FULTON COUNTY SCHOOLS

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT STATEMENT – SY2013-2014

Revised: _May 29, 2013

Title Advisory Council Members and Title I parents

PARTI.GENERAL EXPECTATIONS

The Fulton County School District (District) is committed to the goal of providing a quality education for every child in this District. Consistent with the District’s “Vision” statement and Board Policy BA, KD (2), KD (1) and LEBA, parents will be included in all aspects of the District’s Title I Program. A partnership will be established with parents, school and the community. Everyone gains if the school and parents work together to promote high student achievement. Neither the school nor parents can do the job alone. Parents play an extremely important role as children’s first teachers. Parental support for children and for the school is critical to the success of each child.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the No Child Left Behind Acthas strengthened and expanded the requirements for involving the parents of Title I students.Accordingly, ED may not waive the requirement that an LEA spend a minimum of one percent of its Title I, Part A, Subpart 2 allocation on parent involvement activities.In Section 1118 of the ESEA, these requirements add parent consultation and information by explicitly requiring the District and schools to develop a written Parental Involvement Policy. For purposes of the District’s structure, the District calls this “policy” a “statement”.

A parent advisory council will assist the District in developing and editing this statement. The advisory council will be chosen from volunteers in each school attendance area in the Fulton County School System. This advisory council will consist of 21parents, three parent liaisons, 3 community members,6 support staff, 8 school administrators, 3 Title I members at large and all federal grant managers affiliated with the Comprehensive LEA Improvement Plan (CLIP)who will develop a draft of our District’s Title I Parental Involvement Statement or changes to the existing Statement. Parents of children who are participating or have participated in the Title I school will be considered to serve on the Advisory Council. The committee chairperson will be a parent having children in the system. The system Parental Involvement Statement will be available for review at each Title I school and comments will be gathered on the statement throughout the school year prior to district approval.

PART II.GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

At a minimum, the District agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

  • The 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 ESEA. Those programs, activities and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.
  • Consistent with section 1118, the 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 ESEA, and each include, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with section 1118(d) of the ESEA.
  • The District will incorporate this district wide parental involvement statement into its District plan developed under section 1112 of the ESEA.
  • In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the District and its 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 ESEA in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.
  • If the District plan for Title I, Part A, developed under section 1112 of the ESEA, is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the District will submit any parent comments with the plan when the District submits the plan to the State Department of Education.
  • The District will involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the minimum of one percent of Title I, Part A funds reserved for parental involvement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95 percent of the one percent reserved goes directly to the schools.
  • The 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—

(A) that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;

(B)that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;

(C)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;

(D)the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA.

  • The District will inform parents and parental organizations of the purpose and existence of the Parent Resource Centers in the district.

PART III.DESCRIPTION OF HOW DISTRICT WILL IMPLEMENT REQUIRED DISTRICT WIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT STATEMENT COMPONENTS

1.The District will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its district wide parental involvement plan under section 1112 of the ESEA:

  • No later than September of each school year, a letter will be sent to all parents of children in Title I schools. This letter will inform them of the ESEA, Title I funding and parental involvement opportunities scheduled throughout the school year and how to learn about additional opportunities. The letter will also explain to parents how to obtain a copy of the District-wide plan.
  • All parents will be invited to attend a meeting during the first semesterto discuss the total school program as well as to give input regarding updates to this plan.
  • Follow-up efforts to the letter will be made through telephone calls, conferences, direct mailing, website posting and/orthe offering of alternative evening meetings.
  • Parents of children entering the Title I school during the year will also be informed of the Title I goals and objectives via newsletter, school postings, curriculum nights or school website.
  • Increased efforts will be made to translate all information in the languages represented in Title I schools. In addition, attempts will be made to organize and gather resources to hold a minimum of one parent meeting in a language other than English.

2.The District will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the ESEA:

  • In the letter discussed in PartI (1), above, the District will provide resources and contacts for more information regarding the general expectations for schools under Section 1116.

The District will publicize and disseminate the results of the local annual review described in Section 1116 to parents, specifically College and Career Readiness Performance Index (

  • Parents will also be informed of how to access State information regarding the status of particular schools and any plans on file for school or District improvement.
  • The District will review the effectiveness of the actions and activities the schools are carry out under Section 1116 with respect to parental involvement, professional development, and other relevant activities under this Section.

3. The District will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance:

  • All schools will be encouraged to work directly with Title I with respect to their parental involvement activities.
  • The District will provide District level contact information to relevant school staff to assist in parent involvement.
  • School level staff will be invited to participate in all District level parent meetings.
  • Title I will provide schools with model parent involvement statements and compacts.
  • Schools will be encouraged to submit their parent-school compacts to Title I to discuss any questions or concerns they may have about this process.

4.The District will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs:

Soliciting parent volunteer groups to assist in the Title I Program.

PTA/PTO/PTSA.

Local Governance Council

Parents Assuring Student Success (PASS). PASS helps parents improve their ability to enhance a positive attitude toward learning and provide a productive learning environment. PASS covers seven essential study skills: concentration, listening, time management, note-taking, memory, thinking, and reading. The training includes modules that help parents teach their children how to manage time, prepare for and take tests, improve their reading skills and manage homework and study textbooks.

Family Friendly Walk Throughs

Theses strategies will be coordinated by the following activities:

  • The District will communicate directly with the relevant staff of these programs to encourage coordination and joint efforts to involve parents.
  • The District will ensure that these programs are aware of the District and schools parental involvement efforts, statements and compacts.
  • The District will encourage these organizations to provide the District’s and schools’ relevant information regarding their parental involvement efforts so that the District may participate where appropriate.

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. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in parental involvement activities (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background). The District will use the findings of the evaluation about its parental involvement policy and activities to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary (and with the involvement of parents) its parental involvement policies.

  • A District-wide TitleAdvisoryCouncilco-chaired by a parent and the Title I director and including parent participants, will be involved in the process of school review and improvement. The committee’s purpose will be to evaluate schools in this District by collecting information in a variety of categories. This information will review school, budget, volunteer, workshop and resource room activities.

6. The District will build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for strong parental involvement, in

order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the

school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement,

through the following activities specifically described below:

A. The District will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the District or school, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following:

  • the State’s academic content standards,
  • the State’s student academic achievement standards,
  • the State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments,
  • the requirements of Part A,
  • how to monitor their child’s progress, and
  • how to work with educators.
  1. The District will, with the assistance of its schools, provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s academic achievement, such as literacy training, and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement, by: offering of workshop opportunities and activities at the school or North/South Parent Resource Centers.

C. The District will, with the assistance of its schools and parents, 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, by: facilitating Principal and Parent Liaison workshops and learning opportunities to filter appropriate information.

D. The District will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with EvenStart, PASS, and public preschool and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, workshops and seminars that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children, by: working collaboratively with all state and local agencies, federal grant managers and external departments to develop and facilitate a slate of learning opportunities for parents.

E. The District will take the following actions to ensure that information related to the school and parent- programs, meetings, and other activities, is sent to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand: through the dissemination of information in the Title Talk newsletter and the system website.

PART IV.ADOPTION

This District-wide Parental Involvement Statement has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, as evidenced by attendance sheets for the TitleAdvisory Council.

This statement was adopted by the District- Title Advisory Councilon _May 29th_ and will be in effect for the2013-2014 school year. The District will distribute this policy to all parents of participating Title I, Part A children on or before October 15, 2013.

Director – Title I

(Signature of District Official)

May 29,2013______

(Date)

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