Compass Points: Community Conversation Forums

When I presented my Entry Plan to the Board in February, I identified accountability as one of the core values which would guide my work as Superintendent. I want to remain open and transparent with our community, so I am an advocate for consistent, two-way communications.

That includes providing regular updates to the community, as well as opportunities for the public to provide me feedback, including my day-long visits to our schools, meetings with community members and organizations, and the recently held Community Conversation Forums.

I am spending a full day at each of our schools, seeking to learn about our students’ by speaking with them, teachers, staff members, parents, and community members. I also have met with met with many representatives from community organizations. You can view pictures of my school visits by clicking here.

The six Community Conversation Forums were held at our feeder high schools to provide the public a chance to share their thoughts and ideas about student achievement in Bibb County. I want to thank the more than 900 students, parents, employees, and community members that attended the Forums, as well as the people that used our feedback form at the schools and online.

At the beginning of these meetings, I let people know of the changes already taking place in the district, including:

restructuring our leadership structure so that it is better aligned to provide a high-quality education to our students. This restructuring will save the district approximately $1,000,000, and that is money we can redirect to meet our students’ individual needs.
making plans to open a new Welcome Center to serve as a one-stop shop of information and to build and maintain our relationship with parents and the community. You will be able to get information about our schools and community organizations that will help support your child’s education at home. You will also have a place where you can ask a live person questions or raise any concerns you may have.
implementing a new summer reading program for our students. Every student has received a packet of books and activities to take home for the summer.
kicking off this program on May 7 with about 3,500 students, parents, employees, and community members.
improving two-way communications with our stakeholders through the Forums, my school visits and stakeholder meetings, my blog, regular e-newsletters, and website and social media postings.

The community was then able to share with me their opinions about education, including:

what is and isn’t working in our schools and district,
what students need order to be successful,
what teachers and staff need to help students be successful,
what administrators need to support their teachers in the classroom, and
what you as parents need to support your children and reinforce what is being taught.