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The Superintendent shall develop a home-school communications program in an effort to encourage all forms of parent and family engagement.

Title I Parent and Family Engagement - District Level Policy

Consistent with the parent and family engagement goals of Title I, Part A required by ESSA section 1116(a)(2) of the Every Child Succeeds Act, the District will develop and implement programs, activities and procedures that encourage and support the participation of parents and family members of students eligible for Title I services in all aspects of the child’s education.  The District  also will ensure that all of its schools receiving Title I, Part A funds develop and implement school level parent and family engagement policies, as further required by federal law.

For purposes of this policy, parent involvement refers to the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities.  At a minimum, parent involvement programs, activities and procedures at both the District and individual school level must ensure that parents:

• Play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;

• Are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school; and 

• Are full partners in their child’s education and are included, as appropriate, in decision-making to assist in the education of their child.

The federal definition of the term “parent” refers to a natural parent, legal guardian or other person standing in loco parentis (such as a grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives, or a person who is legally responsible for the child’s welfare).

District and school level Title I parent and family engagement programs, activities and procedures will provide opportunities for the informed participation of parents and family members (including those who have limited English proficiency or disabilities), and parents and family members of migratory children. 

As further required by federal law, parents and family members of students eligible for Title I services will be provided an opportunity to participate in the development of the district’s Title I plan, and to submit comments regarding any aspect of the plan that is not satisfactory to them.  Their comments will be forwarded with the plan to the State Education Department.

Parents and family members also will participate in the process for developing either a school comprehensive or targeted “support and improvement plan” when the school their child attends is identified by the State as needing this plan.

Parent and family member participation in development of District wide Title 1 plan

The Superintendent and other appropriate District staff will undertake the following actions to ensure parent and family member involvement in the development of the District wide parental involvement plan. Parents will be invited to meetings at flexible times and in accessible places. The Superintendent or his designee will provide information to parents regarding the basic programmatic requirements for parent and family engagement activities.  Activities will be jointly developed to build effective partnerships to support student achievement.

Development of school level parent and family engagement approaches

The Superintendent or designee will ensure that all District schools receiving federal financial assistance under Title I, Part A are provided coordination, technical assistance and all other support necessary to assist them in planning and implementing effective parent and family engagement programs and activities that improve student achievement and school performance. The Superintendent or his designee will annually review with school building administrators the guidelines regarding parent and family engagement activities.

As appropriate to meet individual local needs, the Superintendent or designee will hold meetings at flexible times and in accessible places.  This may include consultation with employers, business leaders and philanthropic organizations, or individuals with expertise in effectively engaging parents and family members in education.

Building capacity for parent involvement

To build parent capacity for strong parent involvement to improve their child’s academic achievement, the District and its Title I, Part A schools will, at a minimum:

1. Assist parents in understanding such topics as the state’s academic content, challenging academic standards, state and local academic assessments, Title I requirements, how to monitor their child’s progress and how to work with educators to improve the achievement of their child.  To achieve this objective, the District and its Title I schools will hold meetings and workshops at

flexible time and in accessible places.

2. Provide materials and training to help parents work with their child’s academic achievement such as literacy training and using technology.  The District will hold meetings and workshops at flexible times and in accessible places on topics to include Literacy, Internet Safety, and parent/teacher meetings and curriculum standards.

3. Educate its teachers, specialized instructional support personnel,  principals, other school leaders and staff, with the assistance of parents, in understanding the value and utility of a parent’s contributions and on 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 schools.

To achieve this objective, the District and its Title I schools will provide professional development and clear expectations in this area.

4.   Ensure that information related to school and parent-related programs, meetings and other activities is sent to the parents of children participating in Title I programs in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats, upon request, and to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.

5. Provide other such reasonable support for family engagement activities as families may request.

Coordination of parent involvement strategies

The District will coordinate and integrate strategies adopted to comply with Title I, Part A parent involvement requirements with parent involvement strategies adopted in connection with other federal, state and local programs, including public preschool programs.  

Review of District wide parent involvement and family engagement policy

The Superintendent or designee will identify appropriate staff to conduct, with the meaningful involvement of parents and family members, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this policy   in improving the academic quality of Title I schools, including the identification of barriers to greater participation by parents in activities under this policy, identification of the needs of parents/families to assist with the learning of their children, and identify strategies to support successful school and family interactions.  The findings from the evaluation will be used to design evidence based strategies for more effective family engagement..  The District will revise the parent involvement policies as necessary for more effective involvement.  

Title I Complaint Procedure

Any parent and/or other stakeholder may file a complaint with the New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) Office of ESSA-Funded Programs alleging that a local educational agency (LEA), grantee or NYSED has violated a law, rule, or regulation in the administration of any “covered Federal program” under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).  

Title I Parent and Family Engagement - School Level Policy

Consistent with the parent engagement goals of Title I, Part A: required by ESSA section 1116(a) (2) of Every Child Succeeds Act.

1. The Building Principal and appropriate staff shall convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to inform parents and family members of the school’s participation in Title I programs, and to explain Title I requirements and the right of the parents and family members to be involved.  All parents and family members of children will be invited to the meeting.  The District may provide transportation, child care or home visits as such services related to family engagement through Title I funding. 

2. The school staff shall offer a flexible number of meetings to provide parents and family members the opportunity to meet with school staff and otherwise participate in their child’s education. These meetings shall be held at flexible times (e.g., morning or evening) and/or in highly accessible places.

3. The school will provide parents and family members with timely information about Title I programs. School staff will also describe and explain the curriculum in use at the school, the types of academic assessment that will be used to measure student progress and the proficiency levels the students are expected to meet. Parents may also request regular meetings with school staff to make suggestions and to participate, as appropriate in decisions relating to the education of their child. The school will respond to any such suggestions as soon as practical.

4. The school staff shall engage parents and family members, 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’s parent involvement policy.

5. Through parent teacher conferences, workshops and meetings, parents and families will be provided a description and explanation of the curriculum in use, the forms of assessment used to measure student performance and the achievement levels of challenging state academic standards.

6. Parents, when requested, will have opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their child, and respond to any such suggestions.

7. If the school improvement plan is not satisfactory to families, the school will submit any family comments on the plan, when the school makes the plan available to the district.

BUILDING CAPACITY FOR PARENT INVOLVEMENT

1. The Building Principal and appropriate staff shall convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to inform parents and family members of the school’s participation in Title I programs, and to explain Title I requirements and the right of the parents and family members to be involved.  All parents and family members of children participating in a Title I program will be invited to the meeting.  The District may provide transportation, child care or home visits as such services related to family engagement through Title I funding. 

2. The school staff shall offer a flexible number of meetings to provide parents and family members the opportunity to meet with school staff and otherwise participate in their child’s education. These meetings shall be held at flexible times (e.g., morning or evening) and/or in highly accessible places. such as public housing projects, etc. 

3. The school will provide parents and family members with timely information about Title I programs. School staff will also describe and explain the curriculum in use at the school, the types of academic assessment that will be used to measure student progress and the proficiency levels the students are expected to meet. Parents may also request regular meetings with school staff to make suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their child. The school will respond to any such suggestions as soon as practical.

4. The school staff shall engage parents and family members, 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’s parent involvement policy.

5. Through parent teacher conferences, workshops and meetings, parents and families will be provided a description and explanation of the curriculum in use, the forms of assessment used to measure student performance and the achievement levels of challenging state academic standards.

6. Ensure that information related to school and parent/family programs, meetings and other activities are sent to parents/families in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the families can understand. 

Title I Complaint Procedure

Any parent and/or other stakeholder may file a complaint with the New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) Office of ESSA-Funded Programs alleging that a local educational agency (LEA), grantee or NYSED has violated a law, rule, or regulation in the administration of any “covered Federal program” under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).  

Adoption date:  July 6, 2010

Amended date: February 13, 2017

Adopted date: April 24, 2017

Amended date: April 8, 2019

Amended date: May 13, 2019

Amended date: February 24, 2020

Reviewed No Changes: July 13, 2023