Community advisory committee formed by Riverhead school board
Effective in October, the Riverhead Central School District board of education will create its new Community Involvement and Language Access Advisory Committee to bridge gaps in communication.
The committee is tasked with alerting leadership of community concerns. This includes access to student services and co-curricular programs, as well as language access issues for non-English speaking students and parents.
Once problems are identified, the committee will present solution-oriented recommendations for the Riverhead school board to consider. This group will consist of 20 community members, three current school board members, Riverhead Central School District superintendent Robert Hagan and director of ENL Services and Community Outreach Emily Sanz.
“The board will strive to have the committee’s members each school year be representative of the district’s student population,” the committee charter stated. “Further, depending on the number of applications for committee membership received each school year, the board will strive to cycle through different committee members each school year so as to give all persons interested an opportunity to participate.”
Once established, the committee will hold at least four meetings throughout the school year. The public can attend these meetings, but participation will be limited to committee members unless the chairperson determines otherwise. Translation and interpretation services will be provided at these meetings. Any reports or documents will be available in both English and Spanish, or any other language if deemed necessary.
Any community members interested in joining the committee must submit an application to the board of education. Applicants must currently live within the Riverhead Central School District and have done so for at least one year. They also must have at least one child enrolled and attending the district’s schools.
The school board gives final approval of all community members appointed to the committee.
