Parental involvement, Financial Resources Key Issues in Huron Valley Schools

Attend an event at Huron Valley Schools and you might have to walk a block to get in - that type of parental involvement might explain why the district's students are so successful.

So says Pat Collins, a retired school social worker, who attended Tuesday's education conversation in White Lake.

In partnership with the Center for Michigan and co-sponsored by the district and Patch, nearly a dozen parents talked about a range of topics from what makes Huron Valley great, and how the district can be improved to better serve students.

In fact, student achievement by offering more money.

Many attendees agreed that Huron Valley is doing the best the can with the resources available - but that there is still room for improvement.

Parent Christine Quane said the district needs to do a better job of tapping into community resources and businesses. "We need to look at local businesses, foundations and non-profits," she said. "There are a lot of people in the area that would help the district if they just knew what the district needed. The district needs to be more innovative to overcome the financial shortfalls. We can do better."

All attendees agreed parent participation and involvement is the key to helping the district and its student continue to succeed.

"I'd like to be able to log in at work and see a youtube video of what my kids are learning, to see that day's lecture, so that when I get home my child and I can have those discussions and I know how I can help them," Quane said.

Laura Vogel, White Lake, agreed.

"There were times I couldn't help my child with their math homework because I didn't know the method they were being taught," Vogel said. "If there was a place online where we, as parents, could go and see how the teacher is teaching them things, like certain math equations, it'd be easier for us to get more involved in our child's learning and help them at home."

Patch plans on hosting a conversation with the Center for Michigan in all 29 Patch towns in Michigan, though the center is doing many more throughout the state.

The center's Outreach Coordinator Amber Toth, Tuesday's moderator, said the ideas and comments from the forum will be shared with the incoming state lawmakers in 2013.