The Milwaukee Board of School Directors’ Committee on Parent and Community Engagement heard a report from district staff and two school parent coordinators on Jan. 1 on the coordinators’ role in connecting families to schools, boosting attendance and supporting school events.

The report focused on day-to-day work at Washington High School of Information Technology and Lloyd Barbee Montessori and summarized districtwide parent coordinator activity through December 2024, including outreach events, leadership activities and instructional supports.

Parent coordinators are the district employees who help families navigate district resources, connect families with school and community supports, and run family engagement events. Daryl Hall, family and community engagement specialist, told the committee the district currently supports 133 Title I schools and has 123 parent coordinators, with 10 open coordinator positions at various schools. Hall said the coordinator role is aligned with the district’s strategic priorities for improved school culture and communication.

Vaughn McDade, parent coordinator at Washington High School of Information Technology, described frequent direct outreach to families: “I make personal phone calls to parents almost daily, and as recently as yesterday, I made a home visit to make sure we get our students back on campus.” McDade said he uses the parent portal, phone calls, home visits and partnerships with alumni and community groups to re-engage students and to support enrollment work such as school tours and outreach events.

Jasmine Blakely, parent coordinator at Lloyd Barbee Montessori, described expanding events and family leadership: she said her school now hosts two to three engagement events per month, grew its PTO from one to 10 active members and increased survey responses from eight to 121 over the past year. Blakely said coordinators secure donations and community partnerships for holiday gift and hygiene-kit drives and run workshops and family nights designed to connect families with classroom learning.

Committee members asked how coordinators address chronic absenteeism. McDade and Hall described targeting students with consecutive absences through home visits and coordinated phone outreach. Hall said coordinators make “positive phone calls home” and assist with attendance follow-up, while McDade said he often identifies root causes such as transportation or anxiety and works with families and school teams to build a plan to return students to school.

Coordinators also requested two district changes: first, that the district convert parent coordinator positions from a traditional school-year schedule to an 11-month position so coordinators can provide year-round support; and second, that the hiring/onboarding process better connect new coordinators to the Department of Strategic Partnership and Customer Service and district resources so new hires start with the tools and contacts they need. Blakely and McDade said the current hiring process sometimes leaves new coordinators disconnected from the central office for weeks.

Board members asked administration to provide a list of schools currently without parent coordinators; administration agreed to supply that list to the board.

The district-wide activity data cited by staff and coordinators included 131 family and community engagement events reported by parent coordinators through December 2024; 56 events framed as family leadership opportunities; 125 instruction-centered activities designed to teach families how to use learning tools; and other supports such as school tours, walk-in assistance and enrollment outreach.

Directors praised the coordinators’ work and noted that coordinators wear multiple roles—attendance follow-up, family outreach, event coordination and community partnership cultivation. Several board members raised concern about possible coordinator burnout and asked what additional district supports or staff coordination could reduce overload.

The report was informational; no formal action was taken. The committee moved on to the next agenda item after questions and public comment.