New York City public school families and teachers raised concerns over parental involvement, curriculum, and their children’s safety during the first in a series of borough-based town halls, kicking off this week in Manhattan.
Over the next month, Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos will ask the public to provide feedback and ideas for the nation’s largest school system. The tour launched Tuesday night at the High School of Graphic Communication Arts in Hell’s Kitchen, where participants had small group discussions before selecting one question to pose to the chancellor and her top deputies.
“We’re not going to be able to solve everything,” Aviles-Ramos told the Daily News. “But where are we identifying those trends and patterns, and where can we do better?”
During the more than two-hour event, a majority of parents asked for more participation in their children’s education. They wanted improvements to school busing and parent-teacher conferences, which since the pandemic are handled remotely unless a parent requests an in-person session, and help choosing a high school during the complex admissions process.
Many concerns touched on school safety, whether students are facing threats or bullying.
Teachers asked for more support and flexibility as the school system overhauls how it teaches reading and math.
The final question of the night was: “Will you commit tonight to bringing back the snow day?” If it’s too snowy for students and teachers to get to school, classes are conducted online.
The answer, at least for this school year, was no.
Aviles-Ramos has visited at least 13 schools since taking over as chancellor, with special attention to adult education, autism programs, and schools that enroll diverse populations of students. She said those school visits and other local events are all chances to hear from people, but the listening tour is a structured way to collect qualitative data.
“What was important to me in creating the structure was a tool to capture all the things that people are saying,” she said. “Not just for us to listen and kind of walk away and take maybe the one or two things that resonated with us, but to really sit with the … information that we’re getting from families.”
Here are the remaining dates:
- Nov. 26: Brooklyn — Thomas Jefferson High School, 400 Granville Payne Ave., 11207
- Dec. 3: Queens — Academy of American Studies, 40-11 28th St., 11101
- Dec. 10: Bronx — PS 306, 40 West Tremont Ave., 10453
- Dec. 17: Staten Island — Curtis High School, 105 Hamilton Ave., 10301
All sessions run from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.