Creating a strong bond between families, schools, and the community is a top priority for Guilford County Schools Superintendent Dr. Whitney Oakley.
“I've been spending a lot of time putting my ear to the ground and listening to all kinds of people in our community about what they want to see prioritized, what they're compelled by, and just spending a lot of time getting feedback,” Dr. Oakley said.
During her first 100 days, Dr. Oakley met with more than 2,000 people from various groups in Guilford County. These meetings were all a part of her "Better Together" community conversations". The goal was to increase communication and transparency.
“We know that strong communities have strong schools, and so I think making sure that we engage all these different groups and continue to do so, not just once, but to come back and say how it's going, what's working, what's not working,” Dr. Oakley said. “It's some of the most important work we can do."
Parents, teachers, business owners, and faith leaders were among those who had their voices heard. Dr. Oakley said increased support for students following the COVID-19 pandemic school closures was top of mind for many.
“I think it's also important to remember our Black and Hispanic students fell behind the furthest during remote learning and I think employees and community members have found that very compelling when we talk about what the data looks like and what recovery looks like,” Dr. Oakley said.
The school district said learning recovery efforts expanded by increasing the number of students tutored by 398% this year compared to last Fall. GCS has also seen a 115% increase in students attending learning hubs.
“They're starting to pay off,” Dr. Oakley said. “It's going to take some time, but we heard loud and clear that our community believes in these learning acceleration efforts and wants to see them continue. I want to keep going until every student who needs a tutor has a tutor."
WFMY Anchor Lauren Coleman asked Dr. Oakley what the community wanted to see prioritized.
“One of the biggest pieces of feedback that we are hearing is the rise in mental health issues,” Dr. Oakley said. “The need for mental health supports in our schools, not just for our students, but for our adults in our staff members and our teachers."
Dr. Oakley said she was listening. In October she launched on-demand mental health support for students and recently added staff to those services. Nearly a thousand people have already taken advantage of the program.
“There's just a lot of traumas that people are still facing, and it plays out, you know our schools are this microcosm of our communities,” Dr. Oakey said. “So, when things happen outside of school, sometimes they surface themselves inside of school and for our students, we have to offer them the supports they need.”
Increased school safety was also a popular theme that emerged from the community conversations. Based on this feedback, Dr. Oakley said she hosted the district's first safety summit with students and deployed over 12 new school safety strategies.
“There are fights in classrooms, athletic events, and behavioral incidents in the classroom,” Dr. Oakley said. “We're doing things. We've implemented scanners at the high schools, the mental health supports that just launched over the last few weeks, we also made sure that we are having conversations with our law enforcement partners about community-wide solutions.”
WFMY Anchor Lauren Coleman then also asked Dr. Oakley what was the number one issue that needs to be addressed when it comes to our schools today.
"It's really tricky to pick one,” Dr. Oakley said. “I really think our core business is academics and so making sure students have the skills and the tools that they need. That we offer an education that makes them ready to enter the world right. That we think of graduation as an opportunity and what we want our workforce here in Guilford County to look like.”
She said building up our future workforce is not only going take the work of our schools, but partnerships with local businesses to offer workforce development. It will also take building a strong professional culture where teachers and staff feel supported and appreciated as well as increasing intentionality to involve parents. Simply, we are better together.
“I really believe in Guilford County Schools, and I think the power of public education is the only thing that can change the world and with more than 20 years in public education, I think there is not a more critical time than right now,” Dr. Oakley said. “Our students are depending on us. Our community wants to help. They need us to press forward."
As we move into a new year, Dr. Oakley is offering two additional opportunities to hear from the community. The next meeting will January 18 at Allen Jay Prep in Highpoint. There will also be a meeting on January 24 at Dudley High school in Greensboro. Both meetings are from 6 pm-7 pm.