Title I and Parental Involvement at Sperry Public Schools

DISTRICT WIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT (Title I Programs)

General Expectations 

The purpose of this policy is to establish the district’s expectations for parental involvement.  [Section 1118(a)(2), ESSA.]  The district agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:  

1. The school district will put into operation programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents in all of its schools with Title I, Part A programs, consistent with section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015.   Those programs, activities and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.  
2. Consistent with section 1118, the school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parental involvement policies meet the requirements of section 1118(b) of the ESSA, and each include, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with section 1118(d) of the ESSA.
3. The school district will incorporate this district wide parental involvement policy into its LEA plan developed under section 1112 of the ESSA.  
4. In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school district and its individual schools will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports required under section 1111 of the ESSA in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.
5. If the LEA plan for Title I, Part A, developed under section 1112 of the ESSA, is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to the State Department of Education. 
6. The school district will involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the 1 percent of Title I, Part A funds reserved for parental involvement is spent.  
7. The school district will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and expects that its Title I schools will carry out programs, activities, and procedures in accordance with this definition:

Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring—

7. 1. that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;
   2. that parents 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 are included, as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child;
   4. the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118 of the ESSA. 
8. The school district will inform parents and parental organizations of the purpose and existence of the parental information and resource center in the state, known as Parents as Partners in Education.

District Implementation of District Wide Parental Involvement Policy 

The district will implement or accomplish each of the following components.  [Section 1118(a)(2), ESSA.]  

1. The district will encourage parents of children in Title I programs to be involved in the joint development of its district wide parental involvement plan under section 1112 of the ESSA through annual reviews of the program, committee meetings, program evaluations, and parent-teacher conferences.  
2. The district will encourage parents to be involved in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the ESSA through annual review of the program, program evaluations, committee meetings, and parent-teacher conferences.
3. The district will provide the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist participating schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement to improve student academic achievement and school performance:  
4. The district will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies of the district Title I program to the coordinators of preschool programs such as the district’s 4 year old program in an effort to encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children.
5. The district will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement policy in improving the quality of its Title I, Part A schools: 

1. Parents will be involved in the review of the Title I plan and may suggest improvements to the plan.  
2. The district will periodically review, with the involvement of parents, the content and effectiveness of the parental involvement policy.   
3. The district will use the review findings to determine if revisions are needed in the parental involvement policies and procedures at the district and building/site levels.

6. In an effort to improve student academic achievement, the district will work to build the schools’ and parent’s capacity for strong parental involvement to ensure effective involvement of parents.  Activities such as parent teacher conferences and back to school night and information provided on the district’s Web pages will be employed to encourage strong parental involvement in each of the following:
   1. The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district or school, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as 

i.           the State’s academic content standards, ii. the State’s student academic achievement standards,

iii. the State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments, iv. the requirements of Part A,

v. how to monitor their child’s progress, and vi. how to work with educators;

6. 2. The school district will, with the assistance of its schools, provide materials and support to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s academic achievement;
   3. The school district will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with and other programs, and conduct other activities that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children;
   4. The school district will ensure that information related to the school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities, is made available to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format, including, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand:  
7. The school district will educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff, in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and schools through parent-teacher conferences, back to school night, and information provided on the district’s Web site.  
8. The school district will utilize staff meetings and professional development activities to educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff, in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and schools.  

Adoption

This District Wide Parental Involvement Policy has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, as evidenced by the minutes of the meeting in which parental involvement and the manner in which that would be achieved was deliberated.

The school district will make this policy available to all parents of participating Title I, Part A children annually.