Show of hands: How many of you would like an official say in the day-to-day doings of your child’s school?
How many of you would like to present official input on the lunch menu and infrastructure improvements, such as that new classroom addition you’ve been hearing about since before COVID?
Well, now’s the time to get involved.
Local School Improvement Councils are being formed across Monongalia County’s school district, now that the new academic year is picking up speed.
Elections must be held by Sept. 15 in all public schools for those wishing to serve, Deputy Superintendent Donna Talerico said.
After that, the first LSIC meeting of the year at each respective school must take place by Sept. 30, she added.
Such councils always include parent representation, she said, along with teachers and service employees from the school — who are also elected.
All meetings are open to the public, Talerico said.
“You don’t have to be elected to be part of the process,” she said.
“You can still come out and listen and offer your ideas,” she continued. “Every stakeholder – those parents, especially – gets a voice in the system. This is a wonderful mechanism for that.”
The mechanism is also state-mandated.
Lawmakers cleared the measure in the late 1990s to help with matters of school governance that dove deeper than Parent Teacher Associations and the like.
LSIC members are also consulted on the district’s big ticket items, including new school construction and the architectural sites where those buildings may take shape.
“In our high schools, LSICs have a say in what graduation is going to look like, for example,” Talerico said.
After their elections and initial meetings, LSIC representatives traditionally get a formal ear with the county’s elected Board of Education members.
That’s when they come out and present preliminary wish lists to the BOE.
To learn more, contact your child’s school or visit the district website at https://boe.mono.k12.wv.us/.
TWEET@DominionPostWV
