The purpose of Federal Title I-Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (signed into law on December 10, 2015) is to “provide all children with a significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps”. Arizona Department of Education Title I provides technical assistance, service, and support to local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools to help ensure every child has access to an excellent education.

Through the federally funded Title I program, students within the District receive supplemental instruction to ensure all students achieve proficiency levels regarding rigorous state standards. Instruction takes place during the school day, before or after school, or during summer programs.

FUSD’s Title I Programs serve students from kindergarten through high school.  Parental involvement is critical to students' success. Each school site develops a School Integrated Action Plan which includes goals based on multiple sources of data and research-based programs and strategies. It is our goal to bring the resources of the home and school together to help our students achieve.

As a school in the Florence Unified School District, we value and abide by the KIDS FIRST philosophy. It is our intention to do our best every day to set high expectations, model and show respect, and earn trust by forging a partnership between school and community. Therefore, we acknowledge the importance of parent involvement in the life of the school and the wider benefits for family and community as an integral component of attaining these goals.  

In support of strengthening student academic achievement, each district that receives Title I, Part A funds must develop jointly with, agree on with, and distribute to parents of participating children a written parental involvement policy that contains information required by law. The District-wide Parental Involvement Policy establishes Florence Unified School District’s expectations for parent involvement activities, and is incorporated into the District’s plan submitted to the Arizona State Department of Education.

General Expectations

The Florence Unified School District agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

• The school district will put into operation programs, activities, and procedures for the involvement of parents in all of 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.

• The school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parental involvement policies meet the Title I requirements, and include, as a component, a school-parent compact.

• The school district will incorporate this district-wide parental involvement policy into its district plan.

• In carrying out the Title I parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school district and its schools will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with children with limited English proficiency, parents with children with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.

• If the district plan for Title I 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.

• 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, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring—
(A) that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;
(B) that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;
(C) 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;
(D) the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA.

• The school district will inform parents and parental organizations of the purpose and existence of the Parent Information Resource Centers (PIRC)

Description of How District will Implement Required District Wide Parental Involvement Policy Components

1. The Florence Unified School District will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its district parental involvement plan:

• At the Annual Title I meeting, the Parent Involvement Policy will be addressed.

2. The Florence Unified School District will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance:

• The Title I specialist will work closely with school and district administrators to ensure assistance and support are given to Title I, Part A schools.

3. The Florence Unified School District will build the schools’ and parents’ 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 Florence Unified School District will, with the assistance of its Title I 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 Title I,
• how to monitor their child’s progress, and
• how to work with educators

B. The Florence Unified School District will, with the assistance of its Title I 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:

• Title I sponsored parent workshops will be held at various times throughout the school year to inform and train parents how to work with their children to improve academic achievement.

C. The Florence Unified School District will, with the assistance of its Title I 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:

• All staff members in the school district are involved in professional development activities.

• All district staff members are encouraged to attend workshops and conferences to further their professional development.

• Provide School-Parent-Student Compacts that address the roles of each for academic success of each child.

D. The Florence Unified 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, and public preschool and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children, by:

• Title I sponsored parent workshops will be held at various times throughout the school year to inform and train parents how to work with their children to improve academic achievement.

• Provide School-Parent-Student Compacts that addresses the role of each for academic success of each child.

E. The Florence Unified School District will take the following actions to ensure that Title I 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:

• Material sent to the parents and /or community is first reviewed by the building principal. 

• Material for parents will be made available in Spanish.

4. The Florence Unified School District will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies under Title I with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs: 

• Notify parents of kindergarten registration through district website, school websites and notice in the newspaper.

• Provide “Keys to Kindergarten” each spring for parents so all students might be ready for kindergarten at the start of school.

5. The Florence Unified School District will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement policy in improving the quality of its Title I schools. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in 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.

• The Title I Specialists will conduct a survey based on the needs of the Title I,  Part A schools.  The survey will be sent home with each student.  The results of the survey will be posted on the district’s website and used to revise the parental programs.

6. The Florence Unified School District will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement:

• Parents will be informed of current academic activities within the Title I buildings.  Parents can review, critique, and make suggestions to the Title I program.

Discretionary District Wide Parental Involvement Policy Components

The Florence Unified School District recognizes that a child’s education is a responsibility shared by the school and the family. To effectively educate all students, the school and parents must work as knowledgeable partners.

The district defines parent and family involvement as an on-going process that assists parents and families to meet their basic obligation as their child’s first educator, promotes clear two-way dialogue between home and school, and supports parents as leaders and decision makers at all levels concerning the education of their children.