Request a One-On-One Meeting with Your Superintendent or School Board Member – Or Both!

Superintendents and School Board members need to hear from parents! Our Superintendents and School Board members hear a lot from administrative staff, division leadership, and school-based leaders. They have countless meetings – often all day every day – with these school insiders. What voices are often missing? The unique voices, perspectives and wants of parents. 

Parents approach things differently from division staff and leadership. If you are hearing rumblings of things in your community about your school and you have questions, go to the source! Group meetings are great and effective, but individual meetings help you develop a rapport and can be more focused on the exact issue you want to discuss.  

Here are some simple suggestions to make preparing for a meeting easier and to make the most of the sit-down once the day arrives. As always, if you are hitting a brick wall, reach out to Parents Defending Education and we can provide additional tips and strategies.

Strategies and Pre-Planning:

Request a meeting via email. Copy the Superintendent’s Administrative Assistant or the School Board Secretary on the email. These are the people who typically maintain the schedule for the officials. Introduce yourself, mention the issue you want to discuss and request an in-person meeting. If you are reaching out to the Superintendent and that person is hired by the school board, copy your school board member. You have every right to request an in-person meeting. Division leadership should want to meet with parents. 

Be persistent. Superintendents and School Board members are busy – but this “busyness” should NOT prohibit them from meeting with parents. You may not get a meeting on the books within days of your request, but you should expect a meeting within a few weeks at the most. Parents are important participants in their child’s education. They should be heard.

Once you have a meeting scheduled, be prepared and be confident. Arrive early to the meeting. Determine parking arrangements beforehand. Bring a notebook and pen.

Bring a list of your questions or the topics you want to discuss. Be respectful of the Superintendent or School Board members’ time. Your meeting will likely be anywhere from 30-60 minutes. That is not a lot of time. Having a prepared list of questions will help make the most of your interaction and will help you stay on topic if you get nervous. 

Bring supporting documentation if you are raising specific questions. This could include Board policy, questionable homework, concerning emails received from your school or a specific teacher, or screen shots from presentations you wish to discuss. A picture is worth a thousand words. It is fair that Superintendents and School Board members might not know everything going on in every school, every day. Take this as an opportunity to educate and inform school leadership about an issue they may be unaware of.  Leadership should want to be told about concerning issues if they are as-yet uninformed. Showing them examples is more effective than telling them.

If you are in a Single-Party Consent state, you may wish to record the meeting. A lot can be said and discussed and a recording will allow you to listen to the conversation in a less stressful environment and you may pick up on things you did not notice during the meeting. If you are in a Two Party Consent or Mixed Consent state, you must request and receive permission to record the conversation. 

Ask at the beginning of your meeting how much time the Superintendent or School Board member has allowed for your discussion. This may require you to prioritize your questions. Ask the most important questions first. The time can go quickly and you don’t want to leave your most important question to last, and potentially not get a chance to address it.

Be prepared with an answer to “what goal or outcome are you looking for?” from the Superintendent or School Board member. It is a great opportunity to talk with school leadership, but your ultimate goal is to see change or action as a result of your meeting. Ask the Superintendent or School Board member what action steps they will take, their follow-up and how that will be communicated to you. Request a follow-up meeting if necessary. 

Document your meeting in a follow-up email. Restate what was discussed and what was decided. Keep in mind this communication will be subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Keep the summary concise and to the point, and remember the issues you raised during your meeting may help other parents in the future.