Stakeholder engagement is something that Dr. Lewis Brooks believes should be a driving force behind continued improvements in the school district. His VOICE advisory meetings aim to engage stakeholders, including teachers, parents, and students, in meaningful, open dialogue about what makes Shelby County Schools a model of excellence and areas where the district needs to make improvements.

VOICE is an acronym for Vision, Openness, Insight, Communication, and Engagement. Dr. Brooks hosted three VOICE meetings during the month of March, one for teachers and two for parents from each of the seven school zones.

‘The reason I started these VOICE meetings was to seek stakeholder input,” Dr. Brooks explained. “The name speaks to our desire to gain feedback from our stakeholders and drive the vision of our district holistically.” “It is important for everyone who is invested in our district – our students, parents, and teachers, to be heard and to know that we take action to address their concerns.”

Brooks reported to the stakeholder groups that the district did implement several of their ideas and suggestions from last year’s meeting, including improvements to school safety, increasing student and teacher leadership development programs, providing more opportunities for parental involvement, and better promotion of the Career Technical Educational Center (CTEC).