Generally

The School Board of Frederick County recognizes that the education of each student is a responsibility shared by the school and the student’s family. The School Board of Frederick County endorses the parent and family involvement goals of Title I (20 U.S.C. § 6318) and encourages the regular participation by parents and family members of all children including those eligible for Title I and English learner programs in all aspects of those programs.

In keeping with these beliefs, the School Board of Frederick County cultivates and supports active parent and family engagement in student learning. The School Board of Frederick County:

• Provides activities that will educate parents regarding the intellectual and developmental needs of their children;
  
  
• Implements strategies to involve parents in the educational process;
  
  
• Enables families to participate in the education of their children through a variety of roles;
  
  
• Provides professional development opportunities for teachers and staff to enhance their understanding of effective parent involvement strategies;
  
  
• Performs regular evaluations of parent involvement at each school and in the division;
  
  
• Provides access, upon request, to any instructional material used as part of the educational curriculum;
  
  
• If practicable, provides information in a language understandable to parents;
  
  
• Informs parents of students eligible for English learning programs how they can be active participants in assisting their children to learn English, to achieve at high levels in core academic subjects, and to meet the same challenging academic content and student academic achievement standards as all children are expected to meet.

Parental Involvement in Title I Plan

The School Board of Frederick County encourages parents of children eligible to participate in Title I, Part A, programs to participate in the development of the Board’s Title I plan. Parents may participate by attending the annual school meeting, completing the parent survey which is sent home to parents, and communicating with the coordinator of federal programs.

Parental Involvement in School Review and Improvement

Frederick County Public Schools encourages parents of children eligible to participate in Title I, Part A, and English learner programs to participate in the process of school review and, if applicable, the development of support and improvement plans under 20 U.S.C. § 6311 (d)(1) and (2). Parents may participate by attending school review/improvement meetings, and communicating with the supervisor of federal program accountability.

Division Responsibilities

Frederick County Public Schools, and each school which receives Title I, Part A, funds:

• Provides assistance to parents of children served by the school division, as applicable, in understanding topics such as Virginia’s challenging academic standards, state and local academic assessments, and how to monitor a child's progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children
  
  
• Provides materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy), as appropriate, to foster parental involvement
  
  
• Educates teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals, other school leaders, 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
  
  
• To the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinates and integrates parental involvement programs and activities with other federal, state and local programs, including public preschool, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children
  
  
• Ensures 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,
  
  
• Provides such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities as parents may request.

Frederick County Public Schools, and each school which receives Title I, Part A, funds, may:

• Involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training;
  
  
• Provide necessary literacy training from Title I funds if the division has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for such training;
  
  
• Pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with local parental involvement activities to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions;
  
  
• Train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;
  
  
• Arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct in-home conferences between teachers and other educators who work directly with participating children and parents who are unable to attend such conferences at school in order to maximize parental involvement and participation;
  
  
• Adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement;
  
  
• Establish a division-wide parent advisory council to provide advice on matters related to parental involvement in programs supported by Title I; and
  
  
• Develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parental involvement activities.

School Parent and Family Engagement Plans

Each school served under Title I, Part A, jointly develops with and distributes to parents and family members of participating children a written parent and family engagement plan, agreed on by such parents, that describes the means for carrying out the following:

• Convening an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which all parents of participating children are invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents of their school’s participation in Title I, Part A, and to explain the requirements of Title I, Part A, and the rights of parents to be involved;
  
  
• Offering a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening. Schools may provide, with funds provided under this part, transportation, childcare, or home visits, as such services related to parental involvement;
  
  
• Involving parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of Title I, Part A, programs including the planning, review, and improvement of the school parent and family engagement plan and the joint development of the schoolwide program plan under 20 U.S.C. § 6314(b), 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.
  
  
• Providing parents of participating children:
  
  
  • timely information about Title I, Part A, programs;
    
    
  • a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of the challenging state academic standards; and
    
    
  • 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 responding to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible.

If the schoolwide program plan under 20 U.S.C. § 6314(b) is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, parent comments on the plan will be submitted to the School Board when the school makes the plan available to the Board.

Parent and Family Involvement in Allocation of Funding

Parents and family members of children receiving services under Title I, Part A, are involved in the decisions regarding how funds provided under Title I, Part A, are allotted for parental involvement activities.

Policy Review

The School Board conducts, 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 all schools served under Title 1, Part A, including identifying:

• barriers to greater participation by parents (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy or are of any racial or ethnic minority background);
  
  
• the needs of parents and family members to assist with the learning of their children, including engaging with school personnel and teachers; and
  
  
• strategies to support successful school and family interactions.

Legal Reference(s):
20 U.S.C. Section(s) 6312, 6318

Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, Section(s) 22.1-78, 221.1-23.3, 22.1-78