Building a district committed to its students

Though the first Lawrence School District Town Hall meeting may not have been a rousing success for a district with an enrollment of more 3,000 students as barely 50 parents attended the gathering at Number Two School last Thursday.

However, some residents and Superintendent Gary Schall are optimistic that the exchanges between parents, teachers and the administrators will lead to increased communication that could help students improve academically.

The “new Lawrence” was introduced at the meeting, which translates into a district that is openly facing its shortcomings. Whether that is the low state test scores or the high school being on the state’s needs improvement list, or school officials admitting that the district has failed lesser achievers and students from diverse backgrounds in the recent past, but going forward it’s a new ballgame.

“The administration is committed to your children first, not excuses and not a system,” said Board of Education trustee Dr. David Sussman. “The administrators will protect your children not the system.”

It is a system that Lawrence administrators need to revise if they are going to reach not only the students they teach, but also their parents; some of who don’t speak English and have their children translating for them.

Inwood resident Consuelo Vasquez is a native of Columbia, speaks very little English and with her Lawrence Middle School fifth-grade son Joseph Baracaldo translating said what was presented is “really important” and she liked most of what she heard.

“I am planning and want to try to do all I can to help my sons with their education and their futures,” Vasquez said. In addition to Joseph, she has an older son, Jeff, who is in his 20s.

Nelida Carpio, who speaks both English and Spanish, said she was glad she attended the meeting. “I really didn’t know what was happening with my children’s education,” said the Inwood resident, who has a boy in the third grade at Number Two School and another in pre-kindergarten at Number Four School. “I really liked it and they are doing the best for our children.”

Carpio, especially liked that district officials noted their strong stance against bullying as her third-grader, who battled leukemia for two years, was teased by schoolmates for his baldhead due to radiation treatments. He is now in remission.

“I liked that as that teasing really hurt his feelings, it is important to do something to protect our children’s emotional state,” said Carpio, who added that is also important that the district accommodate Spanish speaking parents and students.

Mother to a high school junior and a freshman, Lawrence resident Tammy Maddaloni is both optimistic and cautious about what she heard. “It all sounds good, I’ll wait and see,” she said.

Schall would have liked to see more people attend, but said he was impressed with the questions that were asked and the cross-section of residents who did attend. “The teachers and parents are engaged in this process and are equal partners,” Schall said.