About 10 people sat scattered across the auditorium at Garfield Community Learning Center — few enough to easily count. Most were teachers and administrators, along with an older couple who came on behalf of their grandchild.
Superintendent Mary Outley encouraged conversation, transforming the Akron Public Schools’ listening tour stop into an intimate discussion.
During previous events at Ellet Community Learning Center and North High School, Outley jokingly told listeners she was going to revert to her elementary school teaching days as she walked up aisles and past empty seats to introduce people and offer them a chance to share a statement, answer a question or ask something.
Similar scenes transpired throughout Akron to varying degrees during Community Conversation: Listen and Learn Tour. The three-month listening event, which also included stops at Firestone, Buchtel and East CLCs, underscored a central challenge for Outley, an Akron native now about a year into her tenure: reaching and engaging families across a large, diverse school district, even as Akron schools make a visible push to listen.
“I think it’s something that’s just new,” said Outley, who launched the listening tour. “People really may not know what it is. I feel like parents might be intimidated.”
The irony of the lack of attendance is that in the past, the school district has struggled to effectively share information about its programs and initiatives.
The listening tour’s goal was to share updates and listen to community feedback, an effort to improve communication with Akron residents.
“We’re getting back to actively engaging in the community,” said Phil Montgomery, who joined Akron’s school board in January. “We’re not sitting downtown waiting for people to come to a board meeting — we’re getting out into the district and trying to get feedback on what we can be doing better.”
Johnnette Curry agreed.
The grandmother of a Garfield CLC student told Outley she was impressed with the school district’s outreach, but discouraged by the listening tour stop’s turnout.
“How can we help to get the word out?” Curry said.
Family survey and student voices shape APS’ next steps
Concerns about student safety and a lack of awareness of district programs were among the issues identified in a recent APS survey. It was aimed at understanding why some families are leaving the district for education alternatives such as EdChoice schools or homeschooling, Assistant Superintendent Wanda Lash said.
The feedback highlights a gap between what the school district offers and what families know about those opportunities.
“We’ve got to do a really good job of telling our own story,” Lash said.
Akron schools is working to reconnect with families who choose to homeschool by offering APS Online, the school district’s fully online school option, and hosting virtual meetings to keep them informed, she added.
Students are also helping to shape the discussion. Outley described a series of “lunch and learn” sessions that began after members of her student advisory group asked to meet with her.
The conversations revealed consistent concerns.
“One of the common connections I’ve seen across the schools is mental health,” said Outley, a graduate of Buchtel High School.
Students at Garfield CLC suggested creating after-school check-in groups focused on mental health — current support is often centered on academics, they said.
At the Firestone listening tour stop, senior Troy Weiss, one of Akron Public Schools’ most publicly visible students in recent months, said conversations among students also touched on issues of identity and belonging. Weiss described a peer who spoke about experiencing backlash as a nonbinary student, prompting others in the auditorium to show support.
Weiss said those experiences can be part of the reason some students choose to leave the district. “You can never truly know what someone is going through,” he said.
District outlines steps to engage families and address concerns
The district is also encouraging parents to get involved at the classroom level — particularly by volunteering as tutors to support early literacy — as part of efforts to better engage and retain families, said Carla Chapman, chief of community relations and strategic engagement.
Chapman said the district is also drafting a new public complaint policy to offer families a clearer path to resolve issues.
“We know that some leave us for reasons that we’re not always aware of, or for issues that they have felt we could not resolve,” she said.
The current process has been inconsistent across the district, Chapman said, and noted the previous complaint policy dated back to 1998 and was only a few sentences long.
(Chapman said families can provide feedback on the draft policy by contacting the district directly or by emailing her at cchapman@apslearns.org.)
APS is seeking additional feedback surrounding district performance, curriculum and school programs through a family survey that will run through May 1, she said.
Parents United for Public Schools joins APS community forum
Abby Drennen, a parent and organizer with Parents United for Public Schools, said during the Firestone CLC listening session that families are also working to raise awareness around education issues at the state level.
The group is holding its own listening sessions to better understand what concerns parents most, with the goal of helping families navigate complex topics like school funding and policy.
“A lot of folks just are not aware of what’s happening at the state level,” Drennen said.
Outley said turnout in the future may improve as awareness grows and the school district continues to adjust locations and timing.
Said Outley: “We really do want to hear from those who live in the community.”
