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RPS 205 outlines summer engagement plan: free RMTD rides, meals at program sites, pop-up registration and pantry signage
Summary
The district presented its summer engagement strategy including partnerships with RMTD for free year-round rides, meal sites at RPS program locations, scannable community resource cards in English, Spanish and Swahili, and registration pop-up sites to boost fall enrollment.
Maureen Kirschman, director of attendance and community engagement for Rockford Public Schools, presented the district's summer engagement plan to the Committee of the Whole, emphasizing transportation, food access, registration support and community partnerships.
Kirschman told trustees that the district is centralizing partner summer-program information on the RPS website so families have "one place to find enrichment opportunities, camps, and activities happening all across the community." She framed the work as a strategy to reduce summer learning loss and promote consistent, on-time attendance in the fall.
On transportation, Kirschman highlighted the district's partnership with the Rockford Mass Transit District (RMTD). She said the partnership allows students to ride RMTD buses free of charge year-round, including during the summer. Kirschman described outreach efforts with RMTD to publicize summer availability through social media, printed flyers and partner announcements. She also noted one operational detail: "only high school students need to show an ID to ride; younger students just need to hop on the bus," and said RPS will host an RMTD presentation at an upcoming meeting to provide fuller program details.
Kirschman described several food-access efforts: any student up to age 18 can get free meals at any RPS program site while a program is operating, the district will post meal-site details on its website as summer nears, and RMTD buses will display signage indicating pantry-stop locations at nine pantry sites. The district also produced scannable community resource cards that link families to food assistance, mental-health care and housing help; the cards are available in English, Spanish and Swahili. Kirschman reported a new Northern Illinois Food Bank site with 24-hour temperature-controlled lockers that families can access at any time.
To help with fall enrollment, Kirschman said the district will operate pop-up registration sites in community centers near schools with lower registration counts, and staff will provide in-person help for families who lack internet access or need assistance with the process. The district said it will track early metrics including the number of students registered by Aug. 1, first-day attendance and attendance during the first week of school to gauge the summer efforts' impact.
Trustee Miss McCall asked whether the RMTD program has safeguards for younger students using buses alone; Kirschman said RMTD manages the program and that an RMTD presentation with program details will be scheduled. No formal action was taken; the presentation was informational.
