Three schools To Elect Governance Councils

All of the 180-plus schools in state that didn't meet No Child Left Behind standards for progress by July 2010 must create parent/teacher and administrator councils.

Councils will include seven parents or guardians of students at the school, two community leaders within the school, five teachers at the schools, school principal or designee and (in the high school only) two students.

In Danbury,  the three schools that will hold elections will be Stadley Rough Elementary, Alternative Center for Excellence, and Danbury High School. Each school will have it's own council.

“The research shows that these councils are an effective way of opening up communication between parents and schools,” said Schools Superintendent Sal Pascarella, Ed.D.

These councils will help with budget review, collect data on the school's progress, and help connect the community with the schools. Parents will also act as adviors in the school's improvement plans.

 The election process will begin in late April or early May. There will be an alert by telephone that an informational meeting will be held and all parents from these schools will be invited to attend. Parents will run for the council and those who are selected will participate in a special training program.

“Schools with strong connections to their families and communities are four times more likely to improve in reading and ten times more likely to improve in math than schools without these crucial links,” according to the state Board of Education website.

 The site also said, “School Governance Councils provide a remarkable opportunity for Connecticut schools to engage with families and community members in the essential dialogue about student achievement and preparing all students for success.”

 Elections will be held by the end of the spring and training will begin in September and October.

Anne E. Mead, M.Ed., Administrator of Early Childhood Education and Extended Learning Programs, will be developing the training program for the council. Mead also works in both the Parent's See and the Leadership Program.

“We will teach them how to read scores, understand the data, how policies are made, the budget process, and how to function as a council member. We will learn Robert's Rules, which is the basis of how most meetings are run,” Mead said.

 All of the training materials will be in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Pascarella said, “This will be an all inclusive project. We want to see the entire school community there.”

 The importance of the school governance councils has been proven in other parts of the country. Judy Carson, Ph.D., of Connecticut's State Board of Education said, “It is a new state law in Connecticut, but the process has been around for about twenty to thirty years. It worked well in Chicago and other parts of the US and other countries and it is a terrific opportunity for parents to be involved in the schools.”

 Pascarella said, “We've been to the state meetings and we feel we are now ready to put together a process that we can all understand and that can be implemented with credibility.”

“With all of the leadership programs going on, Danbury is going to be in a very good position to see this work,” said Carson.

For more information click here  to visit the Ct State Board of Education website.  Go to Parents and Community and look for  School Governance Councils.