Tuesday’s District 3 town hall meeting at Brownsville Assembly of God church was a packed house, which meant everyone who submitted a question form didn’t get to ask their question at  the meeting.

But I worked to get answers to those questions of the folks to whom they were directed.

I also added a couple of my own as they arose.

Here are Escambia School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas’ responses to questions meant for him.

MELANIE SCHROEDER-SACCOMANN: What specific efforts are under way to do parental outreach especially in inner-city schools.

She also has a question “morale of teachers” (but nothing more specific.)

THOMAS: Listed below are activities that come to mind immediately (this is certainly not a comprehensive list):

 -- On April 17th a two hour training session was held at Pensacola High School for parents of Title I schools. A media release was sent to all area markets and 13 inner city schools were targeted with flyers and school call outs. Fliers were distributed in churches between the Lincoln Park community and Global Academy attendance zones. Since the training took place during dinner hours, a meal was served, prepared by Escambia High School's Culinary Arts Academy.  Participants received a copy of the speaker's internationally acclaimed book, “Preparing Children for Success in School and Life: 20 Ways to Increase Your Child's Brain Power.”

-- A task force, Community Connect for Student Success, meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month to develop recommendations for the school  district, the community and parents. Each of these groups is represented on the task force. The group has interviewed students and teachers regarding barriers to academic success of students and will plan to report to the School Board by the end of June on work to date.

-- A Parent Community Liaison is on staff at five school sites and one will be added at the Title I office for fall 2014 to coordinate efforts to support and assist parents.

 -- Six schools have Home Visitors who meet with the parents of children birth to five in the home, or a nearby community center at least twice each month.  Curriculum used in these sessions is Parents as Teachers, a model recognized for building the capacity of parents as their child's first and most important teacher.  The six schools as well as child care centers participating with ECARE and the district's WeeRead program host parent nights called "Lap Sits" at least quarterly to model activities families can replicate with their children to build emergent literacy and numeracy skills and to build language.  During the lap sit, activities are modeled by staff followed by parents joining their children to practice the activity featured.

-- Title I schools set funds aside to pay for substitute teachers to allow classroom teachers to meet with parents to discuss student academic and social/emotional growth and to provide strategies for parents to use to support learning in areas identified for additional practice.

-- FCAT nights, Reading nights, Mathematics and Science activity nights are featured at all Title I schools.

-- Parents are referred for participation in Bridges to Circles, a community partnership to build family capacity.

-- Health Fairs are sponsored at schools.

-- Clothing closets are located at Lincoln Park and Lipscomb for students and parents.

-- Students in high poverty schools receive weekend backpacks for groceries.

-- At least five schools have Family Resource Rooms where materials are available for parent check out.  Some also make computers available for job searches and resume development.

SHEILA GREEN: Why is Camelot School not giving children the education they need?

THOMAS: “Camelot is a second chance program for students that have been removed from traditional schools for serious breaches of conduct.  The school is providing appropriate educational services for students.”

MARY GUTIERREZ: Do our teachers meet the same standards as teachers in other counties in the state?

THOMAS: “All teachers in Florida must meet the same standards to be certified and highly qualified. The biggest challenge facing school districts is the fact that fewer young people are considering teaching as a profession. Colleges of educations across our region and the country have seen declines in enrollment. The district sends representatives across the southeast to recruit and hire high performing education graduates. We had more success with that approach the past two years.”

[progresspromise]