Section K. School - Community - Home Relations

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KBBA:  CUSTODIAL AND NON-CUSTODIAL PARENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

It is the intent of MEAA to promote the best interests of each student enrolled in its school in partnership with both parents of each student.  It shall be the policy of the school to maintain strict neutrality between parents who are involved in an action affecting the family.

When parents of a student are separated, involved in divorce proceedings, or are divorced, the Executive Director will respect the rights of custodial, joint custodial and non-custodial parents equally except when a court order exists concerning special restrictions.  It is the responsibility of the residential parent to provide the Executive Director with a copy of such a court order if restricted access to students or student information is requested.

In family arrangements where there is no marriage or the marriage is not recognized, the biological parent(s), adoptive parent(s), or legal guardian(s) will be recognized as parent(s) of custody except when a court order exists to the contrary.

Parent rights include access to students, student records, assessment information, attendance at parent/teacher conferences and Individual Educational Program (IEP) meetings.

 It is the responsibility of the non-custodial and/or non-residential parent to inform the school office of his/her name, address, and phone number if he/she wishes to be consulted regarding the educational progress of his/her child and/or wishes to be placed on the school's mailing list. 

Definitions 

As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings:

1. Action affecting the family: an action for divorce, legal separation, annulment, custody, or child support, whether pending or completed.

2. Court order: any order, adjudication, or decree; temporary, interlocutory, or permanent; entered by a judge of competent jurisdiction within Maine or any other state as a result of an action affecting the family.

3. Custodial parent: the natural or adoptive parent having sole legal custody of a child by virtue of the court order.

4. Joint custodial parent: a parent who has legal custody of a child, jointly with the child's other parent, by virtue of a court order.

5. Residential parent: the custodial or joint custodial parent with whom the child is residing during the school year by virtue of a court order.

 

KBF:  PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN TITLE I

 The Board endorses the parent involvement goals of Title I and encourages the regular participation by parents/guardians in all aspects of the school system’s Title I programs.

 For the purpose of this policy, “parents/guardians” includes other family members involved in supervising the child’s schooling.

1. SCHOOL-LEVEL PARENT INVOLVEMENT POLICY                                   

In compliance with federal law, the school will develop jointly and agree on with, and distribute to parents of children participating in the school system’s Title I programs a written school-level parent involvement policy. 

Annually, parents/guardians will have opportunities to participate in the evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the school’s parent involvement policy and in using the findings of the evaluation to design strategies for more effective parent involvement and to make revisions to the policy. 

 

1. SCHOOL-PARENT INVOLVEMENT POLICY

As required by law if school unit receives Title I funds shall jointly develop with parents/guardians of children served in the program a school parent/guardian involvement policy, including “School-Parent Compact” outlining the manner in which parents, school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement in meeting State standards.  The school policy will be distributed to parents/guardians of children participating in the school’s Title I programs. 

 

The “School-Parent Compact” shall: 

1. Describe the school’s responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment enabling children in the Title I program to meet the State’s academic achievement standards;

2. Indicate the ways in which parents will be responsible for supporting their children’s learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, monitoring television watching, volunteering in the classroom, and participating, as appropriate, in decisions related to their children’s education and positive use of extra-curricular time; and

3. Address the importance of parent-teacher communication on an ongoing basis, with, at a minimum, parent-teacher conferences, frequent reports to parents, and reasonable access to staff.

 

1. PARENT INVOLVEMENT MEETINGS

Each school receiving Title I funds shall convene an annual meeting to which all parents/guardians of eligible children shall be invited to inform them about the school’s participation in Title I and to involve them in the planning, review, and improvement of the school’s Title I programs and the parent involvement policy. 

In addition to the required annual meeting, at least one other meeting shall be held at various times of the day and/or evenings for parents/guardians of students participating in Title I programs. 

 

These meetings shall be used to provide parents with: 

1. Information about programs the school provides under Title I; 

2. A description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the proficiency level students are expected to meet; 

3. Opportunities to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children; and 

4. The opportunity to submit comments to the school level if they are dissatisfied with the school-wide Title I program.

 

Title I funding, if sufficient, may be used to facilitate parent/guardian attendance at meetings through the payment of transportation and childcare costs. 

 

1. PARENT RELATIONS

Parents/guardians of children identified for participation in a Title I program shall receive from the Principal and Title I staff an explanation of the reasons supporting their child’s selection, a set of objectives to be addressed, and a description of the services to be provided.  Parents will receive regular reports on their child’s progress and be provided opportunities to meet with the classroom and Title I teachers.  Parents will also receive training, materials, and suggestions as to how they can assist in the education of their children at home.   

 

1. DELEGATION OF RESPONSIBILITY

The Executive Director or his/her designee shall be responsible for ensuring that the school’s Title I plan, programs, and parent involvement policies

Form Letter

(Date)

Dear Parent:

Your participation in your child’s education is important to us. Because of this, we have developed a parent involvement policy for MEAA. This policy explains how we plan to work with parents to review and improve parent programs and describes how you can participate in planning these programs. We value your involvement and urge you to take the time to read this policy.

 

Federal law requires us to distribute our parent involvement policy to parents. So please sign the form below and return it to your child’s classroom teacher by September 15 so that we can be sure you received this important information.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to call [insert name] at [insert tel.#].

 

Yours truly,

[Insert ______________ or Executive Director’s name]

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I have received the parent involvement policy described in this letter.

Parent’s signature______________________________________________ Date __________

Print parent’s name ____________________________________________________________

Student’s name ________________________________________________________________

Teacher ______________________________________________________________________

KH:  ADVERTISING/SOLICITATION IN SCHOOL 

 

Commercial advertising and/or solicitation by way of banners, handbills, leaflets, web pages or personal requests that target students is prohibited.  The Executive Director or his/her designee may grant exceptions to this policy when the sponsor is providing a direct service or commodity which can also be considered as part of the planned educational program, a necessary part of the curriculum, or directly supportive of school programs.  Requests to advertise for non-profit organizations may also be considered by the Executive Director or his/her designee.

 The following practice and procedures are required. 

1. All requests to advertise, sell or solicit goods, merchandise or services will be submitted to the Executive Director or his/her designee for prior approval. 

2. Advertising and solicitation will be in print, directed to adults and/or business representatives, and have its source or sponsor clearly identified. No solicitation may be marketed or directed to students. 

3. Distribution and collection of printed materials, solicited goods, and/or money will occur at times approved by ________________and which fall outside prime instructional time.  

4. School staff will directly oversee meetings between sponsors and students.  Staff are obligated to report to the ______________ any objectionable language for such reasons as policy non-compliance, too "high pressure," or pointedly personalized.

5. Assemblies may be held to kick-off fund raising or other activities that directly support school programs.  Such assemblies will be cleared and arranged through the ______________ well in advance of the assembly date.

 

KI:  VISITORS TO THE SCHOOL

 

Visits to the school by parent(s)/legal guardian(s), members of the community and public, and individual School Board members can provide positive experiences.  However, in order to avoid interruption of ongoing educational activities and in an effort to promote student and employee safety, the following general guidelines shall be incorporated in all building-level administrative procedures concerning visitors:

 

• The term “visitor” shall apply to any person on school grounds or in school buildings who is not an employee or student of the school. 

• All visitors shall immediately report to the main office upon arrival at the school to check in. 

• All visitors who wish to visit classrooms, observe aspects of the instructional program, or meet with staff members are expected to schedule such visits in advance.  Teachers and other staff may not use instructional time to discuss individual matters with visitors. 

• Board members shall follow the same procedures as other visitors. 

• Visitors shall comply with all applicable School Board policies and school rules.  Visitors  who violate these policies/rules and/or disrupt the safe and orderly operation of the school shall be asked to leave the premises. 

• MEAA may refuse entry to school grounds or buildings to persons who do not have legitimate, school-related business and/or who may disrupt the operations of the school.  This may include, but is not limited to, the news media, profit-making business, fundraisers and other organizations seeking access to students and/or staff. 

• Persons entering the school building without authorization from school officials and persons who fail to report to the main office upon arriving on campus or entering the building are considered “unauthorized persons.” 

• School staff shall immediately report unauthorized persons on school grounds or in school buildings to the Principal.  Unauthorized persons shall be directed to leave the premises immediately. 

• Those persons having no school-related purpose who remain on school premises or at school-sponsored events after being directed to leave shall be considered “trespassers.”  This shall also apply to all students under suspension or expulsion, or students from other school unless otherwise authorized in advance by the Executive Director/designee.  Trespassers shall be immediately directed to leave the school premises, and may be subject to arrest. 

• The Executive Director/designee may request the assistance of law enforcement as necessary to deal with unauthorized persons or violations of the law by visitors to the school. 

• If there exists a court order containing restrictions on access to a child by a parent or other person, and a parent or legal guardian wishes the school to act in a manner consistent with that order, it is the responsibility of the custodial parent or legal guardian to provide a certified copy of such order to the school authorities. 

• A student will be released only to parents, legal guardians or persons authorized in writing by parent(s)/legal guardian(s) to pick up the student.  When school personnel have reason to question the authenticity of written authorization, they shall make appropriate efforts to telephone the student’s parent(s)/legal guardian(s) to confirm the authority of the person seeking to pick up the child.  Administrators may institute other appropriate procedures regarding release of students to parents, guardians and authorized persons. 

• The school reserves the right to question the authenticity of any written or verbal communication and to deny the release of students to unauthorized or unknown persons. 

 

KL:  PUBLIC CONCERNS

The MEAA Board welcomse the input of parents and citizens regarding ways in which services to students can be improved.  All concerns should be resolved at the level of decision-making closest to the concern.  The concerns are best dealt with through communications with appropriate staff members and administrators of the school, such as faculty, the administration, and the school board.  The school board expects prompt, considerate and consistent treatment of all citizen concerns. 

 

In the interest of handling all concerns fairly and expeditiously, the school board has established the following guidelines:

Whenever a concern is made directly to the school board as a whole or to an individual school board member, the individual or group involved will be advised to take their concern to the appropriate school staff member.  The individual or group will be advised of the proper channeling of concerns, which is as follows:  teacher or staff member; supervisor; Principal; Executive Director or his/her designee(s); school board. 

If a school board member receives a concern, and has reason to believe that the person or persons involved will not go to the source of the problem, the school board member should inform the Executive Director his/her designee(s) of the situation.  School board members cannot act in their official capacity as individuals, but only within the setting of a school board meeting and generally, only after all avenues of appeal have been exhausted. 

An individual or group who wishes to address the school board must notify the Executive Director his/her designee(s) in writing at least ten (10) days before the board is scheduled to meet.  The letter must set forth the specifics of the subject to be addressed.

The school board encourages parents and other citizens to express their concerns, to ask questions, and to take an active interest in the school’s educational program and school environment by attending school board meetings, visiting the school, and meeting with teachers.