By Ben Rodgers
Editor

The Howard-Suamico school board does things differently, and that’s a good thing.

Recently the board held a linkage session with leaders from various social service and religious organizations to share ideas and frustrations.

According to Teresa Ford, board president, as a policy governance board, the school board relies on input from the community to make informed policy decisions.

Four group discussions centered on hurdles to clear, challenging policies and communication assessment.

Having leaders from their respective organizations come forward an engage in a serious discussion about families and their children was eye-opening.

Some of the problems brought up were things the district can do nothing about, such as homeless shelter availability for families or a lack of public transportation.

Though these may not be things everyone thinks about, the fact is they affect families in the Howard-Suamico School District.

Another issue from the discussion was student and parent stress.

In case you hadn’t noticed, students are asked to do more now than ever before. Competitiveness is at an all-time high, both inside and outside of the classroom.

High school underclassmen are taking Advanced Placement courses for college credit while at the same time curriculum is continuously evolving to keep up with an ever-changing job market.

Students, and in turn, parents are overwhelmed.

But not everyone is bound for a four-year college. More people are needed for jobs in industries that don’t require a liberal arts degree.

Knowing what options are available for these different routes can be difficult.

When it comes to ultra-competitive extracurriculars, students who don’t get an early start often won’t make the team.

Parents: If you want your child to ever play varsity sports, sign them up for club teams in elementary school.

So what happens when a student sets their hopes and dreams in athletics, but doesn’t make the cut?

Kym Allex, a youth minister at St. John’s, said those kids are then more at risk to feel disconnected in school and take up bad behaviors, like drug use.

Luckily Bay Port has other programs outside of athletics, with board and video games, to name a few, but then parents need to be aware of them.

One district guidance counselor learned about those programs for the first time during the linkage.

That brings up effective communication to parents.

Being a high school parent now means you can register your child for classes on one website, pay for their hot lunch on another, check grades on another and learn about school offerings on another.

Juggle that with normal family duties like practices and rehearsals, and finding time for a family dinner can seem daunting.

Though other districts in the area may be aware of these issues and others, you don’t read too many stories about how those districts address these concerns.

One thing that is certain is that the school board has a lot of information to digest and more than enough recommendations on how to change things.

It will be interesting to see what is born from this linkage.