Highlights excerpted from a story the recent Palmdale City Council/Palmdale School District Meeting 06/11/07

School district to pitch in, working toward a better city
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Wednesday, June 13, 2007.
By MARISSA BELLES Valley Press Staff Writer

PALMDALE - The Palmdale School District has agreed to take an integral role in the Partners for a Better Palmdale program. In an unprecedented joint meeting Monday, the council and board of trustees discussed everything from after-school programs to possible annexations.

Mayor Jim Ledford relayed several of the discussed topics back to Partners for a Better Palmdale, an innovative program designed to reduce crime and enhance community value. City Manager Steve Williams said the first element of implementation is youth engagement, something in which the school district plays an integral role. "To try and catch kids at an age that makes a difference in their lives and points them in the right direction is key here," Williams said. "To give them positive activities, whether it be academics or athletics, is important."

Williams said the district has 26 neighborhood centers (schools) in the city, many of which have basketball courts, indoor and outdoor. "One of the things we get a lot from students is that they need a place to hang out and they need something to do after school," Williams said. "What's interesting is that the schools where they are leaving from have the very things they need to do. We just need to have the resources there for them."

Councilman Steve Hofbauer said youth engagement being the plan's No. 1 element was no accident. "(If) we are going to succeed as a city and community; it's going to have to be because we have the kids engaged," Hofbauer said. "They need to have a feeling of ownership and they have to know that what they say means something."

Bo Bynum, Palmdale School District's president, said most kids do feel a sense of pride in their schools and that needs to be nurtured through friendly competition. "I remember as a young guy, we had neighborhood schools competing against each other after school," Bynum said. "It was coordinated by the parks and recreation department, so you had the Mesquite School vs. Chaparral School, and it really established a sense of pride. Talking with our young kids, they seem to want that."

Williams said one of the most important elements in which the district can take part is the parenting classes, since schools are sometimes the best places to determine which kids and parents need that extra help. "We find, as we get further into community-based programs, one of the most important elements is parenting," Williams said, "Anyone in the school district can tell you that if the family environment was optimal, the schools would have a lot better chance succeeding with kids when they come into the system."

Bynum said everyone can learn something about parenting. "There is so much to share because when parents start talking, they figure out the same thing that's happening in one situation is happening in another," Bynum said. "I think we can get together with the city and work with our people who have been trained in various areas of parenting so we can send those kids to school with some support from home."

Hofbauer said the evaluations from the parents who have gone through the classes are amazing. "Many of them said they wish they knew about this class before somebody told them they had to take it," Hofbauer said. "When you start identifying the kids and the parents who know about the good things, we have to encourage them to pass that on in the other direction."

Williams said it is great if parents come into the program voluntarily, but some of the parents who need to be reached the most are least likely to volunteer. "We are looking into options with the district that would make parenting classes a condition of student expulsion," Williams said. ,,,

"There are things we can do better as a city and as a district working together," Ledford said. "Neighborhood Watch, for instance, is no different than school watch. You know who the problem kids are in school, and I bet they are the same problem kids in the neighborhoods. By us combining our intelligence we can reach out and touch these kids."

Trustee Mark Gross suggested a program getting the kids involved in the community and government while at the same time satisfying a social studies credit. "You can kill two birds with one stone," Gross said. ...

"The city has already agreed to provide us with the pamphlets and fliers and we will have a designated kiosk for them at our new Welcome Enrollment Center," Interim Superintendent Roger Gallizzi said. "Residents have to come to the school district if they have children; they don't have to come to City Hall." The district also asked for the city to designate staff members to come to the different committee meetings and work hand in hand with the parent teacher organizations on some of the outreach.

Partners for a Better Palmdale is estimated to be running completely by the end of the year, although the overall goal is a long-term community based strategy. The trustees and the council left Monday night with a promise of more cooperation and dialogue to come.