Policy KB
Parent Involvement in Education
School Board Approved: April 1, 2019

The School Board endorses the family and community engagement goals of the Every Student Succeeds Act and encourages regular collaboration between family members, community members, and school leadership. The education of children is viewed as a cooperative effort among the parents, school and community, other family members involved in supporting the child's development and education.

Pursuant to federal law, the District will develop jointly with distribute to parents of children participating in the Title I program a written family and community engagement policy.

The goal of this policy is to:

• Honor and recognize families' funds of knowledge.
  
• Connect family engagement to student learning.
  
• Create welcoming, inviting cultures.
  
• Develop the capacity of families to negotiate the roles of supporters, advocates, and collaborators.
  

The District will implement at least one annual meeting that is available to all families of students attending Title I schools and/or for families that include a student who receives Title I services (Targeted Schools). These meetings will provide parents and family members opportunities to participate in the design, development, operation and evaluation of the program for the next school year. Additional meetings may be held at the will of the Superintendent or school board. These meetings will be used to:

• Involve parents in the joint development of the Title I program plan, the process of reviewing the implementation of the plan, and suggesting overall school improvements goals.
  
• Provide the coordination, technical assistance and other support necessary to assist participating schools in planning and implementing effective family and community engagement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance.
  
• Build the schools' and parents' capacity for strong family and community engagement.
  
• Coordinate and integrate Title I family and community engagement strategies with those of other educational programs.
  
• Conduct, with the involvement of families, an annual evaluation of the content of the family engagement policy and its effectiveness in improving the academic quality of the schools served. This will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in activities authorized by law, particularly by parents who are economically disadvantaged, have disabilities, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background. The district will use the findings of such evaluation to design strategies for more effective parental involvement and to revise, if necessary, the parental involvement policies.
  
• Involve families in the activities of the schools served.
  

Title I funding, if sufficient, may be used to facilitate parent attendance at meetings through payment of transportation, childcare costs, food for the event, and academic based supplies and activities during the event. In targeted assistance programs, the families of children identified to participate in Title I programs will receive from the school Principal and/or Title I staff an explanation of the reasons supporting each child's selection for the program, a set of objectives to be addressed, and a description of the services to be provided. Opportunities will be provided for the parents to meet with the classroom and Title I teachers to discuss their child's progress. Parents will also receive guidance as to how they can assist in the education of their children at home.

Legal References:
20 U.S.C. §6318, Title I - Parental Involvement

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