Heather Romanski, 297 Scotland Road, mother of 2 daughters who attend the nationally recognized Moriarty Environmental Sciences Magnet School. (I say that every time I speak because I want everyone to remember that we are doing AH-Mazing things in our Norwich schools)
Earlier this month I attended a special BOE meeting where the only agenda items were related to school facilities. That night it was standing room only and while I’ve attended every BOE meeting since May 2016 - it was the first time that I didn’t have a seat. I think there was almost an hour of public comment that night and I’m pretty sure the policy says that as a board you have the right to limit the comments on 1 topic to 30 minutes, so as a parent and taxpayer, I thank you for allowing everyone an opportunity to be heard.
As person after person went to the mic, I heard many parents lament that they had no idea this facilities review was taking place and I got the impression that many seemed to feel like they had been kept in the dark. As someone who regularly attends your meetings as well as the Facilities Review Committee meetings, I was a little frustrated by that. You might remember that when I took my turn at the microphone, I said that I was moved by the number of people in the room and then invited the audience to keep attending and stay involved, knowing full well that I would most likely be solo in the front row again. From my perspective, in the short time that I have personally started to pay more attention to education in our city one thing has become apparent to me …. we have a communication problem. I would be thrilled to have to stand up at every BOE meeting that I attend because there are so many people in the room, but I won’t hold my breath. So how are we going to fix this problem? How do we get more parents engaged before there is a controversial, big ticket item on the list? I have some ideas … but we - parents and the BOE - we have no vehicle to have an actual conversation. While I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you during public comment and genuinely believe that it is a valuable part of the process - it does not allow for brainstorming or collaboration. A few months ago when I was leaving a meeting, someone mentioned in passing that the month before when I spoke I wasn’t as negative as usual and this individual sometimes wished that I just made a call” … I know it sounds so easy - but there are no phone numbers listed on the website - just email addresses and more often than not, I don’t get a response. Mr. Aldi, you’re the only member who consistently responds to every email I’ve sent - thank you.
I don’t need to tell you the world we live in is different than it was 10 years ago and what worked back then isn’t always as effective today but I honestly believe that the parents of our students are committed to our schools - they might not sit through every BOE meeting or attend every public hearing - but they care. Coming to a meeting and speaking at public comment maybe isn’t their thing … did you ever consider that this forum can be a tiny little bit intimidating? When you attend events in the district are you having casual conversations with parents? I’m asking you to think outside of the box and find ways to foster connections with the people you were elected to represent. 5:30 on the 2nd Tuesday of the month might not work for everyone.
Tonight, I’d like to personally extend an invitation to each of you to attend a pasta dinner at the Knights of Columbus in Taftville on Thursday, April 6. The tickets are $5 each and I have them with me tonight. The proceeds of the event go to the Moriarty PTO. Come alone, or bring your families - we'd love to have you. The event starts at 4:30 so you could load up on carbs before attending the city budget hearing later that night. I hope to see many of you there.
