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Subject: LMU Family of Schools Next Steps - Sent on behalf of Drew Furedi
Dear LMU Family of Schools Community:
I want to personally thank all of you for your input, energy, and involvement at the recent LMU Family of Schools Town Hall Meetings on June 16 and 19.
Thanks to some great questions and wonderful willingness to continue engaging in dialogue about the ways in which we can envision even better results for all students at the seven public Westchester schools, we have some clear next steps that will move our dialogue forward.
It is worth repeating that we have heard loud and clear from the Los Angeles Unified School District that there are no plans to alter the school governance, make-up of student enrollment, or to minimize the level of input from any student, teacher, administrator, parent, or the community as a whole. As we have stressed, this is the start of a dialogue without a pre-determined endpoint. Loyola Marymount University, through the LMU Family of Schools project will continue to play the role of convener, facilitator, and an active community partner, no matter the outcome of any discussions.
So now, on to the next steps…
Working Group: This fact-finding body (originally referred to at the Town Hall meetings as a Steering Committee) will meet three times as a group throughout the summer.
Once again, I want to stress the fact that this is not a decision-making body. It has one purpose – to do the research and preparation for us to engage in well-informed and fruitful community dialogues beginning in late August.
I want to personally thank all of you for your input, energy, and involvement at the recent LMU Family of Schools Town Hall Meetings on June 16 and 19.
Thanks to some great questions and wonderful willingness to continue engaging in dialogue about the ways in which we can envision even better results for all students at the seven public Westchester schools, we have some clear next steps that will move our dialogue forward.
It is worth repeating that we have heard loud and clear from the Los Angeles Unified School District that there are no plans to alter the school governance, make-up of student enrollment, or to minimize the level of input from any student, teacher, administrator, parent, or the community as a whole. As we have stressed, this is the start of a dialogue without a pre-determined endpoint. Loyola Marymount University, through the LMU Family of Schools project will continue to play the role of convener, facilitator, and an active community partner, no matter the outcome of any discussions.
So now, on to the next steps…
Working Group: This fact-finding body (originally referred to at the Town Hall meetings as a Steering Committee) will meet three times as a group throughout the summer.
Once again, I want to stress the fact that this is not a decision-making body. It has one purpose – to do the research and preparation for us to engage in well-informed and fruitful community dialogues beginning in late August.
The group will help to answer:
- Do any or all of the schools within LMU FoS want to submit a proposal to the Innovation Division of the LAUSD seeking greater school or cluster autonomy?
- What are the ways in which to articulate the role of the many stakeholders within the structure of a Family of Schools?
Meetings:
The meetings will take place on:
1. Saturday, July 14 from 9 – 11 a.m. (Roski Cafeteria, University Hall, LMU)
2. Wednesday, July 25 from 4 – 6 p.m. (Hilton 100, Hilton School of Business, LMU)
3. Saturday, August 11 from 9 – 11 a.m. (ECC 1862, University Hall, LMU)
Participation: The suggested participants were identified with the goal of maximum stakeholder involvement. However, since this is not a decision-making body, we proactively ask for your flexibility and patience with the process, which might result in heavier representation from one stakeholder group than another. This is a fact-finding group and as facilitators of this process, we are confident that multiple opinions and perspectives will be represented in the research that we all do together.
In response to stakeholder suggestions, we have amended the list of identified participants to include PTA representatives and alternates for teacher representatives and other stakeholder groups as well:
- 1 Teacher representative from each school site selected via UTLA procedures for representation (1 alternate for each)
- 1 Admin representative from each school level
- 1 LAUSD representative
- 1 Neighborhood Council representative
- 1 POWWOW representative
- 1 WPEF representative
- 1 LMU Family of Schools representative
- 1 Preschool representative
- 1 Continuing Education representative
- 1 Parent representative from each schools PTA organization
Thank you once again for your interest, your energy, and all that you already do for the students in our schools. Loyola Marymount University is excited to partner with all of you to truly create student success for every student in the LMU Family of Schools.
Drew Furedi
