Since PPS-PC began in 2013, we have produced a yearly Community Conversations report. Throughout the year, you may have seen a notice from PPS-PC, or from your school inviting you to participate in a community conversation. During these conversations, which are open to anyone, PPS-PC staff and volunteers ask a series of five questions that elicit responses from parents and community members about their experiences in Pitt County Schools. Those responses are compiled into a report which includes not only every comment from the year, but breaks those comments into common themes and categories. The report is shared with key leaders in Pitt County Schools including the Board of Education and the Senior Leadership Team.
This year, we also shared the report with our county commissioners. County commissioners bear the responsibility of funding a large portion of the Pitt County Schools budget each year. This year, they are supporting a budget that includes funding for school operations, supports the teachers supplement, allows for some capital expenses to be met, and enables the schools to increase pay for classified staff. In our letter to the commissioners and county manager, we shared a word of thanks for supporting these crucial components of public schools (all of which were referenced at one point or another in the community conversation report) and reiterated the needs of our schools as voiced by our community.
This year’s report revealed widespread appreciation for the work Pitt County Schools has done to keep students in school, keep them safe, and communicate with parents. Additionally, the theme of this year’s report could be summed up into one word: “more.” There were requests for more teachers, more teacher assistants, more support for the EC Department, more interpreters, more social workers, more pay for all school staff fulfilling multiple roles, more variety in forms of communication, more connections between parents and schools, and more support for students in a variety of ways. We hope that parents, schools, and communities can work together as we reach towards our goals of making our schools stronger and supporting student success.
To access this year’s full community conversation report, visit the “programs” portion of our website at www.ppspittcounty.org, and view the Community Conversations section.
