Lonna Anderson, Title I Coordinator

Parents Right to Know

Part 1:

• All districts receiving Title I funds must notify parents of all students in Title I funded schools that they may request information on the qualifications of their child's teacher.

• Information at a minimum, must be provided that addresses the licensing requirements for the position held by the teacher, the licensure status, and educational background of the teacher.

• If the child also receives services from an instructional paraprofessional, the parents should be notified and informed of the para's qualifications.

Part 2:

• Parents must be notified if their child has been assigned, or will be taught for 4 or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who is not "HIGHLY" qualified.

• When any child is provided a substitute teacher for 4 or more weeks in a school that receives Title I funds and the substitute does not meet the highly qualified teacher definition, the school must notify parents of this situation.  

Title I -- Parent Involvement Policy 

Reviewed and Updated 2018-2019
At the district level, it is the policy of the Ottumwa Community School District that parents of all participating children have the opportunity to be involved in the joint development of the district plan and in the district’s review process for the purpose of school improvement.  The district provides coordination, technical assistance, and other necessary support in the planning and implementation of parent involvement activities. The district encourages parent involvement and supports the partnership between home/school/community by providing understandable information about standards and assessments; providing training and materials for parents to help their children; educating school personnel about involving parents and the value of parent contributions; and developing meaningful roles for community organizations and businesses to work with parents and schools.

It is the policy of the Ottumwa Community School District that:

1.  This jointly developed, written policy is distributed to parents of participating Title I children and all parents in Schoolwide Title I buildings.

• A copy of this district policy will be distributed at the beginning of the school year to all students of schoolwide enrichment centers, as well as the Title I preschools.  The plan will be furnished to all new students transferred into Title I buildings. Further, the schools may choose to place the plan in their school handbooks for additional dissemination.  The plan will be discussed during building parent committee meetings.

2.  An annual meeting is held, for all parents of participating children.  Additional parent meetings with flexible meeting times shall be held throughout the year as determined by parent interest and suggestions.

• During the first meeting early in the school year, the parents will determine when they wish to have an additional meeting throughout the year.  The parents will be notified through the use of school notifications.

3.  Parents are given assistance in understanding the requirements of the Title I law, National Education Goals, content standards, performance standards, and assessments.

• Parents will have the goals, content standards, performance standards, and assessment explained to them at parent meetings held through the year.  During these meetings, these areas will be covered to ensure widest dissemination for all parents in order for them to offer input and to understand the purpose and philosophy of the Title I program.

4.  Parents receive an explanation of the school’s performance profile, expected proficiency levels for students, and their student’s assessment results.

• During the meetings, explanations will be discussed with the parents about how the Title I results and program fits into the district’s schoolwide improvement plan (280.12 & 280.18). The schoolwide improvement plan will be discussed at a meeting in the fall of each year. The narratives and plans of the individual buildings will be discussed during the parent meetings to ensure that parental input is received and used to improve the program as well as continue to familiarize the parents and community about Title I.

5.  Parents receive timely responses to all parent recommendations. As much as feasible, sent to parents in the language used in the home.  Full opportunities are provided for all parents to participate in Title I activities. 

• Parents receive timely responses to their questions/suggestions to improve the Title I program, when feasible. These suggestions will more than likely come from the parent meetings, but if they come individually, the suggestions will receive the same consideration and brought to the parent committee for further consideration by the larger group.  As the committees address the suggestions, and the suggestions are deemed to improve the overall program, the information will be disseminated by notifications from the school.

6.  A jointly developed school/parent compact outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students share the responsibility for improved student achievement and the means by which the school and parents continue to build and develop partnerships to help children achieve the local high standards.

• A school/parent compact has been developed and will be used for all students in the schoolwide Title I buildings.  The compact is to be distributed and signed early in the school year in order to have all students, parents, and teachers become a part of the student’s program and the building program.

7.  The schoolwide program provides opportunities for parents to become partners with the school in promoting the education of their children at home and at school.  Parents are given help monitoring their student’s progress.  The school provides reasonable support for parental involvement activities as requested by parents.

• The Title I schoolwide buildings will address with the parents methods to enhance their child’s educational program which in turn will assist them to become more involved and dedicated to assisting parents in methods that can be used at home to help their child meet the high challenging standards.  The school will be responsive to reasonable requests by the parents to improve Title I.

8.  The school coordinates and integrates parent involvement programs and activities with other programs as appropriate.

• The school will coordinate with other agencies where possible to enhance the educational program.  Some possible agencies for further support are:  Family Solutions, Family Health Center MCH/WIC, Southern Iowa Economic Development Agency-Head Start, Department of Human Services, Child Health Specialty Clinics, Ottumwa Community School District, Ottumwa Community Schools Food Service, Ottumwa Community Schools Census Department, and Ottumwa Community School’s personnel.

9.  An annual evaluation of this parental involvement policy shall be conducted to determine the effectiveness of this policy for increasing parental involvement.  Policy evaluation of this parental involvement policy shall be conducted to determine the effectiveness of this policy and the barriers of this policy for increasing parent involvement.  Policy evaluation findings shall be used in designing strategies for school improvement and revising parent policies.

• During the parent meetings held throughout the year, a sign-in roster will be maintained and examined for attendance.  From these results maintained throughout the year, plans will be modified to increase the attendance of the parents in order to include them in the decision making process. A survey will be administered close to the end of the year, and distributed to all families in the schoolwide Title buildings to determine the effectiveness of the program and examine suggestions to improve the programming for the students of each school.  The results will be shared with the parents of each school through the use of school notifications.