Book bans led by . Parents COVID-related safety protocols. thrown at school board meetings. Over the past few years, parent-school conflicts frequently have been at the center of media attention鈥攎uch of it negative.
But despite highly publicized incidents showcasing parents鈥� bad behavior, an untold number of exceptional efforts by parents, most happening far from the public eye, are creating positive change in school communities. Here are two recent examples that led school systems to create new positions鈥攏o small feat in light of today鈥檚 educator shortages.
Parent groups raising awareness of important issues, call for action
MaryLu Hertz has had four children go through the Manassas City school system in Virginia, all identified as gifted and enrolled in the school鈥檚 gifted and talented program. Hertz, who is white, is part of a district gifted and talented advisory committee, or GTAC (which includes parents, staff, and faculty), that sought to achieve racial parity in the program. At the onset of the 2017-18 school year, when Hertz and other GTAC members took on this challenge, around 65 percent of the district鈥檚 students were Hispanic, but that was the case for only about 26 percent of students in the GT program.
In GTAC鈥檚 2017-18 annual report to the superintendent and school board, Hertz and two other members of the GTAC shared a research-heavy, highly organized document that included, among many recommendations, 鈥渕ore robust identification of GT students, with a view toward more representative demographic distribution.鈥� The committee鈥檚 primary goal was to get the district to hire a full-time staff member exclusively to coordinate the GT program.
鈥淲e took care not to place blame, but to call attention to what we thought was a statistically significant problem, and a problem affecting programs across the country,鈥� Hertz said.
The superintendent and his staff viewed the presentation before the committee presented it to the school board. 鈥淭hey made recommendations to smooth over some of the impassioned edges of our presentation so that it focused on making productive suggestions, getting everyone on the same team, and making a plan forward,鈥� Hertz said.
The GTAC鈥檚 primary goal was realized the following school year. The district created a new full-time position and hired someone to fill it: supervisor of gifted and talented and advanced programs. Since then, a revision to the GT identification process has been completed and new programs geared specifically toward underrepresented populations have been put into place. The result: A 2023 report shows an upward shift in Hispanic representation in the GT program, now at 40 percent.
In another example, Erika Slater has served on Gilman School鈥檚 parent association in various capacities for the past 15 years鈥攁s long as her two sons have attended the Baltimore-based independent boys鈥� school. But in the 2021-22 school year, she experienced perhaps her proudest moment of that long stretch.
After a two-and-a-half year effort initiated by a dedicated wellness committee within the parents鈥� association, the school hired its first director of wellness, whose job is to promote a culture of wellness for students, staff, and faculty members. Initially, it wasn鈥檛 an easy sell.
鈥淎t the beginning of this journey, there wasn鈥檛 as much of a recognition that mental and physical wellness needed to be addressed in a more authentic and substantive way,鈥� Slater said.
Henry P. A. Smyth, Gilman鈥檚 head of school, acknowledges the sometimes complicated relationship between parents and school leadership. He explains his efforts to maintain a level perspective in the face of parent 鈥渁sks.鈥�
鈥淚 try to keep in mind the fact that we are all deeply invested in the education of the students鈥攚e as educators and they as parents,鈥� Smyth wrote in an email. 鈥淲e all want our children and students to be their best selves, even if we (parents and educators) are not always in sync with what that 鈥榖est self鈥� looks like or how to achieve it.鈥�
To support the change they were asking for, Slater and other committee members developed what she referred to as 鈥渁 book of information鈥� that included extensive research, starting with the recommended ratio of one counselor to every 250 students. They also collected and shared detailed information with the school leadership on the mental health resources offered by other schools with demographics similar to theirs, including curriculum, space, and personnel.
Eventually, the school鈥檚 leadership was persuaded to create the new director of wellness position; they also included the parent committee in the hiring process.
鈥淲e helped formulate the job description and were involved in the interview process,鈥� Slater said.
Slater believes the two-and-a-half year effort also led to a new and improved perception of the parents鈥� association by school leadership. 鈥淏ecause we [parents association committee and faculty] united behind a common goal and saw it to fruition, and it鈥檚 had such a positive impact on our entire community, I think it bolstered the fact that the PA is there for support of our community,鈥� Slater said. 鈥淭he school saw that we could work together.鈥�
Essential factors of effective parent鈥搒chool partnerships
Slater pointed to a few key factors in developing that working relationship.
One, she explains, was having a 鈥渃hampion鈥� within the school community. Their committee had two: a school administrator, who saw the need for the position even before the committee did, and an influential alumnus/board member who was committed and passionate about mental health. 鈥淚t would have been impossible to do what we did without their support,鈥� Slater said.
Also critical to the parent-led wellness committee鈥檚 effort was data. 鈥淒o your research. You want to come with data,鈥� Slater said.
In both of parent-led initiatives, relevant and accurate data was key to influencing school leaders. But if the school leaders hadn鈥檛 been willing to listen to parents鈥� concerns, the data wouldn鈥檛 have mattered.
鈥淚f leaders listened to parents and tried to work together, they would find that parents have amazing insight as to what the school might be lacking or what is working really well at the school,鈥� Slater said.
Hertz agrees that schools鈥� willingness to hear parents鈥� concerns can be the start of a productive partnership. 鈥淪ometimes,鈥� she said, 鈥渢hings that feel like an attack on the teacher or program can really be turned into a process improvement or a revisioning of a system.鈥�
