Poplar Bluff R-1 District Superintendent Scott Dill held an open forum at the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library on Tuesday and though it was advertised on various media outlets and sent in a mass text to parents in the school's automated system, only six people attended.
This is the second open forum hosted by Dill this year and though the turnout of low he said he will continue to invite the community to engage with him during similar sessions in the future.
"This is still part of my getting to know you phase as the superintendent of Poplar Buff R-1 schools," he said. "I'd like to see a free-flowing exchange of information within the community."
The event provided a rather intimate setting for Dill to discuss his vision for the district. He said he plans to work with the school board to improve career pathways for high school students planning careers in technical fields and to eventually cater to different types of students by establishing an environment where non-traditional learners can go and be successful.
"In no way do I hope to disassemble the traditional brick-and-mortar system," he said while discussing his plan to transition the new Mark Twain Elementary School into an alternative learning center in the future. The center would serve students who have either fallen behind or who simply are not engaged in a traditional classroom setting.
Alicia Davis and her husband, Ryan, posed questions about the district regarding career development and the potential for random drug testing. They have two children enrolled in Poplar Bluff schools, one at the junior high and one at the middle school.
"It's wonderful to have an opportunity to hear an explanation of where our school is headed," Alicia Davis said. "I like it that he seems focused more on the learning process than just on grades."
Ryan Davis added that Dill seems to want to teach the kids the ability to know how to learn, rather than just how to memorize facts.
Kristy White has three children at Poplar Bluff: one at the middle school, one at the junior high and one at the high school. She said she thinks the one-to-one computer-based learning is confusing for parents.
"Do they use textbooks at all anymore," White asked. "When I'm trying to help with homework, I don't have a textbook to look at. What I get is 'watch a Youtube video.'"
White said she doesn't know what else to tell her children when she cannot explain a homework question other than "I'm sorry, you're going to have to get this wrong."
"If I had a textbook, I might be able to explain it to her, but why am I even sending her to public school if we're going to be learning in a way that we could do it at home," she asked.
Dill said while there are often notes posted on online platforms, such as Schoology, there are multiple sites a teacher can use to make lesson plans available to students and parents. He said there is not one designated place a parent can go to find notes.
White felt designating one online platform would be beneficial to parents and would require only one user name and password, which would be less difficult to keep up with.
"When you have three kids at three different schools, you can't remember which teacher uses which platform," she said.
Dill said hopefully "when the dust settles," there will be more clarity regarding the situation.
According to Dill, the success of his speaking engagements will be determined "down the road." He also thanked the library staff for hosting the event.
"I was really excited about the partnership with the library," he said. "They are always looking for ways to get involved with the school and I hope to hold more events there in the future."