Hardy Jr. has been visible at the high school and he acknowledges the students there.
“The information that I have here is super meaningful for me … wanting to replicate things that are doing well and refine things that may not be going so well,” Prass said.
Questions and concerns
Prass asked the group to share their questions and concerns because that will make the school district staff get better.
“We’re here because some folks are asking questions around our kids’ data,” she said. “What do we need to do in order to make them successful?”
Lorain schools needs to create a strategy that is geared towards graduation, job preparation and making sure they have loving experiences every day at school, Prass said.
Many Lorain students have not gotten this year’s student handbooks. Policies on lorainschools.org are dated from 2014, one parent said.
The policies are being updated online periodically, said Sara Egan-Reeves, school district communications coordinator. Nothing has changed for this year so the 2017-2018 student code of conduct remains accurate for this school year, Prass said.
Another said she tried calling a number listed on the high school website for a security question, but could not get through.
School officials and parents agreed Lorain schools’ robocalls program has prompted a number of questions this year.
Egan-Reeves agreed. She explained the Power School student management computer system is not communicating properly to update nightly with Blackboard, the program used for robocall mass communications.
That is a project EganReeves has been working on since she started at the district in June. One parent noted some students may have answered the calls on family phones and pressed the button to opt out of Lorain school calls.
The communication issue was timely because about 2:28 p.m. the same day, Lorain
High School had a Level III security lockdown that turned out to be a false alarm.
At least one high school parent said she was not notified about it.
Another parent, who also works at the high school, described a student calling her parents during the lockdown to report the lockdown was due to a robbery with guns, even though no one in their group had any idea of what the security threat might be.
“So I’m like, wait a minute, where did you get that from? She said, isn’t that what you just said? Just like that, and that’s how things spread,” the parent said.
The parents agreed they send their children to school to learn. But there still are questions about discipline and the amount of fighting taking place at the high school.
One parent cited statements from Lorain police Chief Cel Rivera and the administration and asked whom the residents should believe.
Prass said there is a consequence for fighting and the restorative disciplinary process has replaced suspensions as a disciplinary measure.
“That is not true, consequences happen, suspensions happen,” she said. “However, we must be able to have conversations with each other to get to the root of why did that conflict occur. And I think there’s this loud voice that says, restorative practice, it’s not working, it’s, you know, hogwash, whatever the case may be, and that is not true. There is a very clear process here at the high school when kids get into a conflict.”
Students who are disciplined and return must see their guidance counselor, speak to a social worker, and meet with their dean and the people who were affected, said Prass and Daniel Garvey, executive director of secondary academies.