It is Not Only the Students Who Graduate! Parent Advocates’ Role After Graduation

Congratulations – you successfully got your child to high school graduation! K-12 lasts 13 years. Think of everything you’ve learned about raising your child, navigating pre-teens and teens, and how to effectively interact with your school and school district. Parents of recent graduates can be incredible advocates for all of our students and help a new generation of parents learn from your experience! Your wisdom is a valuable resource and, regardless of your student’s educational status, YOU are still a community member and taxpayer. Many seasoned education advocates want to stay involved in advocacy after their child has graduated. Parents of district alumni students are in a unique position to advocate. Parents Defending Education has the following suggestions of how you can stay involved post-graduation.

Tips for Advocacy Post Your Child’s Graduation:

Sign up to speak at a school board meeting. ALL members of the community are allowed to speak during the Community Participation portion of the meeting. Community members without children in the district school can often speak more freely because there is no risk of retaliation against their child. 

Contact your school board if you have concerns or want to share your opinions. Just because your child has graduated it does not mean you have to disengage. Parents of alumni have great perspectives and institutional knowledge about the district, policy decisions, policy debates, long-term strategic plans, budgetary knowledge, current and past superintendents, commitments made to the community and the personalities and interests of members of the school board.

Help educate parents of younger students how to best advocate for their child. Let the parents know what was effective, what you would have done differently, and what approach worked best with various staff across district leadership. 

Write a Letter to the Editor or Op Ed for your local or area paper. Many of these publications welcome community input. Your knowledge and experience can be invaluable in advocating for a certain position. 

Join a committee. School committees are a great way to impact policy. Districts have multiple committees, ranging from Family Life Education, Budget, Grading, Facilities, Boundary Studies, Curriculum, School Safety, Technology and School Leadership Team, just to name a few. Find out what School Board Committees your district supports and how your experience can benefit your community. Many of these committees are made up of school district staff, teachers, parents and community members. It is important that these committees are representative of the community at large, not just district insiders. 

Stay connected. Remaining involved in a school district that has been a major part of your life for 13+ years can be rewarding and is a great way to continue to serve your community. Parents who have “been through the system” offer unique perspectives, help keep the district focused on academic achievement and can act as invaluable mentors for a new generation of parents.