The story of a local school district

It was with more than a pinch of skepticism that Mike and I decided to attend the Kaukauna School District Future Strong Summit that was held last year. The premise of the Summit was to bring teachers, parents, students, administrators, and community members together to discuss and discover solutions to the educational challenges that Kaukauna students face. Having dealt with a variety of administrators and school boards over the years, we were not confident regarding the possibility of making real substantive change.

However, the school district was proactively reaching out to parents and community members to get input; in addition, as we had written in previous articles, we were keenly aware of the crisis in education that faces not only our community, but students throughout the state and the country: only 1 in 3 third grade students can read or do math at a level that will allow them to be successful; there is a mass exodus of good teachers at all levels due to the chaos in the classroom; schools are being asked to take on a fantastically diverse range of responsibilities from education to mental health to food service to political agendas; and parents as a group have taken a big step away from participating in their students’ education.

There were three in-person meetings that made up the Summit. At each of the gatherings, there was a very impressive group of attendees, including representatives from all of the aforementioned invited groups. There were hundreds of stakeholders in the commons at Kaukauna High School, and there was a great energy, enthusiasm, and hopefulness that exuded from the group. 

The first step in the Summit process was to identify both positive aspects of our school system as well as the significant challenges that needed fixing. This allowed the participants to highlight and celebrate the successes and the many bright spots in our schools. As the discussion continued, small groups created short lists of skill sets every graduating student should possess; those skills included critical thinking, strong work ethic, verbal and written communication, math and science, career exploration and financial literacy, among others. 

We then transitioned to ‘Issues and Trends’ within the district that raised concerns for the group or required immediate attention. Again, there were constructive and cordial conversations around the individual tables and throughout the larger group. Many of the issues identified highlighted the crisis in education that teachers and parents are experiencing. Some of the comments focused on challenges in the classroom – lack of parent support, student attendance, lack of discipline, wasted class time, good teachers leaving, declining math and reading scores, etc. Others mentioned that schools have lost their mission of educating students and are forced to take on responsibilities outside their mission, including mental health, food service, and political trends.  

Most of us left these sessions with a strong sense of optimism that these critical issues identified by the Summit participants might be the starting point for future sessions focused on creating action plans to stop the bleeding and eventually right the ship. 

Unfortunately, our original skepticism regarding the Summit was well placed; recent communications from the school district have focused solely on ‘planning for buildings and facilities’ in preparation for an upcoming referendum. No one in the summit sessions honestly believed that the school buildings are the cause or the solution to what ails the education system in Kaukauna. Our kids went to grade school at the Catholic School in Kaukauna in a building that is well over 70 years old. The building has been well-maintained over those years, but it is the same old building. Our kids received an outstanding elementary school education in a very old building.

But let’s just rewind back to the last days of the Summit. What if a school district were to replicate the format of the Summit and create a similar list of action items; what if a school district was sincere about highlighting and solving the most critical issues in education in their community; what if a school district would continue to assemble the community group to address these challenges head on. If we all worked together, what solutions could we come up with to welcome and encourage parents to re-engage in their students’ education; could we find volunteer resources from our homes to assist teachers in the classroom to maintain discipline and order so real teaching could again take place; what policies could be recommended with the backing of the community to help teachers enforce standards in the classroom including proper dress and phone-free classrooms; could we identify skilled craftsmen or hard-working volunteers to paint, refresh landscaping, or improve a play area?

Thanks to the Kaukauna School District, the blueprint to educational success is there for the taking, but school districts will need to have the courage to see the process through. Let’s work together within our communities to create a vision of outstanding education for our students and then create a path to make that vision a reality. Perhaps in the future, education summits will be as common as school board meetings, creating a true partnership between schools and community members.