In the battle to get parents through the door of the state’s poorest schools, principals are turning to a traditional gathering device and using public money to pay for it.
They’re buying food.
Schools across the state are stocking up on hot dogs, granola bars and hamburgers. They’re buying apple cider, lasagna and pizza — anything to fill the belly, remove a burden from busy parents and, most important, get them in the building.
In Denver Public Schools, $121,500 is spent on food each year, with about 40 percent of that fueling parent engagement. In Adams County District 14 in Commerce City, officials spent $7,250 on food last year for families.
“It’s night and day,” said Matthew Cormier, a principal at Pennington Elementary in Jefferson County. Cormier spends about $250 on meals for every schoolwide event. “When we’re providing food, hundreds of people will attend. We’ll serve 100 to 200 people in a single night. When there is no food, the number of people who attend is in the teens.”
With an additional $111 million in Title 1 money coming to Colorado schools from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, principals say they will spend even more — as much as 25 percent more — on dinners, breakfasts and snacks for parents and children.
There is good reason for the steep public investment. A 2006 Harvard study found that grades jumped for kids whose parents participated in after-school activities, including parent-teacher conferences and parent nights.
On a recent morning, a group of mothers gathered around a bank of computers learning English at Trevista at Horace Mann School in west Denver. The school enjoys more parental involvement than most schools with low-income students — something principal Veronica Benavidez attributes to working hard on outreach and congregating people around food.
The group of mothers talked candidly about the economy. One husband was laid off from a box-making factory and didn’t get unemployment insurance. Another’s husband works construction and hasn’t had much work through the summer.
“They treat us well here,” said Isela Parga, who has four children at the school. “If they bring food in at night, I can get my husband here too. He’ll say what about dinner? And I’ll say they’re giving it to us at the school.”
Samara Williams, principal at Rose Hill Elementary in Commerce City, finds food also puts parents nervous to come into the building and talk to teachers at ease.
“You meet them where they are, and if food makes people feel comfortable, then, yeah, we step it up. I’m willing to put quite a few of my dollars to this,” said Williams, who will spend $1,000 this year on food for parents of 420 kids. “We advertise that there will be dinner and we get people there.”
Allison Sherry: 303-954-1377 or asherry@denverpost.com
Districts plan how to spend Title 1 money
Colorado schools are still deciding how to use the $111 million extra they will get in Title 1 stimulus money, which goes to schools with a large percentage of low-income students.
The federal government released guidelines on the money in late spring, and officials had only 60 days to figure out how to spend it.
“Good golly, districts are literally scrambling,” said Trish Boland, Title 1 coordinator at the state Department of Education.
Boland and her staff approve districts’ plans for how to spend the money. They make sure the plans, whether they are for hiring more classroom tutors or buying pizza for parents, fit with the federal requirements.
Some schools already have made decisions. At North High School in Denver, for example, the money will pay for extra teachers, partly fund a high school dropout center and pay parents to reach out to other parents. At Boston K-8 School in Aurora, the principal plans to buy some technology for students and some time for teachers to go through extra training. In Adams County District 14 in Commerce City, district officials plan to fund literacy coaches in its poorest schools, as well as buy school supplies. Allison Sherry, The Denver Post
