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Superintendent's Community Advisory Council

 

SCAC Minutes
April 12, 2005

Lynn Terhar opened the meeting and noted that Superintendent Dale would be delayed; he had been at the Washington Post for a reception for Teachers of the Year. Terhar said the meeting would open with a presentation and, Q&A on outreach to minority communities. She called on Diana Jarrett, Karen Willoughby, and Ralph Cooper for short presentations and noted that two parent liaisons’ -- Susan Clark from Edison High School and Maria Emarest from Bailey's Elementary School were at the meeting to answer questions.

All presenters distributed copies of their materials, which had been e-mailed to SCAC members in advance of the meeting.

Willoughby noted the importance of parent involvement to student achievement.

Jarrett went over some statistics in her handout, noting that the percentage of FCPS students who are language minority has tripled over the past 17 years.

Nell Hurley said that translators will need to be available if the county health department ever needs to implement the existing mass inoculation protocol using FCPS high schools and buses. She said the county does not seem to have access to a sufficient number of translators, and the school system should be prepared to help with this. Jarrett said her office was already talking with the health department about this.

Willoughby went over the material she had distributed. She told true stories of non-native-English-speaking parents who were able to help their children with school work because of help the parents received from parent liaisons.

Cooper passed around copies of the "Advocacy Handbook for Parents" put together by the Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee. It is especially for parents who do not show up at PTA meetings. Parents who receive copies of this handbook must also attend an orientation session to learn how to use it. Parents can use the handbook to make decisions about their children. The handbook includes common sense things parents can do with their children from prekindergarten to college age. It is a joint effort of the Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee and FCPS staff members. It is now being updated; the update will include more information about student responsibilities and rights.

Ann Rodrigues asked how these handbooks were gotten into the schools. Cooper said, that each school received three copies, but that there were handbooks available for parents who received the orientation.

Nell Hurley said FCPS ranks low among large Virginia school systems in achievement of African American students. Marilyn Mitchell said having more African American faculty members or having more minority parents in PTAs might help raise student achievement.

Demarest said minority parents often do not join PTA because they are intimidated by their own broken English or they cannot find baby sitters. She said that at Bailey's they try to provide child care for parents in such situations and that many minority parents come to her trailer there.

Mitchell asked whether the parent liaison program is evaluated. Willoughby said that it is hard to quantify the effect of parent involvement on student achievement. What works at one school may not work at another.

Clark said that, at Edison , they empower parents, specifically inviting them to attend PTA meetings and other events at the school. They have found Saturday meetings successful because minority parents often work more than one job. Mail will not work for contacting these parents; one must phone them. She noted that the Superintendent had spoken in Spanish at one meeting of minority parents, which went over very well.

Brenda Greene asked about the source of funding for parent liaisons. Willoughby said much of it is money that individual schools provide from their own budgets but some comes from Title III. Green suggested that true stories about the effectiveness of the program ought to be collected into a book to use when seeking additional funding.

Demarest said that parent liaisons should have full-time positions with benefits.

Jarrett said that translators' and interpreters' fees were also not competitive.

Eileen Kugler said that Annandale High School has a grant to conduct minority outreach. She asked if schools were sensitive to the nutritional needs of children from other cultures. Willoughby said they are.

Lynn Dysart asked why some money did not come from county social services, since it seemed to her that many of the services provided were social services. Willoughby noted that many of the classes offered to parents are fee based.

Dysart asked about translations into languages other than the seven major ones. Jarrett said her office can call on volunteers who can interpret and translate in these languages but that these translators are not certified by her office.

Boyce Williams said that other parts of Virginia have teachers with skill sets for relating to people from specific cultures.

Ray Worley said that the community school now being planned for the Graham Road area ought to meet the multiple needs of the community.

Andrea Sobel said more resources are needed at Annandale High School . The parent liaison there spends almost all her time translating and does not spend enough time communicating with parents. Jarrett said that most translations can be done through her office.

Williams asked if the principal defines the liaison's role. Willoughby said there is a parent liaison handbook, which includes a list of typical tasks for a liaison; bridging the gap between home and school is the goal of liaisons. Actual tasks done by liaisons vary according to the needs of particular schools.

Dale congratulated Ray Worley for receiving the Washington Post Cup as Fairfax County Citizen of the Year.

Dale said the county government is very interested in working with FCPS on translations and on social services. He meets regularly with the county executive to coordinate in these areas. We are looking now to put after-school coordinators in middle schools to run county programs for middle school-age youngsters. Next might be early childhood programs in elementary schools. The community school being planned for the Graham Road area may incorporate some of this. Probably the next community school after Graham Road will be the current Lacey Center once employees in offices there are moved to the new building in Merrifield and the center can be turned back into a school. Every future school renovation will consider community needs.

Dale said that the president of Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is very interested in meeting the needs of a changing population. He believes that Virginia has a way to go to meet these needs. NOVA already does a lot of outreach to the adult community.

Dale said the budget is just about ready except for the signing. There has been no acrimony this year and a positive outcome.

Dale said that at the May meeting he wanted to seek advice from SCAC members about possible changes to the types and formats of councils and committees that advise him and the School Board. SCAC has a broad perspective on the FCPS community, and each member can talk with some of his or her constituents before the meeting. Dale said he would send members a list of current councils and committees and a series of questions to consider in advance of the meeting.

Worley noted that several years ago SCAC was asked to review a six-year plan for FCPS each year. He believes the Superintendent should provide the council with a framework of serious issues to discuss and provide advice on.

Greene said that she would like the list of councils and committees that council members receive to indicate which ones are state or federally mandated.

Dale said that the key question to ask is: Thinking strategically, what do you think FCPS should do with these councils and committees?

Joseph Bury said he is concerned with the issue of illegal aliens receiving free education in U.S. public schools.

Hurley is concerned about a possible proliferation of school-based GT centers, the effect of which is that only smaller elementary schools will send students to regular GT centers. She said this was not discussed by the GT Advisory Committee.

The meeting was adjourned.