Early this Summer, I approached District 150 about instituting this program, which has been proven to increase parental/citizen involvement in schools. The Program is similar to the Morton 709 Connect Program.
The Board President didn't respond to my e-mail. However, when the Superintendent finally discussed it with another person who approached her with it, she declined. Why? Because The District had enough on their plate and they felt it was more important to focus on the Don't Shoot effort that the City of Peoria was instituting.
This morning, I heard on the scanner chaos and fighting in the lunchroom foyer at Peoria High School. This past Friday, a group of alleged gang members disrupted the Manual Central Basketball game and were taken into custody. Parents and citizens have questions about how and/or why discipline is and/or is not meted out to teachers and students. And in 2013, citizens are being asked to vote YES on The District increasing taxes.
This morning, a couple of mothers of "gang" members reached out to me to inquire about the next Don't Shoot meeting - they want to attend. They have questions about how students are being rounded up and accused. Unfortunately I didn't have any information for them, so I referred them to the Don't Shoot website, which doesn't show any up coming informational events.
Considering we are dealing with school age children here, shouldn't there be a parent component to Don't Shoot, actively working in the schools? You know, some kind of formal effort before a parent of a "gang" member finds themselves down at the police station.
This question is to the teachers who read this blog: What exactly does Don't Shoot look like inside your school building? I already know you all had assemblies for the students; these students did a video and The District had a poster contest. What else is there; AND more importantly, how well is it going to work if parents aren't being included?
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| Poster contest winners (click image to enlarge). |