• Lee County Schools
    Districtwide Parental Involvement Policy
    [Section 1118(a)(2), ESEA]

    PART I:  GENERAL EXPECTATIONS

    The Lee County School System agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

    1. The school district will put into operation programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents in all 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.
    2. Consistent with section 1118, the school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parental involvement 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.
    3. The school district will incorporate this district wide parental involvement policy into its LEA plan developed under section 1112 of the ESEA.
    4. In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement 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 parent 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.
    5. 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.
    6. The school district will involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the one percent of Title I, Part A funds reserved for parental involvement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95 percent of the one percent reserved goes directly to the schools.
    7. The school district will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and expects that its Title I schools will carry out programs, activities, and procedures in accordance with this definition:

    Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities:  including ensuring-

      1. that parents play an integral role in assisting their child's learning:
      2. that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child's education at school:
      3. 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;
      4. the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA.

    PART II:  DESCRIPTION OF HOW LEE COUNTY SCHOOLS WILL

    IMPLEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS

    1. The Lee County School System 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 on the System-wide Federal Programs Advisory Council
      • Provide school PTO officers the opportunity to obtain input for policy from members
      • Provide parent educators the opportunity to obtain input from families in Title I, Part A attendance areas
      • Provide continuous opportunity for parental and community written feedback and suggestions for annual review and revision
      • Provide copy to ARISE foundation for suggestions and input for annual review and revision
      • Provide copy to Adopt-A-School members for suggestions and input for annual review and revision
      • Superintendent's Parent & Community Advisory Council for "Phase" Planning
    2. The Lee County School System will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the ESEA:
      • Participation on the Measures of Success Committee that includes an opportunity to participate in monitoring of Measures of Success program or a School Improvement Program a minimum of three times a year
      • Every parent in a Title I, Part A school will have the opportunity to complete an Evaluation for Schools checklist, based on the National PTA Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Quality Indicators, on an annual basis
      • Every parent in a Title I, Part A school will have an opportunity to complete a Parent Survey on an annual basis
    3. The Lee County School System 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 student academic achievement and school performance:
      • Measures of Success program manual with instructions and requirements for planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities
      • Provide Title I, Part A schools with a copy of book entitled:  Building Successful Partnerships:  A Guide for Developing Parent and Family Involvement Programs
      • Designate and Support a Parental Involvement designee at Title I, Part A schools
      • Provide resources for parent use:  books, videos, games, materials for Make-and-Take, etc...
      • Support the development of Parent Resource Centers at Title I, Part A schools made available during the school day, through the extended day program and summer programs
      • Provide Title I, Part A schools with a copy of the following documents:

    Teachers Guide to Parent and Family Involvement
    Building Successful Partnerships:  Overcoming Barriers
    Building Successful Partnerships:  Communicating
    Building Successful Partnerships:  Parenting
    Building Successful Partnerships:  Student Learning
    Building Successful Partnerships:  Volunteering
    Building Successful Partnerships:  School Decision Making and Advocacy
    Building Successful Partnerships:  Collaborating with Community Faculty Survey

    1. The Lee County School System will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs:

      Head Start, Pre-K Summer Program, and Preschool transition by:

    • Providing two inservice programs to parents a year on how to work with their preschooler (ages 3 & 4) at home and prepare for a successful transition to school 
    • Opening the school Library/Media services to parents or preschool children
    • Conducting a transition visit to the school in the spring of each year
    • Assist parents in preparation for kindergarten enrollment in the spring of each year
    • Parental Involvement school designee serves as a liason between parents and school
    1. The Lee County School System will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement activities (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 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.
    • Annual review of school implementation of districtwide policy at System wide Federal Programs Advisory Council
    • Review of parent and school survey results
    • Input from Parental Involvement school designees
    • Information from Parent Resource Centers
    1. The Lee County School System will build the schools' and parent's capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, through 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 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

    Provide Title I, Part A schools with a PowerPoint presentation and handouts to address all items listed above.  Train a school designee to present the information during the school day, as part of a PTO program and during Statewide Parenting Day Programs.  Utilize outside agencies for parent training throughout the school year (ex., SEAC).

    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 using technology, as appropriate to foster parental involvement by:

    • Materials and training on strategies from Reading First
    • Materials and training on strategies to improve five areas of DIBELS
    • Materials and training on the Lee County Schools System-Wide Webpage and STI/Home
    • Materials and training on general strategies to help improve achievement
    • Materials and training on general ways parents can be more involved in their child's school experiences.   

    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: 

    • Providing annual training to teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and other staff
    • Providing materials on developing programs and overcoming barriers to developing stronger parental involvement programs

    D.      The school district will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, Home Instruction Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the Parents as Teachers Program, and public preschool and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resources centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children, by:

    • Providing two inservice programs to parents a year on how to work with their preschooler (ages 3 & 4) at home and prepare for a successful transition to school
    • Opening the school Library/Media services to parents of preschool children
    • Conducting a transition visit to the school in the spring of each year
    • Assist parents in preparation for kindergarten enrollment in the spring of each year

    E.     The school district will take the following actions 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:

    • All information will be translated in native language for any parent whose child qualifies under our system's ESL?ELL program (optional for parents of students who list a language other than English as the primary language spoken in the home but have children who do not qualify for ESL/ELL services)
    • Lee County Schools System-wide and School Webpage Designs
    • School Attestation

    PART III:  ADOPTION

    This Districtwide Parental Involvement Policy has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, as evidenced by input obtained from schools, parents, and community by members of the Federal programs Advisory Council.

    This policy was adopted by the Lee County School System on August 9, 2005 and will be in effect until revised.  The school district will distribute this policy to all parents in participating Title I, Part A children no later than the first day of each school year.