TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATIVE PRACTICES Engaging Parents on Stimulus
Spending Pennsylvania’s Upper Moreland Township School District leverages an online simulation tool for community input on ESSER fund allocations.
By Matthew M. Lentz, SFO, and Chris Adams
Upper Moreland Township School District engaged community members in deciding how government funding would best serve their children.
F
or school districts where parents want a stron- ger voice in prioritizing the pandemic-related stimulus funds, technology can play an impor- tant role in facilitating communication, ulti- mately making for better decisions.
In a September 2021 poll by the National Parents
Union, 51% of 1,006 parents surveyed said they should be included in the process of determining how districts spend federal funding to address challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic (Echelon Insights 2021). The same percentage felt they knew “not much/nothing at all” about plans for those funds, whereas just 13% said they had heard a lot, indicating a need for further educa- tion in the community.
8 MAY 2022 | SCHOOL BUSINESS AFFAIRS
The global pandemic has accelerated the use of online civic engagement tools to help foster conversations about government and school budgets in accessible and constructive ways. In addition to—or in some cases rather than—attending a public meeting, parents can use their smartphones or other connected devices to provide input online and do it on their own time, at their convenience. In addition, COVID-19 restrictions and social distanc- ing measures have increased acceptance of online civic engagement practices and raised comfort levels with using online software and meeting technologies. For the Upper Moreland Township School District in Pennsylvania, online public engagement software
asbointl.org
PHOTO COURTESY OF UPPER MORELAND TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT, WILLOW GROVE, PENNSYLVANIA
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