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District Parent Involvement Policy

Parent Involvement  Policy (Title I) 

The Redwood City School District (RCSD) local governing board recognizes that parents/guardians are their children's first and most influential teachers and that sustained parent involvement in the education of children contributes greatly to student achievement and a positive school environment. 

The Superintendent or designee consults with staff, parents/guardians, and family members to jointly develop, agree on, and distribute the Title I parent involvement policy in order to develop meaningful opportunities for parents to be involved in district and school activities at all grade levels. Consultation takes place during District Parent Advisory Committees or site level meetings for advisory, decision-making, and advocacy roles and activities to support learning at home. Parents/guardians have the right to be informed about and to participate in their children's education and of the opportunities available to them.  

The district's Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) includes goals and strategies for parent/guardian involvement, including to seek parent/guardian input in district LCAP development through surveys. RCSD offers support for site decision making and training in order to increase parent/guardian participation most specifically for English learners, foster youth, students eligible for free and reduced-price meals, and students with disabilities, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background. This will be done during their School Site Council. English Language Advisory Committee, or other site meetings. 

The Superintendent or designee regularly evaluates and reports to the Board on the effectiveness of the district's parent/guardian and family engagement efforts, including, but not limited to, input from parents/guardians, family members, and school staff on the adequacy of parent involvement opportunities and barriers that may inhibit participation, the needs of the parents and family members to assist with the learning of their children, and strategies to support successful school and family interactions. The school site also reviews their site level information from annual surveys.

The Board has approved the following goals and purposes for Parent Involvement:

  1. Help parents develop skills to use at home that support their children’s academic achievement, social development, and overall school performance.

  2. Provide parents with techniques and strategies that they may utilize to improve their children’s academic success and to assist their children in learning at home.

  3. Train teachers and administrators to communicate effectively with parents. 

Title I Schools

The Superintendent or designee shall involve parents/guardians and family members in establishing district expectations and objectives for meaningful parent/guardian and family engagement in schools supported by Title I funding, developing strategies that describe how the district will carry out each activity as contained in the administrative regulation, and implementing and evaluating such programs, activities, and procedures. As appropriate, the Superintendent or designee shall conduct outreach to all parents/guardians and family members to annually evaluate the effectiveness of the LEA family engagement policy. 

The Board reserves at least one percent of the funding to implement parent/guardian and family engagement activities. The Superintendent or designee shall involve parents/guardians and family members of participating students in decisions regarding how the district's Title I funds will be allotted for parent/guardian and family engagement activities and shall ensure that priority is given to schools in high poverty areas in accordance with law with other local, state and federal funds. Focused efforts will be toward students who are economically disadvantaged, with disabilities, those who are English Learners, those with limited literacy, or of any racial or ethnic minority. Not less that 90 percent of the total Title I funds received shall be distributed to the school sites with priority given to the highest needs sites.

Expenditures of such funds shall be consistent with the activities specified in this policy and shall include at least one of the following: 

1. Support for schools in providing professional development for district and school staff regarding parent/guardian and family engagement strategies, which may be provided jointly to teachers, principals, other school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, paraprofessionals, early childhood educators, and parents/guardians and family members. The LEA will leverage local, state and federal funds to involve local community members for site training on parent and family engagement. 

2. Support for programs that reach parents/guardians and family members at home, in the community, and at school on how to assist with learning at home to positively engage parents and family members in their child’ education by providing assistance and training on state academic standards and assessments to develop knowledge and skills to become responsible future members of our society.

3. Dissemination of information on best practices focused on parent/guardian and family engagement and school and family interactions, especially best practices for increasing the engagement of economically disadvantaged parents/guardians and family members. Information will be provided regarding how they can directly affect the success of their child’s learning. RCSD ensures that this policy and information is provided in a format and language parents understand.

4. Collaboration with community-based or other organizations or employers with a record of success in improving and increasing parent and family engagement to build two-way communication between the family and school 

5. Any other activities and strategies that the district determines are appropriate and consistent with this policy that includes an annual evaluation of the contents and effectiveness of the parent and family engagement policy used to update the policy for more effective parental involvement

The Superintendent or designee shall ensure that each school receiving Title I funds develop a school-level parent/guardian and family engagement policy.

Non-Title I Schools

The Superintendent or designee shall develop and implement strategies applicable to each school that does not receive federal Title I funds to encourage the involvement and support of parents/guardians in the education of their children, including, but not limited to, strategies describing how the district and schools will address the purposes and goals. Non-Title I Schools will also be expected to follow the requirements of this policy.

Policy REDWOOD CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

adopted: June 23, 2010 Redwood City, California

revised: February 12, 2020 and will be in effect for one full year. The Policy is disseminated at the beginning of each school year or upon enrollment to RCSD.