As a minister for many years in communities across the state, Tyson Parks says that he has seen how the relationship can be good and bad between school districts and members of the African American community. He says he wants to be able to help out the younger generation get started on the right career path.
Parks, who is the presiding elder of the local conference in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, is one of six candidates running for four seats on the Danville school board in the April 6th election. He says one of the main things he would prioritize is to lower the dropout rate, particularly among Black male students.
“I would like to be able to encourage our young, African American males in particular, to remain in school and get their education because it is vital to get that education in the day and times in which we are living in,” he says.
Parks believes that it is important that school officials reach out to parents and let them know how important it is for students to be together and have contact with one another, once the pandemic ends and it is safe to do so. He also believes that hiring more Black teachers would improve the connections with African American students, since they would see more representation, and he says Black staff members need to be involved in recruiting future teachers.
“When you have people that want to come here and they don’t see the African American community being represented, they’re likely to go someplace else,” he notes.
With regard to the post-pandemic future, Parks says that he thinks that remote learning will continue to play a part in education and that schools have learned how to do schooling in a different way. But, he also believes that more needs to be done about students’ mental health needs.
