5017 Parent and Guardian Involvement In Education Practices

The school district recognizes the importance of parental and guardian involvement in the education of their children. The school district will take the following steps to ensure that the rights of parents and guardians to participate in the education of their children are preserved.

1. Parents/Guardians will be provided access, as described in district procedures, to district-approved textbooks and other curricular materials and tests used in the district upon request.

a. A parental request to review specific approved textbooks and other district- or building-approved curricular materials (written, visual, and audio) should be made to the principal of the building where the textbooks and curriculum materials are used.

b. Parents may check out textbooks and may review curricular materials such as video and audio recordings within a time frame determined by the building principal to prevent disruption of the instructional process.

c. A parental request to review specific standardized and criterionreferenced tests used in the district should be made in writing to the building principal. Copies of the most recent tests used in the district will be available for parent review. Parents wishing to review statewide NeSA assessments will be provided with sample questions and a copy of a practice test, but will not be provided with copies of the actual assessment due to testing security. In the case of other secure tests such as the ACT, parents must contact the publisher to obtain copies of the test.

2. Parents/Guardians will be permitted, within district procedures, to attend and observe courses, assemblies, counseling sessions, and other instructional activities.

a. If no legal prohibitions of which the school district is made aware are in effect, a parent or guardian, or those with written authorization by a parent or guardian, may make limited arrangements to attend and observe his/her student or students. The arrangement requirements are 1) advanced notice of at least 12 hours to the building principal, detailing who and when the visit is requested, 2) a limited visitation of 45 minutes per student (this time limit does not include joining the student for lunch), 3) punctual arrival and departure. Visitors will be provided a designated place to sit and observe; they are not to become directly involved in the instruction. The principal will not authorize initial visitations for multiple attendees or additional visitations for anyone for whom the principal deems may cause a disruption in the learning process.

b. Parents/guardians may contact the building principal to request permission to attend counseling sessions in which their child is involved.

3. Parents/guardians will be permitted, within district procedures, to ask that their children be excused from school experiences that parents find objectionable.

a. Building principals may excuse a student from any single school experience at the parent's written request.

b. When appropriate, alternative experiences will be provided for the student by the school.

4. Parents/guardians will be informed through the student handbook and district policies of the manner that the district will provide access to records of students.

5. Parents/guardians will be informed of the standardized and criterion-referenced district testing program. Parents may request additional information from the building principal.

6. Parents/guardians will be informed of the circumstances under which they may opt-out of state and federal assessments.

a. In accordance with federal law, at the beginning of the school year, the District shall provide notice of the right to request a copy of this policy to parents/guardians of students attending schools receiving Title I funds. The District will provide a copy of this policy to a requesting parent in a timely manner.

b. State Assessments

The District cannot approve requests to opt out of state assessments. Approval of such requests is contrary to state law.

c. National Assessment of Educational Progress

As a condition of receiving federal funds, the District participates in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). To help ensure that the District has a representative sample of students taking the NAEP, which will allow the District to assess the quality and effectiveness of its programming on a national level, the District strongly encourages all eligible students to participate. However, student participation in NAEP is voluntary.

The District shall provide parents/guardians of eligible students with reasonable notice prior to the exam being administered. Parents/guardians wishing to opt their students out of the NAEP assessment must notify the district in writing at least three days prior to the exam date to ensure that the District can coordinate supervision and alternative activities for students who have opted out.

7. Parents/guardians will be notified of their right to remove their children from surveys prior to district participation in surveys.

a. The principal must approve all surveys intended to gather information from students before they are administered to students.

b. Students’ participation in surveys is voluntary. Parents/guardians may restrict their child from participating in any survey.

Revised on: 11 July 2017