Charting the future
Forum helps school system develop vision for 2012
By Donna C. Gregory NEWS EDITOR

School board member David Wyman (center) discussed the future vision of Chesterfield County Public Schools with parents during a community forum last week.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS), and what should be the areas of focus for the school system over the next five years? More than 100 parents, teachers, students, administrators and others answered those questions and more during a public forum held at the Fulghum Center last week.

The forum came as CCPS prepares for an independent audit of its curriculum by Phi Delta Kappa International (PDK). Next month, auditors will visit every school and speak to school board members, administrators and others about the effectiveness of the current curriculum in terms of governance and control, direction and expectations, and other criteria.

During the forum, participants were grouped together at tables and then given 10 minutes to discuss each of five questions. Each table then reported its answers. PDK will review the responses during its audit. Below is a summary of the questions and some of the responses.

Question 1: What are the general perceptions of the quality of county schools? On what are we basing those perceptions?

• Most attendees rated the school system as either "good" or "great."

• Most students who attended the forum rated the school system as "fair" or "poor," particularly in terms of school safety. One student said the school system "needs to be more proactive than reactive" when it addresses safety concerns.

• One table of parents complimented the school system's technology and gifted program, adding that center-based gifted should be offered at every school. Another parent table highlighted students' high test scores and ability to get into good colleges.

• Representatives from the faith community rated the school system as "good" for the majority of students but "poor-to-fair" for minority students.

• Those from the business community said the school system was "good" when compared to other districts across the nation but "poor" when compared to educational systems globally.

Question 2: What do county schools do best? • High school administrators - Advanced placement offerings, specialty centers

• Parents - Good communication between teachers/parents. Also said the school system's Web site is a good communication tool. Other parents said the school system does a good job meeting special education needs at the elementary school level.

• Business community - "Very well run financially," said one speaker.

• Students - Commended the school system for encouraging community involvement among students at the high school level.

• Teachers - "We think Chesterfield County does a good job of working its teachers hard, but we don't necessarily think they work them smart," said one teacher.

Question 3: What are the biggest challenges in preparing students for a global world? • Students - "There's too much of an emphasis on SOLs and more emphasis should be put on real world skills like doing your taxes," suggested one student. Another student answered, "Preparing children for jobs that don't even exist [now]."

• Elementary administrators - Teaching children to be in-depth thinkers and problemsolvers.

• Faith community - Too many trailers being used as classrooms, foreign language should be taught earlier.

• Parents - Students need to be taught life skills, focusing on helping students become "free thinkers" and "good communicators." Other parents thought the school system should put more emphasis on math and science. Additional comments included teaching children the core values of respect and responsibility and making sure all schools are at the same technology level.

Question 4: What changes are needed to educate students? What should be de-emphasized or given up? What needs to be emphasized that currently is not?

• Parents - Some parents felt the school system should stop emphasizing test scores.

• Students - More emphasis should be put on the quality of AP test scores versus the number of tests taken. Students also felt coursework should be aimed at the SAT test, not the SOLs, because SAT scores are what colleges use to determine admission.

• Business community/teachers/students - All of these groups felt more emphasis should be put on vocational education, particularly for those not college bound.

Question 5: What local qualities and practices should be maintained or improved on? • Students - Some felt guidance counselors needed to become more involved with students. Others said the school system should continue to improve on extracurricular activities. "It gives us a reason to go to school," said one teen.

• Parents - The school system should continue promoting community involvement, said one group of parents.

• Faith community - The group felt the school system should focus on improving parental involvement among disadvantaged students. It also suggested increasing the number of districts, and encouraging the business community to become more involved in the school system.

• Teachers - One group of teachers said they appreciated the openness of the school board and some school administrators.