In the past school year, there has been an increase in the amount of parent and community activism in Manhattan Beach Unifed School District affairs. This heightened participation in district proceedings helps check for inconsistencies and bring forth unconsidered issues.
MBUSD parents Melissa Stein, Kim Leserman and Maggie Ivey have taken action to make community and MBUSD Board of Trustees members aware of issues within the district. Stein and Leserman sent an email chain on April 21 to MBUSD parents in an effort to expand upon the information given by the district regarding the $1.03 million budget error, which affected teacher negotiations, and to encourage the community to take action by attending an emergency board meeting on April 23. According to history teacher Bill Fauver, the group of parents looking into this financial issue is unprecedented.
Ivey sent a series of emails to board members, teachers and parents beginning on May 22 concerning issues such as cap and gown fees and state health surveys, but her concerns were not addressed by the district. However, Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale emailed parents to clarify that the cap and gown fees are legal.
According to Manhattan Beach Unified Teachers’ Association President Shawn Chen, in the midst of teacher contract negotiations, the union began a teacher “slowdown” in order to get parents to voice concerns to the district. Chen believes that the parent involvement on behalf of the union, after Stein and Leserman became involved, had a significant effect on resolving teacher contract negotiations. The correlation between parent activism and district affairs is evident and should continue to ensure that the district’s financial situation and issues are understood by the community.
While parent involvement is beneficial, there is also an increased possibility for communication of misinformation. In Ivey’s recent emails to members of MBUSD, she voiced her concerns about the district requiring students to pay a fee for caps and gowns, believing it to be a violation of California Education Code 49011. However, her concern is unfounded as students can be reimbursed upon the return of their caps and gowns, pursuant to Ed Code 49011. In situations such as these, the district needs to respond to false allegations in order to ease parent concerns. In the future, parent complaints should be voiced directly to the district to give the district time to respond to problems before parents possibly spread false information.
According to Fauver, an issue with parent involvement revolves around the fact that parents will be primarily be concerned with their own child’s interests. This stops parents from understanding district affairs fairly and makes them biased to issues that personally affect their child in MBUSD.
Recently, the Board of Trustees made a change in its meeting policy, allowing for community comments after the board discusses items on the agenda. This change will have a positive impact by allowing the board to hear parent opinions before making decisions. The Board also allows parents to add items to the agenda, showing its interest in parents’ opinions. Rather than sparking controversy through email chains, this change allows parents to share concerns in an appropriate setting.
As clearly shown, parent involvement in district affairs allows for transparency between all parties. Activism aids board decisions overall, which benefits teachers, students and parents. The board has taken steps to facilitate parental involvement, which should be utilized by parents.
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