Policy 4126 - Parent and Community Participation

Parent and Community Participation
The Board of Trustees of the Kimberly School District believe parents, guardians and others in the community can provide a unique perspective that is vital to the harmonious operation of the district and its schools. The parents and others in the community are encouraged and invited to become involved in the district and its programs. Their participation in specific program goal setting, budget building and evaluation of those programs serve a vital function in assisting the schools in fulfilling its mission.

The board of trustees directs the administration to involve parents in every practical and legal way in the creation, implementation and evaluation of all state and federal programs. Parents and the community are invited to become involved in a “Continuous Improvement Plan” process to advise and assist the principal and staff as they work to improve all aspects of instruction for all students. This input shall be advisory and the board directs the superintendent to assure all parent committee suggestions are considered in improving the instruction for all children, the first concern will be the educational program as it affects students. 

Citizens of the district will be encouraged to express their ideas, concerns and judgments about the school through:

  1. written suggestions or proposals;
  2. presentations at hearings;
  3. responses to surveys made through interviews, written instructions;
  4. comments at meetings of the board;
  5. service on citizen’s advisory committees.

The board recognizes that individual information about staff and students cannot be shared with these committees. However, aggregated and disaggregated information shall be shared to the degree the legal and professional confidences can be maintained.

Further, the Kimberly School District Board of Trustees recognizes a child's education is a responsibility shared by the district/school and family during the entire period the child spends in school. To support the district’s goal to educate all students effectively, the schools and parents must work as knowledgeable partners.

Although parents are diverse in culture, language, and needs, they share the school's commitment to the educational success of their children. Kimberly Schools will work in collaboration with parents, to establish programs and practices that enhance parent involvement and reflect the specific needs of students and their families.  

District and School Level Development
Empowering Parents:  To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, both the District and each school within the District:

  • Shall provide assistance to parents of children served by the school or District, as appropriate, in understanding such topics as challenging state academic standards, state and local academic assessments, the requirements of this policy, and how to monitor a child’s progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children; and
  • Shall provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement, and
  • Shall educate teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals, and other school leaders and staff, in the value and utility of parental participation, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners to implement and coordinate parent programs, and to build ties between parents and schools; and 
  • Shall to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with other available federal, state and local programs, including public preschool programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents to more fully participate in the education of their children; and 
  • Shall ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to parents of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand; and
  • May involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training; and
  • May pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with local parental involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school related meetings and training sessions; and 
  • May train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents; and
  • May arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct in home conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, with parents who are unable to attend such conferences at school, in order to maximize parental involvement and participation; and 
  • May adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement; and
  • May establish a districtwide parent advisory council or district level committees to provide advice on matters related to parental involvement in programs supported under Federal Programs or other district level initiatives; and
  • Shall provide for other reasonable support for parent involvement activities under this section as parents may request; and
  • Shall inform parents and organizations of the existence of the program.

Procedures for Federal Programs
It is the responsibility of the Federal Program Director with the support of the school staff to implement parent involvement activities required by the Federal Programs (Title I, Title I-C (Migrant), Title III (LEP).  These include but are not limited to:

  • Conducting parent meetings in which the goals of the federal programs and the rights of the parents are discussed; 
  • Disseminating information about the federal programs concerning the responsibilities and rights of parents with children eligible for services by those programs;
  • Providing a number of meetings during the year to create opportunities for all parents to participate;
  • Ensuring that language, economic status or employment is not a barrier to active participation;
  • Providing opportunities for parents to evaluate their child’s program and participate in meaningful decisions concerning the education of their children; and  
  • Providing an explanation of curriculum, academic assessment, and proficiency levels that students are expected to meet.  

The principals and Federal Programs Director will inform the board concerning the status of parent involvement both in each school and the federal programs.

Legal Citing:
No Child Left Behind Federal Program; Sections xxx 

1st Reading:    November 18, 2006
2nd Reading:    December 21, 2006
Revised:    May 20, 2010; February 20, 2019