Can parents play a role in bridging the gap between the “have” & the “have not” schools?

There has been a lot of research and comment regarding the perception of a great divide between the educational experience of students at some schools versus students in other schools.

School boards have tried many creative ways to ensure that all students have the same school experience and have access to similar resources. Unfortunately, this inequity often still exists in many school boards in the province. While there is a uniform curriculum that must be delivered, the perception exists that some schools have access to more or better technology, equipment or learning resources.

Can parent leaders play a role in bridging this gap?

As a strong proponent of school partnerships, I believe they can. While it may not be easy at the outset to bridge this gap, and requires the support of the entire school community, it is imperative that the school administrators agree to any plan that is developed.

The differences between the “Have” and “Have Not” schools maybe because of the size of enrolment in the schools, the neighbourhood the school is located in, the support of the parent community and a variety of other reasons.

While I certainly do not pretend to be an expert on the funding formulas or what measures specific school boards have in place to even the playing field, I do believe it is possible for parent communities to have a pivotal role in improving student experience at all schools.

The following are steps that may help parent leaders undertake a role in bridging the gap.

Start bridging the gap

1. Speak with your administrator to discuss the desire of the parents to reach out to a neighbouring school community that would benefit from a partnership or that might be willing to partner to improve the school experience at your school.
2. Ask your administrator to support the plan to communicate the idea of partnering with the identified school.
3. Decide if the best approach would be for your administrator to contact the school you would like to partner with, or, if it would be more effective for the school council parent leaders to contact to other school council’s executive.
4. Arrange a joint meeting of the school councils, which includes the school administrators.
5. At this meeting, it is a great opportunity to take some time to get to know each other’s council members and get a bit of background i.e. grades their children attend, how long they have been on council etc.Before generating a formal plan on ways the schools might benefit from an official partnership between the two school communities, it is helpful to gather some data about the schools including:
   • School enrolment
   • Specialty programs offered
   • Strengths of the school community
   • Challenges of the school community
   • Biggest needs of students (you may want to break this down by grade level)
   • Level of parent engagement in the school
   • How do schools raise funds for additional supports for students learning?
   • How is it anticipated that the school community will respond to partnering with another school that has high needs?
6. Now that the partnering school councils have some data to begin formulating a plan they are ready to begin to design a short and long term plan to share resources and improve the educational experience of all students.

Short Term

1. Discuss specific ways that this partnership can benefit the respective schools. Some areas you may consider are:
   • Are the schools in close proximity to allow for sharing of extra-curricular activities? These activities may include football, volleyball, clubs etc. Would it be feasible to invite a few students from the school which does not offer these types of activities, to be part of a “combined team”?
   • Are there celebrations like Halloween dances that could be made even more fun by combining schools? Even at the “have not” school they may have a DJ that is fantastic and could make the event even better for the “have” school.
   • Is there a way to hold joint school council meetings. One school may only have 2 members and the other may have 10, together they could host meetings which are beneficial to both.
   • The meetings could allow the first 30 minutes to be held separately so the business of the specific schools can be discussed and any votes that are required could be completed. The next 60 minutes could be devoted to a topic of learning for all council members i.e. public health nurse to discuss healthy eating, how a school learning improvement plan is written, school safety etc.
   • Combining the talents of parents on the school councils at both schools will lead to ideas that benefit both schools.
   • Do both schools do similar fundraising activities? If yes, would the supplier allow the same discounts to the “have not” school as they do to the “have” school if they partner on an order?
   • Would the school community of the “have” school support giving a portion of their fundraising to the “have not” school for identified use that helps improves the educational experience for the students at that school. For instance, it may be used to buy additional technology which is desperately needed at the “have not” school.
   • Perhaps the “have” schools have an abundance of books for their library that could be lent to the “have not” school to improve their library.
2. Once you have answered some of the above questions, and others that will naturally flow from the conversation, it is time to organize the information based on the highest priority item first and then list the others in the order that both schools agree to.
3. To make this partnership successful, it needs to be a long-term arrangement as it takes time to get things up and running. At this point, creating a three year plan would be beneficial.
4. It is vital that the first step in the process be a communication that comes from Principals and School Council Chairs from both schools to each of the school communities.
5. It will take some work, but, it will ultimately help all of the children in the partnering schools.

Remember to share

Like this article? Be sure to share it with other parents and school councils. Use the share buttons above and below this article. Find more articles like this one in our monthly e-newsletter. Be sure to subscribe to it by clicking here.