Speaker

Dr. Christopher Delgado

Superintendent

Dr. Christopher Delgado serves as the Superintendent of Farmington Public Schools.

After graduating from Michigan State University, he began his career as a high school and middle school Spanish teacher in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Six years later he returned to Michigan as a high school Spanish teacher in Birmingham, Michigan, followed by 18 years in administration, including roles as high school associate principal, middle school principal and deputy superintendent. He completed his Masters of Educational Administration from Michigan State University, and his Educational Specialist and Doctorate from Oakland University.

He has been married for 29 years to his wife, Leslie, who is an elementary teacher in Birmingham. They have three children: Antonio, a graduate of Michigan State; Casandra, a graduate of New York University and law student at Columbia University; and Dominic, a student at Henry Ford College’s Culinary Institute.

  • Company Farmington Public Schools

AllSessions

Day 2
September 21, 2023
3:45 pm

Navigating Community Involvement and Engagement on Thorny Issues [Leadership Development/Other]

21 September
Time:  3:45 pm - 5:00 pm
Location:  Tower C

How do school districts and Boards of Education respond to the needs of their community when confronted not only by the typical problems of a post-Covid era but also those added to the mix by state and local politics? A partnership between Farmington Public Schools and Oakland University has explored responses to that challenge. The Galileo Institute and the Center for Community Engagement at Oakland University developed a workshop for district teams (superintendent, central office, principals and board members) around issues concerning civility and engagement in public life, the need for more opportunities for conversation and dialogue, possible root causes of distrust and division as well as strategies to address these challenges. Farmington Public Schools has offered a series of "community dialogues" which have helped the district successfully navigate thorny issues by diverse groups of individuals with diverse viewpoints which they shared with attendees at the workshop and the OU Civility Day conference.

Focus: Small & Rural Districts /Central Office /Urban School Districts /Diversity, Equity, Inclusion/School Safety/Mental Health & Wellness /Teaching & Learning Leadership Development/Other.

Takeaways:
1. Strategies to more successfully navigate thorny issues in your district and school community.
2. What political science and school leadership research tells us about community engagement and lessons learned from all sides of this project.
3. How local communities can show resilience and engage successfully despite diverse viewpoints and divisions that can arise in local districts.

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