Miami-Dade school board candidate pitches father-focused college pipeline

Dr. Bernard W.H. Jennings, a Miami-Dade County School Board District 1 candidate, unveiled the Fathers Forward Initiative to boost father engagement in public schools and redirect students toward college, career training, or other postsecondary paths. The proposal ties family involvement to literacy, math, attendance, discipline, and graduation outcomes across Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Why it matters: - The proposal links father engagement to student attendance, reading and math performance, behavior, graduation rates, and college ambitions. - The initiative is aimed at Miami-Dade County Public Schools and frames family participation as a way to shift students away from a school-to-prison pathway. - The campaign argues that schools work better when fathers and father figures are visible, welcomed, and involved from elementary school through high school.

What happened: - Dr. Bernard W.H. Jennings, a candidate for Miami-Dade County School Board District 1, introduced the Fathers Forward Initiative on July 23, 2026. - The proposal lays out a districtwide plan to increase responsible father engagement in school life. - Jennings says the effort is designed to help guide students from school to college, not school to prison. - The campaign also says the program should be branded as “Fathers Forward: From the School-to-Prison Pipeline to the School-to-College Pipeline.” - Jennings directs readers to more information.

The details: - Each school would designate a Father Engagement Liaison, or use an existing staff member, to coordinate father engagement. - Schools would build a father volunteer network, recruit fathers for events, and connect fathers with community resources. - The initiative calls for regular Daddy & Donuts leadership breakfasts with principals, teachers, counselors, mental health professionals, fathers, coaches, community leaders, college representatives, law enforcement officers, and local business owners. - Suggested breakfast topics include reading, homework help, bullying prevention, college planning, mental health, internet safety, positive discipline, financial literacy, workforce readiness, and fatherhood leadership. - Fathers Read Fridays would invite fathers and father figures into elementary classrooms to read with students, help with literacy stations, and support struggling readers. - Math Mentors would pair volunteer fathers with teachers during tutoring sessions to practice multiplication, build confidence, support STEM activities, and assist after-school tutoring. - Lunch With Dad would give schools quarterly chances for fathers or father figures to eat with their children on campus. - A districtwide 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 initiative says college exposure should start early through the line that “college begins in kindergarten.” - Partner schools would work with colleges and universities, including Florida Memorial University and other local institutions, on 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. - Participating fathers would be encouraged to pledge support for meetings, teacher relationships, reading, attendance, learning, graduation, and postsecondary options. - Success would be measured by father attendance at PTA and PTO meetings, volunteer hours, Daddy & Donuts participation, reading and math proficiency, student attendance, chronic absenteeism, suspensions, disciplinary referrals, graduation rates, FAFSA completion, college enrollment, and career and technical education participation. - The campaign says the effort would lean on partnerships and could draw support from the Good Dad Act Committee, faith-based organizations, colleges, businesses, foundations, mentoring groups, civic groups, and chambers of commerce. - The proposal says grants, sponsorships, and volunteer service could help fund the program.

Between the lines: - The initiative is as much a school climate strategy as a family-engagement plan. - Jennings is tying father involvement to academic and behavioral outcomes, while also positioning the proposal as a broader community coalition effort. - The emphasis on colleges, workforce training, and adult services suggests the campaign sees father support as part of a wider family-stability agenda.

What's next: - The proposal would need district buy-in, school-level implementation, and outside partners to move beyond campaign branding. - The campaign says results should be tracked through measurable student and family outcomes, which would make effectiveness easier to judge over time. - If adopted, the model would expand from family outreach into a structured, schoolwide father-engagement program across Miami-Dade County Public Schools.