PORT ARTHUR INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
PARENT INVOLVEMENT POLICY FOR TITLE I REQUIREMENTS
The Port Arthur Independent School District, in consultation with teachers, principals, program administrators, and parents of participating children, have developed and agreed upon this parent involvement policy. This policy shall be incorporated into the Port Arthur Independent School District consolidated application for selected programs funded under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
The Port Arthur Independent School District welcomes the participation of parents in support of student learning and recognizes that parental involvement increases the opportunities for student success. It is the policy of the Port Arthur Independent School District to foster and maintain ongoing communications with parents concerning their opportunities for involvement, their children’s eligibility for special programs, their children’s educational progress, the professional qualifications of their children’s teachers, and the status of their children’s schools. The Port Arthur Independent School District strives to provide such information in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language that parents can understand. To the extent practicable, Port Arthur Independent School District shall also 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 in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language such parents understand. Communications with parents shall, at all times, respect the privacy of students and their families.
The following policies are intended to specifically address parts A-F of section 1118 (a) of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:
(A) It is the policy of Port Arthur Independent School District to consult parents, teachers, principals, and program administrators of federally funded programs in the development and revision of the district’s consolidated application for federal funds under section 1112 and in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The process of school review includes timely publication and dissemination of the results of its annual progress report to parents, teachers, principals, and the school community. It is the intent of the Port Arthur Independent School District that parents of participating children understand the process by which schools are identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring, and that parents of children attending such schools are provided promptly with the following information:
(1) An explanation of what the identification means, and how the school compares in terms of academic achievement to other elementary schools or secondary schools served by the local educational agency and the State educational agency involved;
(2) The reasons for the identification;
(3) An explanation of how the parents can become involved in addressing the academic issues that caused the school to be identified for school improvement;
(4) An explanation of the parents' option to transfer their child to another public school, including the provision of transportation to the new school, and information on the academic achievement of the school or schools to which the child may transfer.
(5) If the school is in its second year of improvement or subject to corrective action or restructuring, a notice explaining how parents can obtain supplemental education services for their child, including:
Port Arthur Independent School District also publishes and disseminates to parents and to the public, information regarding any actions taken by the school or the Port Arthur Independent School District to address the problems that led to the identification of a school for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring, including:
In order to address section 200.61 Parents’ Right to Know of the Final Regulations of the No Child Left Behind Act, it is the policy of the Port Arthur Independent School District to notify parents of participating children at the beginning of each school year that parents may request and the district will provide information on the professional qualifications of the student’s classroom teachers and whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.
(B) It is the policy of the Port Arthur Independent School District to partner with federally-funded Parent Information Resource Centers (PIRCs) and other expert service providers to provide technical assistance and other support necessary to assist participating schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance.
(C) Port Arthur Independent School District, in order to build the capacity of schools and parents for strong parental performance, partners with local PIRCs and other expert providers to:
(1) provide assistance to parents of children served by the school or local educational agency, as appropriate, 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;
(2) 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;
(3) educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions 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;
(4) 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; and
(5) provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under this section as parents may request.
(6) 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;
(7) train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;
(8) 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;
(9) adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement;
(10) establish a district-wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in programs supported under this section;
(11)develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent involvement activities
(D) Port Arthur Independent School District, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinates and integrates parent involvement programs and activities with Head Start, public preschool and other programs, and conducts other activities, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children.
(E) To ensure the effectiveness of this parent involvement policy, Port Arthur Independent School District conducts, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of its parent involvement policy in improving the academic quality of the schools served, including identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in activities authorized under the parent involvement section on the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This evaluation will focus particular attention on parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background. Port Arthur Independent School District uses the findings of this evaluation to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary, the parental involvement policies described herein.
(F) It is the policy of the Port Arthur Independent School District to involve parents in the activities served under this part by monitoring local schools to assure that participating schools :
(1) convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which all parents of participating children shall be invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents of their school's participation under this part and to explain the requirements of this part, and the right of the parents to be involved;
(2) offer a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening, and may provide, with funds provided under this part, transportation, child care, or home visits, as such services relate to parental involvement;
(3) carry out capacity-building activities for parents listed in (C) above;
(4) involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of programs under this part, including the planning, review, and improvement of the school parental involvement policy and the joint development of the school-wide program plan under section 1114(b)(2), except that if a school has in place a process for involving parents in the joint planning and design of the school's programs, the school may use that process, if such process includes an adequate representation of parents of participating children;
(5 provide parents of participating children —
(A) timely information about programs under this part;
(B) a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet; and
(C) 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
(6) if the schoolwide program plan under section 1114(b)(2) is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, submit any parent comments on the plan when the school makes the plan available to the local educational agency.
As a component of the school-level parental involvement policy, each school served under this part jointly develops a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the State's high standards. These compacts —
(1) describe the school's responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables the children served under this part to meet the State's student academic achievement standards, and the ways in which each parent will be responsible for supporting their children's learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, and 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
(2) address the importance of communication between teachers and parents on an ongoing basis through, at a minimum —
(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.
For schools identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring, Port Arthur Independent School District ensures that: