During the summit, different committees of PSS were able to discuss their projects and goals for the next two years including their strategic priorities and current financial status.
Parents were able to raise their concerns about schools and other education-related issues during the roundtable discussion which was the highlight of the summit.
“It is important for us to get the parents informed about where [PSS] is currently at, what we are doing and what our goals are,” Education Commissioner Rita Sablan said in an interview.
She said the summit is one way for PSS to explain to the parents how the schools are currently doing and what issues need to be addressed.
The summit at the same time is also an opportunity for parents to be heard, she added.
Although they believe PSS and the schools are doing everything they can to provide quality education to students some of the parents who attended the summit expressed concerns about the performance of some students.
“[If] PSS has money then give us what our children need because I know some children who graduated from elementary school without knowing how to read,” a parent said during the forum.
PSS, she added, should provide more activities for the children who do not have anything to do after school.
She suggested the construction of more tennis or basketball courts.
Another parent said elementary and high schools lack carpentry and trades shops.
“We should teach our children about carpentry, sewing or cooking,” he said.
Sablan said she is happy to hear the concerns of the parents “because in that way we will be able to address them properly.”
