Asbury Park Parent Listening Project (APPLP)
P.O.Box 306
Asbury Park, NJ 07712
Allyson Estes: (732) 897-1350
Carla Larsen: (732) 685-5145
Leaders:
Beverly Causby
Yvette Gary
Allyson Estes
Carla Larsen
Juancito Jones
Sabrina Matthews
Crystal Thompson
Michelle Williams
Accomplishments
*When the ceiling fell in in one of the elementary schools, exposing asbestos, the PLP parents got the district to start a one-year busing program to safely transport elementary students across town. This was an important consideration in a city where there have been murders in front of schools during the daytime.
*When PLP parents found out that suspension rates in their district were far higher than even in Newark, Jersey City, or Paterson – 33% in one of the elementary schools and 78% in the high school – they embarked on a year-long campaign to get the district to re-write the discipline policy to provide for more alternatives to suspension. To date, after much PLP work, the district has finally included this goal in its annual plan, the Board of Ed committee to re-write the policy has begun to meet, the high school has introduced peer mediation as an alternative to suspension, and several other schools have implemented new plans focused on reducing suspensions and creating a learning-focused and effective discipline policy.
*As a sub-set of the discipline campaign, the PLP sought to improve district notification of parents when students are struggling, to help prevent situations from getting out of hand in the first place. Many parents complained that the first time they heard of a problem was when their children were suspended, even if that came after a long series of events. After much pressure from the PLP, the district has finally started an automatic home-calling system to notify parents when students are absent, or with other important messages that have been falling through the cracks. In addition, the high school principal updated and streamlined his home contact lists and system and provided incentives for teachers to call home more.
*When parents complained that there was no readily-available source of information about after-school and summer programs in the city, the PLP did the research to create, print, and distribute such a source. This work not only provided needed information to the community but also embarrassed the city government and prompted both the city and several local nonprofits to create and distribute similar brochures.
