Education Advisory Committee

Approved: 02/08/16 M&C Somers Gardiner Minutes – APPROVED Education Advisory Committee January 11, 2016 City Hall Attendees Members Present Absent Tricia Homer, Dist 1 _ X_ Charlene Mahoney, Dist 2 __X__ Cory Sanders, Dist 1 ______ __X__ Melissa Day, Dist 3 ______ __X__ Carolyn Bernache, Dist 4 X ______ Doris Ellis, Dist 4 _ _ __X__ Peggy Wilson, UMD X ______ Also Present: Peggy Higgins, Staff Liaison; Laura Salers, Contract Secretary; Scott Somers, City Staff. PJ Brennan, Councilman District 2; Dawn Powers, Paint Branch PTA; Jennifer Rigg, Resident and UPE PTA member Call to Order Ms. Bernache called the meeting to order at 7:39 pm. Approval of Minutes Due to a lack of quorum, the minutes from the November 16, 2015 could not be approved. Old Business Hosting of PTA’s : Councilman Brennan shared that he would like the EAC to help facilitate an opportunity for parents from all the city schools to come together for the purpose of brainstorming and sharing resources. He would like the EAC to secure a location as well as help to develop the agenda. Mr. Brennan hopes the event would help to develop a strong list serve for the parents and enough interest to continue, at least annually. He would also like to see a transition program developed for city families which would provide guidance and information as students transition from home to preschool, to elementary school, to middle school and on to high school. Jennifer Rigg, a parent and PTA member from University Park shared her support for the proposed parent meeting and transition program. She hopes that the EAC considers barriers to parental involvement such as varying work schedules, need for child care and relying on public transportation. Ms. Rigg offered these solutions: transmitting information through list serves, scheduling meetings at various times/days of the week, providing child care on site during the meeting and choosing locations near public transportation. She’d like to see informal networks created to help parents of students with an IEP understand their rights and responsibilities. Ms.Rigg would also like to see parents encouraged to attend the State PTA meetings in Annapolis so that College Park can become engaged and have a presence. Ms. Rigg shared that the president of the University Park PTA, Krista Attebury, sends her support to the EAC and offers to help in any way she can. Dawn Powers from Paint Branch PTA is interested in hearing from successful PTA leadership about how they have grown their membership. She’d like to know what each PTA currently offers their school and parents. She would like to hear stories of how PTA’s have had a positive impact on their schools in the past. She also suggested a City wide fundraiser for all schools to participate in and share the proceeds. Ms. Higgins suggested a main fundraiser at College Park Day to benefit all the schools. Ms. Bernache suggested publishing a newsletter to be shared among all the schools. It could contain highlights from each school, an informational section, reminders of upcoming important calendar dates, deadlines. It would be best offered in several languages. The document could be uploaded onto each school website, distributed through the PTA list serve and schools could have paper copies accessible. The format of the parents meeting was discussed. Ideas include advertising it as a Parent to Parent meeting sponsored by the PTA. Breakout sessions could include topics such as SchoolMax, choosing a preschool or navigating the County school website. Representative from different educational resources could be set up at information tables for the parents to explore depending on their interests. The first meeting should be engaging and interesting with opportunity for the attendees to interact and share their needs/wants. Ms. Bernache will invite two Spanish speaking resources from High Point to come to the next meeting to discuss their parental involvement success. Ms. Higgins will invite Abigail Delgado, Assistant Outreach Coordinator for the City. The guests from today’s meeting were invited to return on February 8 to continue the discussion. Mr. Brennan, Ms. Rigg and Mr. Somers left the meeting. Essay Contest Details: Discussion is tabled due to lack of quorum. Committee Membership: Ms. Bernache will reach out to the City Council and let them know that the EAC has vacancies which need filled in order to continue to fulfill its mission and take action on this new initiative. Amendment to the Agenda: Ms. Higgins distributed an email from Eric Olson, Executive Director of College Park City-University partnership, dated October 9, 2015. Mr. Olson proposes using the available $80,000 education funding to hire a person to coordinate the volunteer educational power on campus to engage in local schools. He asks the EAC to reconsider its previous recommendations for the funds. The previous recommendations of the EAC directly impact the schools and students in a way that coincides with the charge of the EAC. The proposed amounts awarded to the schools are significant. Due to lack of quorum, no position was taken by the EAC. Proposed Meetings: The EAC will consider inviting Dr. Helene Kalson Cohen, Dean in the UMD College of Education Outreach office and Tricia Homer from the Office of Community Engagement to speak about coordination efforts already in place between UMCP and the city schools. The EAC will host todays guests at a future meeting to further discuss the PTA initiative and help formulate a meeting plan. A brief discussion took place proposing a retreat/colloquium with the principals from all the city schools to discern their needs and goals for the next school year. Dr. Cohen and Ms. Homer would be invited to facilitate the conversation and lunch or dinner would be provided. The meeting adjourned at 9:03 pm.