By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com

“What does it mean when parents don’t attend?” Dave Williamson asked and then answered, “What it does mean is that those who attend care.”

The Buckeye Central Community meeting, ironically entitled Parent Engagement, was sparsely attended on Tuesday. However, for the dedicated few who were present, the sight of the empty chairs served as a great springboard for discussion about what it will take to encourage parents to be more involved in the education of their children.

First, and foremost, in this discussion was the need to reinforce to parents how important their involvement is. Special Education Intervention Coordinator Amy Miller stressed this point emphatically. Parents spend much more time with their children than the teachers do, and their participation and support is vital to a child’s development. An example from her experience was the poor participation she has received when it comes to developing a child’s IEP, Individualized Education Program.

Following the opening framework, attendees broke into groups to discuss questions specific to this idea of parental involvement.

“I think this is how good organizations improve themselves,” Williamson said. Williamson, and Andrea Presler who was absent due to illness, have been proctoring these community meetings. This was the third of six scheduled meetings, each with the purpose of allowing the community to provide input as to how the district can improve. This input is on a direct line to the school board, as the district works to provide a better education for its students.

“It takes hard work to improve yourself,” Williamson continued. He paraphrased the popular, but no less accurate line of, “the harder I work the luckier I get.”

“None of the top schools (in the state) have done it by luck.”

Miller added, “I think that the district is really going to analyze this information and see where we need to go to get past some of the issues we have.”

The next meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Sept. 11 at the Tiro Methodist Church. The final meeting, scheduled for Sept. 25, has undergone a change of venue and will now be held at the Chatfield Fire Hall.