It was an answer that revolved around staffing

Harrisburg School District’s next big task

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When a committee designed to oversee the financial recovery of Harrisburg School District gathered Thursday evening, their objective was straightforward.

They were asked to answer one simple question: How can attendance and truancy be improved in the canada goose outlet boston city’s schools?

The answer proved much more complex. It was an answer that revolved around staffing, policies, procedures, curriculum, in school safety and engaging regularly with parents to let them know how important it is for children to show up for class.

That was the discussion at Thursday’s meeting of the district’s Recovery Plan Advisory Committee designed to oversee the amendment of Harrisburg’s financial recovery plan, https://www.bamschaatsteam.nl which is intended to bring the district back to fiscal and academic success.

It was at the meeting that district receiver Janet Samuels revealed that last year’s attendance rate for all Harrisburg schools was only canada goose parka outlet uk about 88 percent well below the goal of 97 percent, she said.

Of all of the district’s schools, attendance was near its lowest at Harrisburg’s John Harris High School Campus, she said.

That’s a problem, Samuels explained, because in the schools children are provided a safe space away from some of the dangerous situations they face in the community.

“There is a direct correlation between student attendance and safety,” she said. “School is an important place canada goose outlet niagara falls for students to be socially, emotionally and otherwise.”

The complexities of the Harrisburg community were discussed at length by both members of the committee and the audience that gather to listen and engage.

Among the cheap canada goose points of conversation were Issues such as poverty, students with canada goose black friday new york single parents, students with sick parents and older family members disgruntled with their own former experiences at Harrisburg schools.

For at least the last of those talking points, Lori Suski a committee member and superintendent at nearby Middletown Area School District offered a comment.

“School in 2019 might look very canada goose outlet phone number different from when they were in school,” she said.

Then, the committee members began brainstorming cheap canada goose ideas for how to convey that message to members of the community.

“It means working collaboratively with students and families,” Samuels said. “We need to be cognizant of student attendance every day.”

The ideas to support that collaboration included regular meetings, but at different times and locations to ensure that working parents with differing schedules Canada Goose Parka can attend; possibly introducing dedicated staff to police truancy issues and make home visits when problems arise; and maybe offering incentives or rewards to students with canada goose outlet toronto factory exceptional attendance rates.

RELATED: FBI is investigating Harrisburg School District: sources Those were in addition to a number of additional suggestions, but most of all, committee member Beth Light said, school administrators and staff must be cognizant of what is happening in students’ homes while engaging with parents of all backgrounds.”We have to value and respect all parents,” she said. “We have to hold parents up.”

Committee member Marisol Craig, Cougar Academy’s principal said that means keeping them informed, calling them the first time a child is absent from class without an excuse.

“Someone is going to follow up; someone is going to check in,” she said.

All of those suggestions sounded good to Acting Superintendent John George, he said, but not without a strong foundation of relevant, engaging academic curriculum that will make students want to come to school also not without a safe environment in the district’s buildings.

Students must feel both physically and emotionally Canada Goose online safe in the buildings, he said.

“I wouldn’t go to a place I don’t feel safe,” George said. “I’d skip school, too.”

Work toward all of those goals, is currently underway and has been since a state takeover of Harrisburg schools was ordered in June by a Dauphin County judge, Samuels said, promising transparency as official work toward academic and financial recovery in the long underperforming district.

“There is much underway, and we want to make sure that everyone is aware what is happening,” she said.

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