Not Forming a PTA Was the Right Path to Take

The Estancia Parent Teacher Supporters PTO (parent teacher organization) has been off to a slow start, but as they say, “slow and steady wins the race.” We keep trekking away finding out more and more information. I read an article that solidified my faith that not forming a PTA was the right path to take.

Members of the group have been meeting with district administrators and program coordinators to learn more about what goes on within the school. Some administration members have made themselves more available for these meetings, than others. One administrator will not be available until the end of July, when she, “will be back on contract.”

It is becoming more difficult to find out the details of our kid’s curriculum, before the school year begins. I am left feeling like all the decisions have been made and the parents, and community members, will again have no say in the curriculum that is taught within the bounds of the schools.

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Is CRT in Math, too?

We are one of just many districts in the country currently reviewing education practices and curriculum.

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The SEL (social emotional learning) curriculum has been a hot topic over the recent months. Promises were made that parents would have a say in choosing the curriculum, next month. Unfortunately, it turns out that the, already purchased and approved, curriculum for reading, in the elementary schools, has its own CASEL SEL curriculum interspersed throughout each lesson. I’m told the parents had a say in choosing this curriculum, though I am not one of those parents.

Lack of communication continues to be a problem between the district and parents. Although, this is an old problem, it has only recently come to my attention. Apparently, on multiple occasions every school year, the school district uses passive consent forms to get parent’s “approval,” for their kids to participate in surveys and programs. This means, we must trust our children to bring a paper home from school.

Next, they must remember to give it to us, instead of leaving it crumpled in the bottom of their bag. If we have the energy to read through the whole thing, we might notice the fine print that says that we need to sign if we DON’T want them to participate. If we don’t sign, that means we agree to it.

Finally, if by some miracle, we got the paper, read it, and signed it; we then must trust our children to get that paper safely back into the proper hands. My kids can’t even remember to give me the forms for things that they care about, let along something that they probably know nothing about. Shady stuff, if you ask me.

Notwithstanding, we will carry on; slow and steady. The next district school board meeting is July 11th, at 6pm. Come and show them that we care about what is going on in our district schools.

You might also enjoy reading:

Utah school district reviews use of ‘Social-Emotional Learning’ curriculum