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Schools

Lewis Elementary PTA Appoints Alison Fernandez as Community Liaison

The officers of the Lewis PTA establish a new volunteer position to help parents get their concerns addressed. The Community Liaison will also provide updates on education issues occurring on the state and local level.

The announced at the start of the school year a new volunteer position to encourage stronger ties with the community. Past Lewis PTA president Alison Fernandez was asked to fill the position.

A Temple Terrace native, PTA president, and , Fernandez has added the title of “Community Liaison” to her many roles serving the Temple Terrace community. 

As described in the first Lewis Elementary newsletter sent home to parents, Fernandez will be working to keep parents informed of actions taking place on the state and school district levels that impact education. She will also be assisting parents in getting their concerns about policy or curriculum decisions addressed. 

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Jen Terry, PTA President at Lewis Elementary, commented that the position was created because the officers believe in order to create a safe, positive learning environment it is crucial that the school have strong ties with the community and involved parents.

“On a local level, we hope to create an even stronger connection between Lewis Elementary and the Temple Terrace community.  We want the people of Temple Terrace to be aware of the numerous ways they can be involved in their local public schools,” said Terry.

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Fernandez sees her new role in similar terms, suggesting that she is aware that parents sometimes are unsure of how to make their concerns known.

“It frustrates me that parents will just move instead of working with the school system to fix a problem. If parents have questions about how to navigate through the school system or how to approach their local legislators to get their concerns addressed, I can help them do that,” said Fernandez.

For example, if a parent would like to see an AGP or gifted program at their school, Fernandez can help that parent with who to call and how to go about putting in that request. Other examples: if a parent has, say, a concern about how teachers are trained to identify learning disabilities or a question about how the school district is applying a state or federal law. Fernandez could help that parent get those concerns addressed.  

Many parents are not aware of the areas where they can have an impact. Take transportation, for example. Temple Terrace has more seats in its schools than it has children to fill them.

“So transportation costs go up when the priority is to fill every seat. Children are taken out of their communities, often riding past their local school, to fill a seat at another school because of this existing district priority,” said Fernandez.

This became a dominant value when schools from poor neighborhoods were not getting proper funding. Now with the way funding is set, schools in poor neighborhoods will still get extra dollars.

“There are criteria for how transportation boundaries are set and parents can have a voice at the table when that criteria is discussed. It doesn’t mean that a parent will necessarily have their way, but the more parents speak up, the better chance their concerns will be met,” said Fernandez. 

Fernandez thinks if the criteria were changed and filling every seat less a priority, transportation costs would go down – freeing up money better spent on student achievement.

“As community liaison, Alison will monitor legislation pertaining to education on both the state and local level, and keep parents informed to serve as advocates for positive change within the educational system,” said Terry

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