TINTON FALLS – During a contentious period for the Tinton Falls school district, a group of concerned parents has created an educational Web site for other parents.
“The group created a Web site, ‘Tinton Falls Education – Parent Information’ to keep parents informed, keep families up to date on Tinton Falls School District activities, and to provide guidance regarding school-community-family partnerships,” Lynn M. Guiser wrote in a letter to the editor Nov. 1.
Guiser, the Web “guru,” and 10 to 15 other parents formed a Web advisory group to discuss the types of information that would be provided on the site, http://tintonfallsschooldistrictparentinformation. com.
After 10 hours of work on an October day, the site was up and running and ready to be accessed by parents.
“One of my hopes is that it becomes a format and structure for all districts. I would like to see all parents putting together information that will involve the community more,” said Guiser, of Cherry Street. She currently has one child in the Tinton Falls school system.
She added, “I would really like to see more people feel empowered to be involved as co-decision makers [and] to see themselves as co-partners in the education process.”
Some of the more controversial issues addressed on the site include the Board of Education (BOE) proposal to locate a cell tower on the grounds of the Mahala F. Atchison School on Sycamore Avenue and the school district’s contract with Earle Naval base to educate students who live there.
The Web site includes a section entitled “Activities that may surprise you,” which provides parents with information about the N.J. Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and how to make an OPRA request if necessary.
“The way the community was with the cell tower, they were just finally having themselves be heard,” said Guiser explaining why she feels this is the right time to put up a Web site for parents. She added that there were too many “family unfriendly” practices.
The site also includes tips for how to solve a school problem; how to prepare for a parent-teacher conference; what to expect at a BOE meeting; elements for effective parental involvement; general school information and links to a number of other resources for parents.
“We thought that no one goes to [BOE] meetings so we felt if we put it on the Web site … they would be able to see what’s going on and maybe they could write an email to the board if they found something that interested them, they could write a letter to the editor, they could read documents that wouldn’t be available at the board meetings,” said Guiser, who splits her time working for the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network Inc. and working as a dietician.
Guiser said the section titled “What to expect at a BOE meeting” outlines what happens at the Board of Education meeting ranging from what the agenda is and where to find one to when the public is allowed to address the board and where to find copies of the audio taped meetings.
She said she has gotten only positive feedback about the site and requests from advocacy groups and parents in other districts to meet with her to discuss creating such a site for their group.
“Some of them are thinking about investigating [and] doing it for their own district. They just love the information and the promotion of families being involved,” said Guiser.
Guiser also explained that the only stance the group and the Web site, which has had 3,500 views by 470 people since October, would take on are issues of pro-family and family involvement.
“I love doing it. I’m hoping it has impact and people get more involved and realize that they are a participant and not an audience,” said Guiser.