Title I Parent Involvement Plan

The Board of Education [ http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/board-of-education ] believes that the public schools belong to the people who create them by consent and taxation and are only as strong as the informed and knowledgeable support of DeKalb County residents and the school system's staff. This support is based upon their knowledge and understanding of and participation in the development of the goals and objectives of the public schools, the district, and school level parental involvement policy.

We, therefore, affirm and assure the right of parents of children participating in activities funded by Title I, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), to opportunities (including but not limited to action teams, strategic planning committees, community meetings, parent workshops, surveys, and questionnaires) to collaboratively participate in:

• the design and implementation and evaluation of the DeKalb County School District plan including parental involvement activities as stipulated under section 1112 of ESEA
• the development and revision of parental involvement policy at the district and school level to insure the implementation of activities that are beneficial to all parents as stipulated under section 1112 of ESEA
• the decisions regarding how funds from the minimum 1 percent reservation are allotted for parental involvement activities as mandated in section 1116 of ESEA

The DeKalb County School District insures that the expectation of parents set at the local school are clearly established and distributed to parents of participating students when they are enrolled in Title I funded activities. The DeKalb County School District Title I office assists in coordination of and provides technical assistance to each Title I eligible school as needed to ensure the effective planning and implementation of parental involvement coordinator, other Title I staff members, and other appropriate support personnel within and outside the DeKalb County School District.

Since Title I focuses on building a greater capacity for parental involvement, the DeKalb County School District will maintain the following principles that should build both school and parent capacity for parental involvement. These principles will be accomplished through training and instruction of both parents and educators. Provisions for such training and instruction for each of these principles may occur via community meetings, parent workshops, brochures, and other media or avenue of learning that is appropriate for the information to be conveyed.

1. The DeKalb County School District understands that we as educators bear the responsibility of helping parents understand federal and state policies and objectives concerning their children's education. DeKalb County School District Title I and the local school parental involvement programs assist participating parents in acquiring an understanding of the following national education goals to the extent applicable or feasible:
   1. state Title I content standards and student performance standards
   2. school improvement and corrective action process
   3. components of a schoolwide program
   4. components of a targeted assistance program
   5. state and local assessments
   6. requirements for Title I "Part A"
   7. ways parents can monitor their children's progress and work with educators to improve the performance of their children
   8. ways parents can participate in decisions relating to the education of their children
2. The DeKalb County School District and local school parent involvement programs, to the extent feasible and applicable, provide materials and training such as, but not limited to, the coordination of literacy training from other sources to help parents work with their children to improve their children's achievement and direct training in the areas outlined in the previous item.
3. DeKalb County School District Title I program educates teachers, pupil service personnel, principals, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents and in ways to reach out to, communicate, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between home and school. Opportunities in this area will not be limited to local workshops but may include attendance to state, regional, and national parent conferences and other appropriate avenues of learning.
4. To the extent feasible and appropriate, the DeKalb County School District Title I program collaboratively coordinates and integrates parent involvement with the state funded preK program, kindergarten, prevention intervention, exceptional education, professional development, parent advisory council, and technical resources.
5. Additionally, to the extent feasible, appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent involvement are collaboratively developed with the Partners in Education department, to include, but not limited to, the provision of opportunities for organizations and businesses to work with parents and schools and encouraging the formation of partnerships between elementary schools, middle schools, secondary schools, and local businesses that include a role for parents and other opportunities such as life skills training, family crisis intervention, and community education opportunities.
6. The DeKalb County School District, to the extent appropriate and feasible, maintains systemwide opportunities for parents to learn about child development and child rearing beginning at birth that are designed to help parents to become full partners in the education of their children. The opportunities include, but are not limited to, parent resource centers [ http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/parent-resource-centers ], Systematic Training for Effective Parenting program, Parents Assuring Student Success (PassPort), parent cluster meetings, and instructional fairs. Local schools are encouraged to implement activities that are appropriate, needed, and/or of interest to their participating parents.
7. Because of the number of international families within the school system and their increasing participation in Title I activities, the DeKalb County School District Title I program ensures to the extent possible to provide information related to schools, parent programs, and meeting and other activities of participating children in the language used in the home. Full opportunities for the participation of international parents who have limited English proficiency and parents with disabilities are ensured including but not limited to providing information and school profiles in a language, and form such parents understand to the extent feasible and appropriate.
8. The development of training activities of teachers, principals, and other educators may involve Title I parents when feasible to improve the instruction and services to Title I students.
9. DeKalb County School District Title I may provide literacy training for parents if all other reasonably available funding sources for literacy activities have been exhausted.
10. DeKalb County School District Title I office or schools may pay reasonable and necessary expenses that parents incur by participating in school-related meetings and training sessions where appropriate and allowable, such as transportation and childcare.
11. DeKalb County School District Title I, where appropriate and feasible, train and support parents to enhance the involvement of other parents.
12. Meetings involving parents will be arranged at a variety of times, such as morning and evenings, to maximize opportunities for parents to participate in school related activities.
13. Teachers and other educators who work directly with participating children may arrange in-home conferences, where appropriate and feasible, with parents who are unable to attend conferences scheduled at school.
14. The DeKalb County School District, where appropriate and feasible, may adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement activities, such as Even Start and Parents as Teachers.
15. The DeKalb County School District will provide other reasonable, appropriate, and feasible support for parental involvement activities, if parents request it.

The Parent Involvement policy of the DeKalb County School District and each participating school is evaluated annually as to the effectiveness in increasing parent participation and identifying barriers to parent participation such as low income, disabilities, limited literacy, language, or other cultural or ethnic considerations. The findings of the annual evaluation are used to design strategies for school improvement or to redesign the parent policies. All non-satisfactory parent comments regarding parent involvement and system plan are collected and attached to the plan when submitted to the state Title I office.