At the September 11th PCS Board of Education meeting PPS-PC presented the 2022-2023 Community Conversation Annual Report to the Board of Education. Catherine Romagnoli, PPS-PC Summer 2023 Intern, played an integral role in developing this report. In addition to reviewing all comments made during Community Conversations in April and May 2023 she reviewed previous Community Conversation Annual Reports. During the 2022-2023 school year the PPS-PC Board of Directors made the decision to pause Community Conversations to create space to pilot a program called Dialogue for Change. The 2022-2023 PEP cohort engaged in the Dialogue for Change process during their monthly PEP meetings. Dialogue for Change has some similar qualities to Community Conversations but provided the opportunity for a deeper discussion. Community Conversations typically last about an hour and conversations with Dialogue for Change can be longer and occur over multiple sessions. Instead of pausing Community Conversations for the whole school year the decision was made in the spring to host a small number of conversations during April and May.
The 2022-2023 Community Conversation Annual Report is a reflection on the conversations from April and May as well as a reflection on Community Conversations across the years. PPS-PC first hosted conversations during the 2014 – 2015 school year making the 2022-2023 conversations the 9th year of Community Conversations. During those nine years parents and community members have been invited to participate in 144 conversations. Each year Community Conversations typically include around 5 questions. Some questions have been used in multiple years. During the nine years participants have been invited to respond to 48 questions. Community Conversations have given 1,960 participants the opportunity to provide feedback and have their voice heard. PPS-PC looks forward to continuing to build on the successful approach of Community Conversations and to focus on engaging an even broader group of families and community members in future conversations in the years to come to ensure that a diverse perspective of voices is included in the conversation each year.
The community feels included when their voices are amplified to key educational decision makers in the district. They trust their suggestions for improvement will be valued as a resource for educational leaders when decisions are being made that affect students and families. The Annual Community Conversation Report is designed to be a guide and a tool that can be one way of bringing parent and community voices to the decision-making table.
PPS-PC would like to thank everyone that has engaged in a community conversation over the last 9 years as well as the many volunteers who have facilitated conversations and recorded responses. Pitt County Schools plays a vital role in helping to discern which questions to include in the conversation each year. PPS-PC is grateful for the opportunity to present the Annual Community Conversation Report to the Board of Education each year. Community Conversations are a great opportunity for parent/community engagement which is a critical component in helping to secure a high quality public education for each child in Pitt County.
The 2022-2023 Annual Community Conversation Report will soon be available on the PPS-PC website – ppspittcounty.org. Additionally, anyone who would like to request a digital copy of the report can send an email to jbreazeale@ppspittcounty.org
