SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Before the pandemic, Ben Avey, a father of four, was a lot like other parents.
He admits he didn’t pay close attention to school board meetings, assuming that the people in charge were thinking in the best interest of everyone’s kids.
Avey works as the director of a nonprofit in Sacramento, and he, along with his wife, had to juggle all his kids’ different after-school activities. He didn’t have time to go to school board meetings that could last for hours.
It was only during the pandemic, when Avey watched the meetings online. He found it convenient to have the meetings on in the background while making dinner or doing other chores.
“I started paying more attention. I started watching the school board meetings. I started realizing that it was a really closed conversation with the school board. And they didn’t seem to want to have feedback from the parents. They didn’t want feedback from the community,” Avey said. VIDEO AND STORY: https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/inside-the-issues/2022/11/02/parenting-to-politics--ca-parents-campaign-for-school-board