Community Health Needs Assessment Theme 4: The School-Parent Relationship is Strained.

What’s Causing the Tension?

1. Communication and engagement. Parents report many examples of weak communication with public schools regarding student behaviors, noting that outreach is postponed until the situation has become far too serious. Communication methods and administrative processes sideline them as partners in their child’s education. These feelings undermine trust. Educators acknowledge phone and email communication with parents is challenging, due to classroom teaching duties.
2. Personnel turnover. All participant groups say the high turnover of counselors harms children; it interrupts treatment plans and forces children to establish a relationship with a new counselor, which can be difficult and time-consuming. For certain groups of children with abandonment trauma, such as youth who are unhoused or in foster care, this effect is exacerbated. Parents believe that high turnover results in less experienced or less effective counselors being left at their child’s school. Note: The term counselor includes therapists, social workers, and guidance counselors who work at the school; they may be employed by the school district or a partner organization. Unlike educators and providers, parents do not differentiate counselors by a type of professional license or functional role.
3. School safety. Parents describe youth as fearful in schools due to violence or bullying; youth agree that the school environment can be dangerous. They also report stories of schools failing to protect vulnerable children, especially those with mental and behavioral health conditions. They noted that when children are “pulled out” of class for services, they are marked for bullying by peers or unfair treatment by adults with stigma.
4. Suspension and punishment. There are concerns about using punishment to control youth behavior, in schools where the practices are common. The frequency and severity of punishments that lead to social isolation and disengagement from learning are questioned by parents and educators. See Section 4: Supplemental Findings for additional insight into how these practices are perceived to be connected to justice-involved youth.
5. Accessing educational resources and school-based services. Parents describe the IEP/504 policies and procedures as a fight, and they are usually dissatisfied with the initial plan for accommodations or healthcare services. Some parents view school districts as uninterested or unwilling to help. Parent frustration is highest when their child’s behaviors or academic struggles are not quite severe enough to qualify for services.
6. Overuse of technology. Many parents say school districts overuse internet-based technology for assignments, classroom activities, and teacher-student interaction. They believe technology erodes the student-teacher relationship and promotes mobile device addiction, weakening problem-solving skills, and increasing opportunities for cyber-bullying.