|
|
 |
 |
Mansfield News Journal
School tour sparks
dialogue on student home-life barriers
Courtney McNaull
MANSFIELD - As principal Andrea Moyer and assistant principal Tom Hager
led state Rep. Mark Romanchuk through the halls of Malabar Intermediate
School Monday, they described the obstacles they face in their daily
efforts to educate students.
They talked about the challenges of state testing mandates and
technology constraints, but mostly, they talked about the educational
barriers that start at home.
The topic sparked a dialogue about how schools and communities should
respond when kids' home lives present roadblocks to success.
In one week this school year, Hager said, five students in the fourth
through sixth grade intermediate school were grappling with thoughts of
suicide. Another time, a fourth grader came home from school to find
her mother overdosing on heroin.
Moyer said most of the school's parents do care about their kids and
their kids' education, but many of them are in "survival mode," just
trying to get by day to day. As a result, so much of the educators'
time is spent just making sure students are okay and getting them ready
to learn.
"So, how do we fix all the things you've described to me this morning?"
Romanchuk asked the administrators. "I haven't heard any solutions yet."
Moyer said training educators to recognize and respond to trauma has
worked well, so she would like to see an in-house trauma specialist
working full or part-time in the school to bolster those efforts.
Another step, she said, would be universal preschool to intervene with
kids at a younger age.
"No, I don't think so," Romanchuk said. "I don't think the solution is
probably inside these walls. It's probably outside these walls."
Hager said he wants to work with community partners and obtain
government grant funding for an after school center that would provide
a structured environment, possibly staffed by retired educators, where
they can eat, do their homework and take part in activities like art
therapy.
"I'm not sure that gets to the root of the problem," Romanchuk said.
"We have to continue to adopt policies that strengthen that family
unit. Sometimes you have to get rid of some things that you're doing
because you're just becoming part of the problem. Taking them after
school is not the answer. We have to find ways to get them back home
into that family unit."
But the reality for too many kids, Hager said, is that when they're not
at school they are roaming the streets, sometimes getting into trouble
or breaking the law. This lifestyle makes them less likely to graduate
and become productive members of society.
In response, Romanchuk implied he feels the solution lies not in having
more programs but in having fewer.
"I think the direction you're going in is not going to be best in the
long-term," Romanchuk said. "We have, for example, over three million
people on Medicaid. Probably a lot of these kids are on Medicaid. I
don't know about you but I think that's the wrong direction to be going
in."
Moyer said though she understands the argument, she feels having every
child attend preschool would make a positive difference. Hager said he
still believes it's not in the best interest of many of Malabar's
students to go home to empty houses or negative environments.
After the tour, Moyer said she appreciated that Romanchuk took the time
to visit and liked some of his suggestions for the school, like
applying for grants for educational technology. Moyer said she did not
have a political agenda in mind when extending the invitation.
"I just think it's important that people who make decisions about
schools, especially in government, visit schools," she said. "He got to
talk to some educators and find out some of the positive things that
are happening but also some of the issues we're facing, so he can make
more informed decisions."
When asked what kinds of policies he advocates to strengthen families,
Romanchuk did not give specific examples but did say "we have to
support education." He went on to say he supports expansion of vouchers
because he feels school choice strengthens families.
Read this and other articles at the Mansfield News Journal
|
|
|
|
