Parents can still sign up to run for community education councils

Gloria Corsino is proud of the work she has done to help children.

She was already an involved parent at the District 75 schools — specialized schools for students with significant disabilities — where her two youngest sons attended when she was approached about running for a seat on the Citywide Council for District 75.

“It was amazing. The first three years, I learned so much from my colleagues,” she said. “I think sometimes parents in D75 are gun-shy. It’s a little daunting.”

Despite her initial concerns, Corsino went on to become the council’s president — and then served on the Citywide Council on Special Education, a post she held until her children aged out of the school system.

“I was a great advocate for my children, but feeling unified with other voices just gave our advocacy that much more validity,” she said.

It’s an experience that a new set of parents has an opportunity to have this year, with elections coming soon for the city’s thirty-six parent councils.

There are 32 community education councils, or CECs — one in each geographic school district. There are another four citywide councils, like the ones Corsino served on: one for high schools, one for English language learners, one for special education, and one for District 75 students.

To run, you simply have to be a parent of a child in public school.

“Everyone in the community needs to be represented, in every district. And so language and any other barrier that may be holding folks back from wanting to be part of this is something that should be off the table,” said Cristina Melendez, the executive director of the Department of Education’s Family and Community Empowerment office.

There’s a minimum of one public meeting a month and members are assigned to work with and visit specific schools. Parents can make a real difference: Corsino recalled a visit to a District 75 school where she saw a counseling session being held in a hallway, for lack of space.

“We had conversations with central and said, ‘hey, this needs to be done in a private space. There are things that a child may be able to share with a counselor, maybe a little afraid when everybody else can hear. I have to tell you that they heard us,” she said.

Parents who want to run for a seat on one of these councils need to apply to become a candidate by Feb. 23. Then there will be a series of candidate forums, followed by online parent voting in April and May. There will be run-offs if needed, and election results will be announced in June.