The board of education recognizes the value of family engagement in a child's academic success and
believes that the education of children is an ongoing cooperative partnership between the home and
the school. Parents and other family members are their children's first teachers; therefore, the
continued involvement of parents and family members in the educational process is most important in
fostering and improving educational achievement. School system officials shall strive to support
parents and provide parents and family members with meaningful opportunities to become involved in
the programs offered by the Title I schools. The board encourages parents and family members to
participate in the design and implementation of the programs and activities in order to increase the
effectiveness of the school system's Title I program in helping students meet state and local
achievement standards.
A. Definition of Parent and Family Engagement
For the purposes of this policy, the term "parent and family engagement" means the
participation of parents, guardians, and other family members in regular, two-way, and
meaningful communication involving student learning and other school activities, including
ensuring the following:
1. that parents and family members play an integral role in assisting their child's learning;
2. that parents and family members are encouraged to be actively involved in their child's
education at school;
3. that parents are full partners in their child's education and parents and family members
are included, as appropriate, in decision making and on advisory committees to assist in
the education of their child; and
4. that the school system utilizes activities to support parent and family engagement in the
Title I programs.
B. Purpose and Operation of Title I Program
The Title I program is a federally supported program that offers assistance to educationally and
economically disadvantaged children to help ensure they receive an equitable, high-quality, well-rounded education and meet the school system's challenging academic standards. The Title I
program provides instructional activities and supportive services to eligible students over and
above those provided by the regular school program.
Qualified Title I schools will operate as school-wide programs or targeted assistance programs
based upon federal eligibility criteria. School-wide programs will provide comprehensive
support to offer improved opportunities for all students in the school to meet the school system's
academic standards. Targeted assistance programs will provide services to eligible students
most in need of assistance in the school, as determined by objective criteria established by the
superintendent or designee. Eligibility criteria may include, for example, standardized test
scores, teacher judgment, and results of preschool screening and home-school surveys.
Both school-wide and targeted assistance programs shall be based on effective means of
improving student achievement and shall include evidence-based strategies to support parent
and family engagement.
C. Annual Meeting and Program Evaluation
Each year, school officials must invite parents of students participating in Title I programs to a
meeting to explain parental rights, discuss the programs and activities to be provided with Title I
funds, and solicit input on the Title I program and this policy. In addition, school officials must
provide parents and family members a meaningful opportunity annually to evaluate the content
and effectiveness of the Title I programs and the parent and family engagement policies and
plans. Information collected from these proceedings will be used to revise Title I programs and
parent and family engagement plans.
D. Parent and Family Engagement Efforts
The board believes that the involvement of Title I parents and family members in the design and
implementation of the Title I program will increase the effectiveness of the program and
contribute significantly to the success of the children. The Title I staff and all school system
personnel shall strive to conduct outreach to parents and family members and involve them in
activities throughout the school year.
The superintendent shall ensure that this system-level parent and family engagement policy and
plan is developed with, agreed upon with, and annually distributed to parents and family
members of participating students. In addition to the system-level parent and family engagement
plan, each school participating in the Title I program shall jointly develop and annually distribute
to parents and family members a school-level written parent and family engagement plan that
describes the means for carrying out school-level policy, sharing responsibility for student
academic achievement, building the capacity of school staff and parents for involvement, and
increasing accessibility for participation of all parents and family members of children
participating in Title I programs, including parents and family members who have limited English
proficiency, who have disabilities, or who are migratory. School-level plans must involve parents
in the planning and improvement of Title I activities and must provide for the distribution to
parents of information on expected student achievement levels and the school's academic
performance.
School officials shall invite appropriate school personnel from private schools to consult on the
design and development of its programs in order to provide equitable services to students
enrolled in private schools. The superintendent or designee shall establish any additional
procedures necessary to achieve timely and meaningful consultation with private school officials
in accordance with federal law.
In addition, school system officials and Title I school personnel shall do the following:
1. involve parents and family members in the joint development of the Title I program and
school support and improvement plan and the process of school review and improvement
by including parents on the school advisory committee and any committees that review the
Title I program;
2. provide coordination, technical assistance, and other support from various central office
departments necessary to assist and build the capacity of all participating schools in
planning and implementing effective parent and family engagement activities that are
designed to improve student academic achievement and school performance;
3. coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement strategies in the Title I program
to the extent feasible and appropriate with parental engagement strategies established in
other federal, state, and local laws and programs;
4. with the meaningful involvement of parents, conduct an annual evaluation of the content
and effectiveness of the school system parent and family engagement policies and
program in improving the academic quality of the school and assisting students to meet
the school system's academic standards;
5. strive to eliminate barriers to parental participation by assisting parents who have
disabilities and parents who are economically disadvantaged, have limited English
proficiency, are migratory, or have other backgrounds or characteristics that may affect
participation;
6. provide outreach and assistance to parents and family members of children who are
participating in Title I programs in understanding the state's testing standards, the
assessments used, Title Irequirements, and all national, state, and local standards and
expectations through such efforts as community-based meetings, posting information on
school websites, sending information home, newsletters, workshops, and newspaper
articles;
7. design a parent-student-school staff compact that sets out respective responsibilities in
striving to raise student achievement and explains how an effective home/school
partnership will be developed and maintained;
8. with the assistance of parents, ensure that teachers, specialized instructional support
personnel, principals, and other staff are educated in the value of parents as partners in
the educational process and understand how to work with, communicate with, and reach
out to parents as equal partners in education;
9. distribute to parents information on expected student proficiency levels for their child
and the school's academic performance, and provide materials and training to help
parents monitor their child's progress and work with educators to improve achievement
through such methods as literacy training or using technology, which may include
education about the harms of copyright piracy;
10. coordinate and integrate, to the extent feasible and appropriate, parental involvement
programs and activities with federal, state, and local programs, including public preschool
programs, and conduct other activities in the community that encourage and support
parents to more fully participate in the education of their child;
11. strengthen the partnership with agencies, businesses, and programs that operate in
the community, especially those with expertise in effectively engaging parents and family
members in education;
12. ensure that parents are involved in the school's Title I activities; and
13. provide such other reasonable support for Title I parental involvement activities as
requested by parents.
E. Notice Requirements
School system officials and Title I school personnel shall provide effective notice of the following
information as required by law. The notice must be in an understandable and uniform format and,
to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.
1. Program for English Learners
Each year the principal or designee shall provide notice of the following to parents of
English learners identified for participation in a Title I, Part A or Title III funded language
instruction educational program:
a. the reasons for the child's identification;
b. the child's level of English proficiency and how such level was assessed;
c. methods of instruction;
d. how the program will help the child;
e. the exit requirements for the program;
f. if the child has a disability, how the language instruction educational program
meets the objectives of the child's individualized educational program (IEP);
g. any other information necessary to effectively inform the parent of the program and
the parental rights regarding enrollment, removal, and selection of a program for
English learners; and
h. notice of regular meetings for the purpose of formulating and responding to
recommendations from parents.
2. System Report Card
Each year, school system officials shall disseminate to all parents, schools, and the public
a school system report card containing information about the school system and each
school, including, but not limited to:
a. the following information both in the aggregate and disaggregated by category:
student achievement, graduation rates, performance on other school quality and/or
student success indicators, the progress of students toward meeting long-term goals
established by the state, student performance on measures of school climate and
safety, and, as available, the rate of enrollment in post-secondary education;
b. the performance of the school system on academic assessments as compared to
the state as a whole and the performance of each school on academic assessments
as compared to the state and school system as a whole;
c. the percentage and number of students who are:
i. assessed,
ii. assessed using alternate assessments,
iii. involved in preschool and accelerated coursework programs, and
iv. English learners achieving proficiency;
d. the per pupil expenditures of federal, state, and local funds; and
e. teacher qualifications.
3. Teacher Qualifications
a. At the beginning of each year, school system officials shall notify parents of
students who are participating in Title I programs (1) of the right to request certain
information on the professional qualifications of the student's classroom teachers
and paraprofessionals providing services to the child and (2) that such information
will be provided in a timely manner (see policy 7820, Personnel Files).
b. The principal or designee of a Title I school shall provide timely notice informing
parents that their student has been assigned to or has been taught for at least four
consecutive weeks by a teacher who does not meet applicable state certification or
licensure requirements at the grade level or subject area in which the teacher has
been assigned.
4. Student's Academic Growth and Achievement
School officials shall provide to each parent of a student who is participating in a Title I
program information on the level of achievement and academic growth, if applicable and
available, of the student on each of the state's academic assessments.
5. Parental Rights and Opportunities for Involvement
a. Each year, the principal or designee of a Title I school shall provide notice to
parents of the school's written parent and family engagement policy, parents' right to
be involved in their child's school, and opportunities for parents and family members
to be involved in the school.
b. At the beginning of each school year, the principal or designee of a Title I school
shall provide notice to parents of (1) their right to request information regarding
student participation in state-required assessments and (2) that such information will
be provided in a timely manner.
F. Website Distribution of Information
Each year, school system officials shall publicize on the school system website and, where
practicable, on the website of each school:
1. the report card described in subsection E.2, above; and
2. information on each assessment required by the state and, where feasible, by the
school system, organized by grade level. The information must include:
a. the subject matter assessed;
b. the purpose for which the assessment is designed and used;
c. the source of the requirement for the assessment;
d. if available, the amount of time students will spend taking the assessments and
the schedule of the assessments; and
e. if available, the time and format for distributing results.
The superintendent shall develop any administrative procedures necessary to implement the
requirements of this policy.
Legal References: Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.,
34 C.F.R. pt. 200
Cross References: Parental Involvement (policy 1310/4002), Goals and Objectives of the Educational
Program (policy 3000), Curriculum Development (policy 3100), Personnel Files (policy 7820)
Adopted: August 1, 2022
Replaces: Board policy 5424, Parent/Family Involvement (in part)
