By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Sitka School District has announced a public forum will be held 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss the results of last year’s Early Childhood Survey, and to hear from parents on such issues as access to childcare.
The event, at Harrigan Centennial Hall, is free and open to all, said Mandy Evans, STEPS grant director for the school district. STEPS stands for Supporting Transitions Educational Promise Southeast Alaska.
The public input forum is called “The Early Childhood Development Cafe.”
“The idea here is we want a coalition of people who are in this…(and that the) work gets guided by families,” Evans said.
Evans said she hopes the brainstorming session will lead to an environment of “co-creating,” in which families with young children have full buy-in in the decision-making process.
STEPS Grant Coordinator Kari Sagel noted that a critical question raised by the early childhood survey is “satisfaction, or access to childcare to parenting resources.” She said the purpose of the forum is to “meet with the families, hear their voice.”
Sagel noted that a critical issue is “cost and availability of childcare, especially for infants.”
Both Evans and Sagel expressed hope that the events are accessible to everyone interested. “You can just listen, you don’t have to say a thing, nobody has to get up and talk in front of the whole group,” Evans said.
Anyone who comes to the event on a Sitka Ride bus can ride free by signing the Family Cafe form on the bus, Sagel said. Free childcare will be provided for children under ten whose parents are attending the forum.
In the past, the School District’s solutions to issues have “tend(ed) to be a mile wide and an inch deep,” Evans said. She hoped that with the Thursday discussion, more comprehensive solutions to issues such as affordability and accessibility of child care can be found.
Sagel said she hopes for an “informal but guided discussion at the table – it’s really parents talking to parents.”
