P.L. 103-382 affirms the principle that parental involvement is a vital part of the Title I program.

At the district level, it is the policy of Bennett Community School that parents of all participating children have the opportunity to be involved in the joint development of the district plan and in the district’s review process for the purpose of school improvement. The district provides coordination, technical assistance and other necessary support in the planning and implementation of parent involvement activities. The district encourages parent involvement and supports the partnership between home/school/community by providing understandable information about standards and assessments; providing training and materials for parents to help their children and to involve other parents; educating school personnel about involving parents and the value of parent contributions; and developing meaningful roles for community organizations and businesses to work with parents and schools.

It is the policy of Bennett Community School that:

1. This jointly developed, written policy is distributed to parents of participating Title I children at the Annual Title I parent meeting which is held at the beginning of the school year.
2. An annual meeting is held for all parents of participating children.  Additional parent meetings with flexible meeting times shall be held throughout the year as determined by parent interest and suggestions. Notification of meetings is accomplished through publications and phone calls.
3. Parents are given assistance in understanding the requirements of the Title I law, National Educational Goals, content standards, performance standards, and assessment at the Annual Title I parent meeting, parent-teacher conferences, informational meetings, Parent Involvement Conferences, and through current publications to be mailed to parents.
4. Parents receive an explanation of the school’s performance profile, expected proficiency levels for students, and their student’s assessment results at the end of each quarter (quarterly) and during fall and spring parent/teacher conferences.
5. Parents are informed of the reason for their children’s participation, the curriculum, and the instructional objectives and methods of the program by eligibility criteria and individual student plans.  Parents are encouraged to contact the Title I teacher if they have questions or concerns and if a parent/teacher meeting is desired.
6. Parents receive timely responses to all parent recommendations through verbal and written responses.  All information sent to parents is in the language used in the home.  Full opportunities are provided for all parents to participate in Title activities.  A list of the year’s activities will be available during the Annual Title I parent meeting.
7. A jointly developed school/parent compact outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students share the responsibility for improved student achievement and the means by which the school and parents continue to build and develop partnerships to help children achieve the local high standards.  At the end of the school year the current compact will be evaluated by the parents and teacher.  Once a compact committee has been established for the next school year, the new committee will access and make any changes needed for the compact.  New compacts will be distributed to parents and will need to be signed and returned to the Title I teacher.  Parents will have a copy of their own.
8. The Title I program provides opportunities for parents to become partners with the school in promoting the education of their children at home and at school.  Parents are given help monitoring their student’s progress.  The school provides assistance to parents on how they can participate in decisions related to their student’s education.  The school provides reasonable support for parental involvement activities as requested by parents through parent training, staff training, materials, phone calls, volunteer opportunities, Parent Involvement Conference, publications, district Title I Plan, and funds available.
9. The school coordinates and integrates parent involvement programs and activities with other programs as appropriate. Programs and activities that work with Title I include: R.I.F. (Reading is Fundamental), P.I.L.O.T.S. (Parents Involved in Launching Off Today’s Students), community readers, and volunteers. To become involved in any of these programs or activities, parents only need to contact the Title I person for further information.
10. An annual evaluation of this parental involvement policy shall be conducted to determine the effectiveness of this policy and the barriers of this policy for increasing parent involvement.
11. Policy evaluation findings shall be used in designing strategies for school improvement and revising parent policies in the spring by phone, interview or written communication, rating scales by staff and parent committees. Evaluation will be used for distribution of reports/summaries.

Legal Reference:

Cross Reference:

Approved:  8-19-96                            
Reviewed:  7-12-21              
Revised:  7-9-18