Communication is key to any healthy relationship.
Any successful arrangement between a community and its schools is exactly that: a relationship.
That’s why it’s so encouraging to see Columbus Municipal School District leaders schedule several town halls across the city to discuss pressing issues in the schools and open the floor for citizens to share their concerns.
In five planned meetings peppered through March 23 that will span almost every city ward, school officials, led by Superintendent Cherie Labat, will discuss the Hunt campus renovation plans, test scores and student achievement, as well as a variety of other topics. The first session is 6 p.m. Monday at Sim Scott Park, just across the street from the Hunt buildings badly damaged by a February 2019 tornado.
So much of a school district’s decision-making sometimes happens in a boardroom vacuum, explained in education-speak that is often disconnected from the impacted public. Even attending one in person can leave one feeling less than engaged.
COVID-19 made the disengagement process much easier, as in-person meetings — and for a time in-person instruction — were halted or restricted. “Virtual” is rarely as productive as in-person, we’ve learned.
With case numbers dropping, CMSD officials are making a timely effort to move outside the boardroom and get in front of citizens on their turf. We hope the public in strong numbers will attend these meetings, armed with questions and a willingness to listen to the answers in good faith.
There’s quite a lot to talk about.
The aforementioned effort to renovate Hunt carries a price tag of $16 million with a promise of revitalizing the former Black equalization school into a community hub for education, events and workforce development.
Meanwhile test scores and student achievement, already a hot-button issue at D-rated CMSD, will have to bounce back from a major COVID dip. School safety looms large, too, as does the seemingly never-ending battle to recruit more community involvement with the schools.
We hope these meetings provide a baseline of reintroducing the school district with its patrons and striking up a healthy dialog among all parties.
Upcoming CMSD community meetings:
- Ward 5 at Sim Scott Park Community Center on Monday at 6 p.m.
- Ward 4 at the Boys and Girls Club on March 2 at 6 p.m.
- Wards 2 and 3 at the East Columbus Gym on March 7 at 5:30 p.m.
- Ward 6 at the Central Office on March 22 at 5:30 p.m.
- Ward 1 at the Townsend Community Center on March 23 at 5:30 p.m.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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