Parent Teacher Student Association aims to improve communications

A child new to the United States who doesn’t speak English. A child who is autistic and affected by difficulties with the language. A child with a learning disability who is delayed in speaking the language. A child with no difficulties with language who simply wants to befriend another child who is challenged to learn the language.

These are all children who can benefit from a Communication Board, which uses photos to assist children to express themselves and can be adapted in  specific ways to help enhance relationships and improve verbal skills.

In December, Laurene Silvani, a member of the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), brought the idea of a Communication Board to the Board of Education for a school playground, not to seek money, but support for the project. She found Board members enthusiastic, if cash shy.

As the Board of Education launched its budget workshops Monday night to craft a 2026-27 spending plan that will go to voters on a first vote in May, there is a priority to keep spending as tight as possible, avoiding having to cut further for a second vote, which happened in May 2025.

Communication Boards are made of aluminum; the one Ms. Silvani has in mind would be 48 inches by 41 inches and be designed for Island use. When Ms. Silvani first heard that such a Board could be placed on a playground instead of inside the school, she had doubts. But she learned that putting it outside could make it effective, since students would be apt to be more relaxed and open to using it as a communications and learning tool.

In a district with a number of Spanish-speaking students and others with special educational needs, Ms. Silvani believes it can help to close the gap and help bring parents and children of different needs together.

To raise funds to purchase a Communication Board would be a significant aid, advocates say, to help cement district officials’ efforts to make the community one family.

Ms. Silvani has two children — a son who is in kindergarten and a two-year-old daughter. She believes they will benefit from being able to form closer friendships with students whose verbal skills can be enhanced through use of a Communication Board.

She knows the intricacies of the issue first hand since her brother and sister-in-law are the parents of a daughter with learning disabilities.

Communication Boards range in cost from $1,200 to $5,000 and Ms. Silvani thinks the one that will be effective for Shelter Island is likely to cost about $3,663.

Her plan is to approach Island organizations that have funded projects through the years and individuals who may have interest in helping to fund the purchase.