DMAC Members Want to Hear from the Community
The District Monitoring and Advisory Committee (DMAC) will meet 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26, at Tyrone Elementary, 2401 66th St. N, St. Petersburg. During the meeting, DMAC members want to hear from members of the community about how Pinellas County Schools is doing in matters of equity and diversity.
Dr. Barbara Hires, Region V associate superintendent, is scheduled to discuss Title I, the federal program that provides extra resources for schools with high populations of needy children and seeks to increase parental involvement in education. Hires’ office is in charge of Title I schools.
DMAC is a 14-member, community-based committee that was created by the federal court to monitor Pinellas County Schools in its efforts in the areas of equity and diversity. The committee met at James B. Sanderlin Elementary for its April meeting, the first such community-based meeting in more than a year.
“As I assumed chairmanship of DMAC in November, I asked the committee to meet at least once a quarter in the community,” said Adrien Helm, chairperson. “Why? I believe there is widespread misinformation about the court order/stipulations on unitary status. Many, even employees, believe that since the most obvious ‘symptom’ of court supervision – busing – has disappeared, the district is no longer obligated to make progress in the other areas set out in the order/stipulations. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Having public comment at DMAC meetings in the community gives the committee a chance to clarify that issue as well as the opportunity to hear from the people who are most affected by the district’s progress on equity and diversity, according to Helm.
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