2018 July PASO Magazine

OAK LEAF | Education
BUILDING COMMUNITY SUMMIT
“The greatness of a community
is most accurately measured
by the compassionate actions
of its members.”
– Coretta Scott King –
By Jim Brescia, SLO County Superintendent
North County
is a wonderful
place to work,
live, play, and
raise a family.
Our schools
and society
have many linguistic,
cultural,
religious, ethnic, and racial issues.
Small rural communities like ours
are experiencing changing demographics
just like large cities, and our
leaders must confront these needs,
perspectives, and challenges. How do
we collectively address everyone and
build up our community? Violence
across the United States was the
topic of my March Superintendent’s
Council which included Atascadero
school leadership, law enforcement,
mental health professionals and social
services. Multi-agency discussions
from my March meeting served
as a springboard for the May summit.
The goal of our summit was to
facilitate multi-agency communication
and collaboration, present
positive strategies for engagement,
and to build community. Summit
participants included students, parents,
non-profit agencies, religious
leaders, city & county officials, school
leaders, elected officials, and law enforcement.
Over 120 participants
joined the afternoon summit held
at the Vina Robles Signature Room.
Twelve table workgroups of
8-10 were formed consisting of
multi-agency representation. Participants
left with both short-term
and long-term actions to proactively
address community and school tragedies.
Sheriff Ian Parkinson stated in
his comments that “We can address
our issues proactively, one relationship
at a time.”
I opened the “Building Community
Summit” reflecting on my
initial student teaching experiences
in San Diego just after the 1984
San Ysidro Massacre. Our Sheriff
explained current practices in place
to ensure student and community
safety. He highlighted the high
levels of collaboration between law
enforcement and our schools, the
digital mapping of every campus,
and plans for testing of a mobile
school safety App. Our county is one
of the first in the state to digitally
map every campus and to collectively
prepare for disasters. Student
speakers from North County, San
Luis Obispo, and Nipomo stressed
the importance of working together.
Tony Milano, a local graduate, and
owner of RadHuman, was joined
by representatives from Atascadero
detailing Bank of America’s “Rachel’s
Challenge” resources.
Participants focused on examples
of disconnect that have preceded
conflict, concern, or crisis. Each
workgroup presented at least one
proactive suggestion that might mitigate
disconnect. My office is now
planning with the Children’s Services
Network, the Sheriff, the Chief
of Probation, and the Family Care
Network to host a fall summit. I
believe that together we can invest in
our future by facilitating multi-agency
communications, working collectively,
and acknowledging that
we are all part of a community. It
is an honor to serve as your County
Superintendent of Schools.
40 | pasomagazine.com PASO Magazine, July 2018