Miami-Dade school board candidate backs father engagement plan

Dr. Bernard W.H. Jennings, a candidate for Miami-Dade County School Board District 1, is promoting a countywide Fathers Forward Initiative aimed at boosting father involvement in schools and steering more students toward college, career training, or other postsecondary paths. The proposal pairs school-based events, volunteer roles, and family resources with measurable goals tied to attendance, literacy, graduation, and college enrollment.

Why it matters: - The proposal links father engagement to outcomes that matter for students, including attendance, literacy, behavior, graduation, and postsecondary readiness. - The initiative is framed as a way to shift Miami-Dade students away from a school-to-prison pipeline and toward a school-to-college pipeline. - The plan is aimed at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, so the potential impact would reach families across the district.

What happened: - Dr. Bernard W.H. Jennings, a candidate for Miami-Dade County School Board District 1, unveiled the Fathers Forward Initiative on July 23, 2026. - The initiative calls for schools to make fathers and father figures visible, welcomed, and engaged partners from the earliest grades through high school. - Jennings also urged families to think about college and higher education early, not only in high school.

The details: - The initiative's mission is to increase responsible father engagement throughout Miami-Dade County Public Schools. - One pillar would require every school to designate a Father Engagement Liaison or use an existing staff member to coordinate father engagement. - That liaison would welcome fathers, maintain a father volunteer network, coordinate mentoring, connect fathers with community resources, encourage PTA or PTO participation, and recruit fathers for school events. - A second pillar, Daddy & Donuts Leadership Breakfasts, would bring together principals, teachers, school counselors, mental health professionals, successful fathers, coaches, community leaders, college representatives, law enforcement officers, and local business owners. - Suggested topics for those breakfasts include raising readers, homework help, bullying prevention, college planning, mental health, internet safety, positive discipline, financial literacy, workforce readiness, and fatherhood leadership. - A third pillar, Fathers Read Fridays, would invite fathers and father figures into elementary classrooms every Friday or another designated day to read with students, help with literacy stations, encourage struggling readers, and model the value of education. - A fourth pillar would create Math Mentors, with volunteer fathers working alongside teachers during tutoring sessions to practice multiplication, build math confidence, support STEM activities, and assist after-school tutoring. - The plan also includes quarterly Lunch With Dad events to strengthen school connectedness. - A Father Volunteer Corps would support field trips, Career Day, STEM fairs, reading nights, athletics, robotics, safety patrol, science fairs, music programs, and school beautification. - The College Begins in Kindergarten pillar would partner with colleges and universities, including Florida Memorial University and other local institutions, to offer campus visits, college nights, financial aid workshops, dual enrollment information, and career exploration. - Father Resource Centers would share information on job training, workforce development, adult education, GED programs, parenting classes, family counseling, legal aid, housing resources, mental health services, and food assistance. - The School-to-College Pipeline pillar asks participating fathers to pledge support for meetings, teacher relationships, reading, attendance, learning, graduation, and postsecondary pathways including college, technical education, military service, or meaningful employment. - The initiative would track father attendance at PTA or PTO meetings, volunteer hours, participation in Daddy & Donuts events, reading and math proficiency, attendance, chronic absenteeism, suspensions, graduation rates, FAFSA completion, college enrollment, and career and technical education participation. - Funding is intended to lean on partnerships, grants, sponsorships, and volunteer service instead of relying only on district money. - Potential partners include the Good Dad Act Committee, faith-based groups, colleges and universities, businesses, community foundations, mentoring organizations, civic groups, and local chambers of commerce. - Jennings said the campaign philosophy is meant to complement, not replace, the roles of mothers, grandparents, guardians, or teachers. - The proposed branding for the effort is Fathers Forward: From the School-to-Prison Pipeline to the School-to-College Pipeline. - The release includes a call for more information at District1Schools.com.

Between the lines: - The proposal uses school programming and family outreach as a behavior-change strategy, betting that regular contact with fathers can improve student engagement and academic confidence. - The broad list of partners and low-cost supports suggests the campaign is designed to feel scalable and community-driven rather than dependent on a large new district budget. - The emphasis on measurable outcomes signals an attempt to position father engagement as an accountability issue, not just a community-relations effort.

What's next: - The initiative would need school-by-school buy-in, staffing coordination, and outside partners to move from concept to districtwide practice. - If adopted, the district could evaluate progress through the outcome metrics listed in the proposal and adjust programming based on participation and student results. - Jennings is directing supporters to his campaign and social channels for more information, including LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Studio.