Parents and Educators Together: How We Collaborate to Make Forest Hills Public Schools Great
“Productive collaborations between family and school, therefore, will demand that parents and teachers recognize the critical importance of each other's participation in the life of the child. This mutuality of knowledge, understanding, and empathy comes not only with a recognition of the child as the central purpose for the collaboration but also with a recognition of the need to maintain roles and relationships with children that are comprehensive, dynamic, and differentiated.”
– Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, American sociologist
Once an overlooked role, Boards of Education and the ways they support our schools have come into tighter focus.
Boards like ours in Forest Hills take their positions to heart, knowing how fundamental a child’s education is to their greater lifetime. FHPS’ BOE takes extra steps to demonstrate a commitment to excellence and transparency by adopting measures from professional organizations like the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) and by following the Open Meetings Act.
The pressure on our elected Board of Education isn’t light, but MASB helps to reinforce comfort for families served by member Boards with their Guiding Principles:
“The Board of Education governs in a manner that is dignified and worthy of trust.”
What this means to us is we trust that our Superintendent and Board of Education are exploring best practices, conducting research, keeping up to date on industry advances, and following their duties to govern the district’s objectives and policies with the best interests of our kids in mind. We trust they have their priorities in order and follow a system of checks and balances.
We have been inspired by the FHPS BOE’s commitment to embrace a 21st Century education for students that balances a rigorous academic schedule with extra-curricular programs to bring a bounce to their step.
But let’s be clear, trust does not mean complacency. We enjoy opportunities to help our Board on this important mission to set our kids up for success – whether by raising ideas during Board meetings, submitting suggestions to them by phone or e-mail, or volunteering in schools. The work will never be done.
Why We Back Our Elected Board of Education
The Forest Hills Public Schools Board of Education includes a unique mix of new and longtime members.
A group is looking to overhaul the board (first by attempting to target five of seven members and now three – due to timing constraints around how close to their end of term a board member can be recalled).
What concerns Support FHPS is the desire by this group to specifically remove the longer-tenured members - who have been instrumental in their steadfast advocacy of FHPS’ academic programs and the positive opt-in programs students and caretakers love. These same members have extensive lists of ways they personally contribute to the district with their time and money, according to their personal biographies.
Isn’t there a better way to address personal issues with the Board?
Continuing to raise our ideas as parents and caretakers to push for changes we’d like to see from them throughout the year. And, holding them accountable.
Perhaps new town hall-style meetings or focus groups where parents can engage in two-way dialogue with the board. We know that their monthly public meetings are not the place for this dialogue since, by policy, replies are not issued to each speaker during public comments.
Elections on a proper schedule that bring opportunities for other passionate and engaged candidates to show what they could bring to the table instead of forcing the process under a rushed timeline.
Spacing out Board changes instead of pushing a sweeping overhaul to help with any transition and new ways of working together. (Remember, FHPS is working! It’s top ranked and attracts families from all over. We are not looking to remedy malfeasance here.)
Our inspiration for launching Support FHPS is to elevate questions like the above and protect our kids and district from out-of-cycle changes that also waste taxpayer dollars.
We encourage you to join us in advocating for our elected Board of Education through their terms. We also plan to stay active to keep pushing for excellence and collaboration for the long haul with any board.
What other ideas do you have to strengthen opportunities for parents and our Board to communicate and collaborate?