Students and parents had the opportunity to have their voices heard at a Buffalo Public Schools community forum Tuesday night at the Mount Olive Baptist Church in Buffalo.
Students co-hosted the event with parents in front of dozens of community members and Buffalo Public Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Ebony Prophet-Bullock.
Prophet-Bullock emphasized the importance of listening to the community, especially students and parents, to shape the school district's future.
"It's important to me because, at the end of the day, the children, they are our clients. They are the customers," she said. "They're the people that we need to make happy, and the more we can continue to center them, the better teaching and learning will be; the better our district will be in our neighborhood and our cities."
New York mandates in its strategic plan that the students' voice must be centered; another reason why Prophet-Bullock felt it necessary to be in attendance.
"Long-term, what I want for the district is to just go back to loving our kids, supporting our kids, putting families first, and agendas aside, right? Putting kids first is the most important thing," she said.
One of the students on hand, junior Aluo Bon, expressed that she wants to see a fear of judgment and shame removed when students express their thoughts and emotions. Not being able to do so creates an experience of feeling unsafe for students.
"Just being comfortable enough to say how they feel around adults without feeling embarrassed or ashamed for what they have to say. I think that's a start. Just watching the students be comfortable around other adults," said Bon.
Jessica Bauer Walker, a parent and student advocate, also felt the students are not being heard and, in some cases, not respected, and she feels that needs to change.
"They really don't have a voice a lot of the time. We're not asking them and engaging with them. 'What are you experiencing? What are some of the things that you like to see?'" she said. "We want to see more of that in our schools and in the community."
Walker added that a lot of people have been weighing in on the school district, but it seems like the focus is really not on the students and having a space where the directly impacted people can talk about their questions and concerns. She hopes the forum inspires positive and lasting change in this and many other areas in the district.
