Superintendent Logan holds first town hall with students

On September 6th, OPS’ new superintendent, Dr. Cheryl Logan, hosted a town hall style meeting with students. OPS middle and high school students got the opportunity to have their concerns and ideas heard by Dr. Logan and the greater district administration.

Several dozen students attended the meeting, while some who couldn’t make it emailed their questions. Many issues were discussed at the town hall, from school safety and college preparedness to the school lunch program.

One issue that was recurrently brought up was college and career preparedness. Some students felt as if the district wasn’t preparing them enough for higher education and careers. According to Dr. Logan, that was one of the most important issues brought up.

Another major concern of students at the town hall was school safety. “it’s all about relationships and aligning training for all staff so everybody gets the same information.” Said Dr. Logan regarding school security procedures.

As expected, the school lunch program was mentioned throughout the meeting. When asked what changes were planned for school lunches, Dr. Logan said that “I can’t tell you right now what changes will be implemented, but in about nine or ten months we’ll be working on that, in terms of actual changes.”

The town hall was a learning opportunity for both students and the OPS administration. Students were able to learn more about the process of civic engagement and administrators were able to learn more about what students thought.

Dr. Logan said that she hopes students learned that “people really do want to hear their concerns and that they have a voice.” Students were able to use their voice to affect change in the OPS community and the Omaha community.

The Superintendent said that she, and the greater OPS administration learned that they have a lot to learn. She also said that she gained new information and new ways to think about things from the town hall. “They’re not just kids” she said, indicative of her belief that students’ opinions matter.

For those who would like to have participated in the town hall, but didn’t get the opportunity, there will be another one in spring of this year at the TAC building. An official date has not yet been determined, but all OPS middle and high school students are invited.