Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1500904
A S J U R U P A U N I F I E D S C H O O L D I S T R I C T (JUSD) con- tinues its community schools journey, Inland Valley school districts can learn much about the importance of effective relationship-building. With significant input from the NEA-Ju- rupa (NEA-J) chapter, JUSD has begun implementation of their community schools program in a 20,000-student district in north Riverside County: Six schools have adopted the model and an additional six are in the application process. How this has come about is testament to the collaborative relationship between NEA-J and JUSD. "Our success is a shared one," said Wendy Eccles, CTA District K Board Mem- ber-elect and immediate past-president of NEA-J. "By taking a solutions-oriented approach to problem-solving, we are building a community schools model that will meet the learning and social-emotional needs of the community through our local public schools." Beginnings NEA-J's partnership with the district has been built and solidified over the years. In the 2016-2017 school year NEA-J's member engage- ment/organizing team began an active campaign to support shared decision-making, and built a local campaign called #AskAnEducator. It was a challenge to the former model that largely ignored the voices of those closest to and most knowledgeable about issues related to students — parents, educators and support personnel. NEA-J next began educating teachers, district officials and parents about community schools and how their structure differs from simply offering wraparound student services. True community schools are based on a shared decision-making model that determines each school's needs separately. NEA-J called for a district equity audit and a shift to the community schools model, where services are delivered only after educators, parents, community advocates and administrators have collaboratively determined those spe- cific local needs. In this way every school community can build a model unique to their needs, whether the emphasis is educational, social-emotional, economic or some other locally determined one. While COVID closures slowed some elements of that educational evolution, NEA-J and JUSD used the time to work through the challenges school closures created for administrators and educators. Those partnerships and the collaborative problem-solving they required became foundational to the work they would do after the pandemic. "Having been a member of NEA-Jurupa during my teach- ing career, I have seen firsthand how important it is to have a strong partnership between the district and NEA-Jurupa," said Daniel Brooks, now JUSD assistant superintendent. "We have developed an effective and collaborative culture that allowed us to weather many storms during the pandemic shutdown and all that followed. The relationships we have built with NEA-Jurupa's leaders sustain and drive so much of our work." Left to right: NEA-Jurupa Bargaining Chair and President-elect David O'Rafferty, JUSD Assistant Superintendent Daniel Brooks, CTA District K Board Member-elect and NEA-J past-president Wendy Eccles, and JUSD Superintendent Dr. Trent Hansen. "By bringing all our education stakeholders together to determine how to meet the community's needs, we are discovering our true transformational power to change our public schools." —DAVID O'RAFFERTY, NEA-Jurupa President-elect Building Relationships In Jurupa, relationships are key to community schools success By Ed Sibby 36 cta.org Social Justice