Pastor T. Bridal Hill, president of the Twin Cities Ministry Alliance, told the School City of East Chicago Board of Trustees that a multi-sector effort is needed to increase parental engagement and improve student outcomes. He and community partners said they have spent months organizing a proposal, including applying for a 501(c)(3) for an entity called Partnering for Education in East Chicago, and want the school district and local institutions to participate.
Hill said the effort would use community organizing techniques — including door-to-door outreach — to reach parents where they are, address barriers that keep them from attending school events, and connect them to training such as the district’s Parent University. “Community organizers are trained in techniques … to convince people to come and to become a part,” Hill said in the meeting. He repeatedly cautioned that the work would be “expensive, time consuming” and require contributions from industry, faith groups, businesses and government.
Board members thanked Hill for bringing a plan rather than only criticism and asked for continued coordination with district staff. Trustee Bradbury, Trustee Gomez and Trustee Smith expressed support for a grassroots, door-knocking approach and noted past difficulties in sustaining parent-engagement efforts. Hill said the next step is to convene a governing board made up of representatives from across the city and to meet with the superintendent and district staff to set governance and funding steps.
Discussion only: the board and presenters discussed forming a governing board, ways to staff and fund door-to-door organizing, and connections to the district’s Parent University. No formal vote or district commitment to a funding source was made at the meeting. The superintendent and district staff were identified as partners for follow-up meetings and to help set the governing board and timeline.
The presenters said the Alliance has advocated for East Chicago schools for more than two decades, and they urged the board to move quickly to form the partnership. Trustees asked to be kept informed and indicated interest in participating in planning and outreach.
Community leaders asked that the district and trustees be involved in an organizing meeting to establish the governing board and determine next steps.