The Black Parent Advisory Council met on April 17 to discuss a number of issues as the school year winds down. 

The meeting began with announcements from interim co-chair Nataisia Mcroy and an introduction by the council’s new interim co-chair Charles Evans III. Evans works for Venture Academy as a student advocate, where he recently developed a mentoring program this year for boys (only for now) ages 10 through 18.

Mcroy also shared updates on the council’s work to update its new bylaws as they also go into elections in June 2023. In that election, council members will vote on both co-chair positions as well as secretary, which is a new position for BPAC. 

Members have spent several meetings this year updating the council’s bylaws and they are currently working towards approval of those bylaws, though the process for approving those bylaws remains a bit up in the air. 

According to Mcroy, the advisory council is also developing welcome packets for the MPS community so that folks can contact council members and understand their roles. The welcome packet would also include the history of the Black Parent Advisory Council and community resources including resources for new MPS families, Minneapolis-at-large resources, summer opportunities, and more. Mcroy also discussed potential new opportunities for BPAC members, with the council’s MPS liaison Tikonwaun Blackamore, aimed at potentially bringing youth representation into BPAC. 

“BPAC is for the children,” said Mcroy. 

Council member Elleni B Fellows asked about how the council would go about bringing in youth representatives and what age they would start with if they were to recruit youth members of the organization. According to Mcroy, many of the details are still being sorted and whatever is discussed would need to be decided by vote. 

Mcroy also said that the advisory council should discuss goals and a focus for the next academic year as this school year begins to come to a close. 

The next Black Parent Advisory Council meeting is May 15 at 6pm via Zoom.