Pontotoc City School District Parental Engagement Policy
The Pontotoc City School District agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:
- The school district will put into operation programs, activities and procedures for the engagement of parents in all of its schools with Title I, Part A programs, consistent with section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Those programs, activities and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.
- Consistent with section 1118, the school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school – level parental engagement 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 school district will incorporate this district wide parental engagement policy into its LEA plan developed under Section 1112 of the ESEA.
- In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental engagement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school 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 LEA plan for Title I, Part A developed under section 1112 of the ESEA is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to the State Department of Education.
- The school district will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental engagement, and expects that its Title I schools will carry out programs, activities and procedures in accordance with this definition:
Parental engagement 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 school district will inform parents and parental organizations of the purpose and existence of the Parental Information and Resource Centers in the District.
Description of how the district will implement required district wide parental engagement policy components:
1. The Pontotoc City School 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:
· Involve parents in the planning, review, and improvement of the school’s parental engagement policy, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way.
2. The Pontotoc City School District will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the ESEA:
· Involve parents in the joint development of any schoolwide program plan, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way
3. The Pontotoc City School 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 academic achievement and school performance.
· Hold an annual meeting to inform parents of the school’s participation in Title I, Part A programs, and to explain the Title I, Part A requirements, and the right of parents to be involved in Title I, Part A programs. The district and schools will convene the meeting at a convenient time to parents, and offer a flexible number of additional parental involvement meetings, such as in the morning or evening, so that as many parents as possible are able to attend. The district and schools will invite to this meeting all parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, and will encourage them to attend.
4. The Pontotoc City School District will coordinate and integrate parental engagement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following other program: Head Start
· Provide information to parents of participating students in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request of parents with disabilities, and, to the extent practicable, in a language that parents can understand.
5. The Pontotoc City School 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 disadvantage, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethic minority background). The school 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:
· Provide to parents of participating children information in a timely manner about Title I, Part A programs that includes a description and explanation of the school’s curriculum, the forms of academic assessment used to measure children’s progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet.
6. The Pontotoc City School District will build the schools and parent’s capacity for strong parental engagement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the schools involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, though the following activities specifically described below:
A. The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district or school, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following, by undertaking the actions described in this paragraph:
· The State’s academic content standards,
· The State’s student academic achievement standards,
· The State’s 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. Meetings/Trainings
2. Handouts
3. Letters sent home
4. Open House
B. The school 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 as appropriate, to foster parental engagement by:
· Meetings/Trainings
· Handouts
· Open House
· Webpage
C. The school 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:
· In-service trainings
· Meetings
D. The school district will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate
and integrate parental engagement programs and activities with Head Start and Reading First and conduct and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children, by:
· Open House
· Kindergarten Registration
· Meetings/Trainings
· Webpage
E. The school district will act 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 letters and information sent home in the parents native language when appropriate.
Adoption
The District Parental EngagementPolicy has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, as evidenced by the planning meetings held by each school in the Spring.
This policy was adopted by the Pontotoc City School Board on April 14, 2014, and will be reviewed each year, and will be in effect for the period of one year. The school district will distribute this policy to all parents of participating Title I, Part A children.
LEGAL REF.: P.L. 103-382 (Improving America's Schools Act)
Last Review Date: 1/2022
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