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Fort Dodge school board acts wisely

The quality of the school system is among the most important determinants of a community’s long-term prospects.

Excellent schools can have an enormous impact on economic development. Businesses seeking to expand or relocate pay close attention to the quality of the schools that will serve their workers’ children.

School boards play a critical role in helping ensure the schools that shape the community’s children will be first-rate. Consequently, all of us – whether we have school-age children or not – ought to follow the activities our local school boards closely.

The Fort Dodge Community School District Board of Education has just announced a change in its meetings that will increase public knowledge about the city’s schools and make attendance at these sessions even more valuable than it has been in the past.

The board will continue meeting the second and fourth Mondays of each month, but the second meeting each month will be held at district schools on a rotating basis.

At each of these school-based meetings, district staff will “share highlights about a learning strategy, program or project taking place” at that school, according to a statement released by the board.

This is a terrific change that should increase the number of Fort Dodgers who attend these meetings and make doing so an exceptionally rewarding learning experience.

“The board recognizes the importance of parental involvement in the educational process and rotating the location of the meetings will give individuals another opportunity to engage with their schools right in their neighborhood,” Superintendent Doug Van Zyl said in a statement issued Sept. 15.

This newspaper heartily agrees.

The school-based meetings for the rest of 2014 are as follows:

– Today – Feelhaver Elementary School,

– Oct. 27 – Fort Dodge Middle School and

– Nov. 24 – Riverside Early Learning Center.

The Messenger applauds this action by the Fort Dodge school board and urges readers to show their support for this excellent initiative by attending these sessions.

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