I’m worried by the closing sentence though, “I’m not the alarm clock,” he said. “We need to have parents at the table to figure out why they’re allowing their kids to miss 30, 40, 50 days of school.”

I want to see school leaders embracing their power in advocating for parents/families. Many times parents aren’t the alarm clocks either and parents aren’t “allowing” their kids to miss schools. These parents need coaching, I needed coaching and even set up a sick day policy with my children, and now they go to school because they know the consequences of staying home when I say they are well enough to go to school. Parents also need to be able to live off of one income – this is something educators can advocate for. And even more than that, it’s probably not the alarm clocks. Students might not be missing school because they couldn’t wake up – perhaps they don’t feel safe or seen at school – this is certainly within the principal’s sphere of influence.

Yes, parents must be at the table! But don’t start the conversation by blaming them for not being at the table if you didn’t build the table with them to begin with. Family and Community Engagement is a two-way (dual-capacity) 360 degree (systemic and continuous) practice. This principal is right to want better communication and trusting relationships with parents, and this principal has some internal capacity building work to do before they will see the families they need at the table pulling up a seat.