The Board of Education recognizes the rights of parents/persons in parental relation to be fully informed of all information relevant to their children, including children who participate in programs and projects funded by Title I. Therefore, the Board of Education encourages the participation of parents of scholars eligible for Title I services in all aspects of their child’s education, including the development and implementation of district programs.

In order to facilitate parental participation, the District will:

a) Involve parents in the joint development of the Title I Plan. If the plan is not satisfactory to the parents of children participating in Title I programs, the District will submit any parent comments to the State Education Department along with the District’s plan;

b) Provide the coordination, technical assistance, and support necessary to assist participating schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement activities to improve scholar academic achievement and school performance;

c) Build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for strong parental involvement through implementing and encouraging participation in appropriate parental involvement activities;

d) Coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies under Title I with those of other programs including, but not limited to, the Headstart Program, the Reading First Program, Even Start Program, Parent Resource Centers and other programs;

e) Conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parental involvement policy in improving the academic quality of the Title I schools. The evaluation shall include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in activities under the policy and use the findings of the evaluation to design strategies for more effective parental involvement and, to revise, if necessary, the parental involvement policies at the District and school levels;

f) Involve parents in the activities of the Title I schools; (District to list specific ways to involve parents)

g) Involve parents of children in Title I programs in decisions regarding how funds reserved for parental involvement activities are spent;

In accordance with Section 6318(c), the Board of Education directs each school receiving Title I funds to ensure that a building level parental involvement plan is developed with the participation of that school’s parents. In addition to the goals stated above, each school building level plan will describe the details to:

a) Convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to inform parents of their school’s participation in Title I programs and to explain Title I requirements and the right of the parents to be involved. All parents of children participating in Title I programs will be invited and encouraged to attend the meeting,

b) Offer a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening; and may provide (with funds provided under this provision of law) transportation, child care, or home visits, as such services relate to parental involvement;

c) Involve parents in an organized, ongoing, and timely way in the planning, review, and improvement of Title I programs, including the planning, review, and improvement of the school parental involvement policy.

d) Provide parents of participating children with timely information about programs, a description and explanation of the curriculum in use in Title I programs, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, the proficiency levels students are expected to meet, and if requested by parents, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible; and

e) Develop a school-parent compact jointly with parents that outlines how the parents, school staff and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and detail the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help all children achieve the state’s standards.

f) The compact must include:

1. A description of the school’s responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables the children served in Title I schools to meet the State’s student academic achievement standards.

2. A description of the ways in which each parent will be responsible for supporting their children’s learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, television watching, volunteering in their child’s classroom and participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and positive use of extracurricular time; and

3. Address the importance of communication between teachers and parents on an ongoing basis including, but not limited to:

(a) Parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, at least annually, during which the compact shall be discussed as the compact relates to the individual child’s achievement;

(b) Frequent reports to parents on their children’s progress; and

(c) Reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class, and observation of classroom activities.

To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community in order to improve student academic achievement, the District and each school shall:

a) Provide assistance to parents of children served by the District or school, in understanding such topics as the State’s academic content standards and State student academic achievement standards, State and local academic assessments, the requirements of this part, and how to monitor a child’s progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children;

b) Provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement; .
(District to list types of materials and training to foster involvement)

c) Educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contribution of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and the school;

d) Coordinate and integrate to the extent feasible and appropriate, parent involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, the Home Instruction Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the Parent as Teachers Program, and public preschool and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children;

e) Ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.

In addition to the above activities which are required for the District and each school, the District and each school:

a) May involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training;

b) May provide necessary literacy training from funds received under this part if the local educational agency has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for such training;

c) May pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with local parental involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions;
d) May train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;

e) May arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct in-home conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, with parents who are unable to attend such conferences at school, in order to maximize parental involvement and participation;

f) May adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement

g) May establish a District-wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in programs supported under this section;

h) May develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent involvement activities; and

i) Shall provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under this section as parents may request.

In carrying out the parental involvement requirements, the District and schools, to the extent practicable, shall 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 6311 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language such parents understand.

The District will disseminate free of charge to parents of children in Title I programs, and to appropriate private school officials or representatives, adequate information regarding the District’s written complaint procedures for resolving issues of violation(s) of a Federal statute or regulation that applies to Title I, Part A programs.

To file a complaint, contact:

Title I School and Community Services Office, Room 365 EBA
New York State Education Department
89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234

To learn more about ESSA-Funded Programs Complaint Procedures visit the NYSED website.

Complaints can also be file with the federal Education Department at:

U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Bldg
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-1100

Adopted: 9/9/02 Revised: 6/18/07