Shane Smith: Districts must respond to parents, engage students

Re “Education: We’re in this together, parents” (Page 7B, Sept. 24): Sara Sandrik is right: Parents play a vital role in our public elementary school district as stewards of their children’s education outside of the classroom. But to meaningfully empower parents, we need more than an iPhone app and the open comment period of a school government meeting. Those are after-the-fact communication tools that keep parents at arm’s length from what is happening at school.

I would hope to see my daughter’s school district promote genuine opportunities for dialogue with parents of all backgrounds. And when parents speak, I would expect our district shows us that it is listening. Merced is so fortunate to have outstanding teachers and staff educating our kids. Let’s just make sure parents can really lend a hand.

This story was originally published September 29, 2016 at 6:20 PM with the headline "Shane Smith: Districts must respond to parents, engage students."