SECTIONS 11500-11506 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 11500-11506

11500. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Despite a substantial increase in school funding over the last
five years, a significant percentage of the school-aged population,
particularly in large urban areas, is learning well below the
statewide average and is making only marginal progress at best.
(b) Parental involvement and support in the education of children
is an integral part of improving academic achievement. Educational
research has established that properly constructed parent involvement
programs can play an important and effective role in the
participation of parents in their children's schools and in raising
pupil achievement levels.
(c) The federal government has recognized the critical role of
parents in the educational process and now mandates parental
involvement programs as a condition of eligibility for funds under
the Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary
School Improvement Amendments of 1988 (P.L. 100-297).
(d) The State Board of Education has also adopted a policy urging
the creation of parent involvement programs in all schools.
(e) California's School Improvement Program has historically
maintained parent involvement as one of its component parts.
(f) Research and experience have demonstrated that these programs
succeed only when certain components are made part of the program.

11501. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this chapter
to ensure that parent involvement programs are properly designed and
implemented and to provide a focus and structure for these programs
based on prior experience and research while maintaining sufficient
local flexibility to design a program that best meets the needs of
the local community.

11502. It is the purpose and goal of this chapter to do all of the
following:
(a) To engage parents positively in their children's education by
helping parents to develop skills to use at home that support their
children's academic efforts at school and their children's
development as responsible future members of our society.
(b) To inform parents that they can directly affect the success of
their children's learning, by providing parents with techniques and
strategies that they may utilize to improve their children's academic
success and to assist their children in learning at home.
(c) To build consistent and effective communication between the
home and the school so that parents may know when and how to assist
their children in support of classroom learning activities.
(d) To train teachers and administrators to communicate
effectively with parents.
(e) To integrate parent involvement programs, including compliance
with this chapter, into the school's master plan for academic
accountability.

11503. The governing board of each school district shall establish
a parent involvement program for each school in the district that
receives funds under Chapter 1 of the federal Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Augustus F.
Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary School
Improvement Amendments of 1988 (P.L. 100-290). That program shall
contain at least the following elements:
(a) Procedures to ensure that parents are consulted and
participate in the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation
of the program.
(b) Regular and periodic programs throughout the school year that
provide for training, instruction, and information on all of the
following:
(1) Parental ability to directly affect the success of their
children's learning through the support they give their children at
home and at school.
(2) Home activities, strategies, and materials that can be used to
assist and enhance the learning of children both at home and at
school.
(3) Parenting skills that assist parents in understanding the
development needs of their children and in understanding how to
provide positive discipline for, and build healthy relationships
with, their children.
(4) Parental ability to develop consistent and effective
communications between the school and the parents concerning the
progress of the children in school and concerning school programs.
(c) An annual statement identifying specific objectives of the
program.
(d) An annual review and assessment of the program's progress in
meeting those objectives. Parents shall be made aware of the
existence of this review and assessment through regular school
communications mechanisms and shall be given a copy upon the parent's
request.

11504. The governing board of each school district shall adopt a
policy on parent involvement, consistent with the purposes and goals
set forth in Section 11502, for each school not governed by Section
11503.

11505. To the extent permitted by federal law, a school district
may contract with nonprofit organizations and agencies experienced in
administering parent involvement programs to design or implement, or
design and implement, a school's parent involvement program.

11506. Schools that receive federal funds under Chapter 1 of the
federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by
the Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary
School Improvement Amendments of 1988 (P. L. 100-297), and receive
funds for school improvement plans pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing
with Section 52000) of Part 28 or economic impact aid pursuant to
Article 2 (commencing with Section 54020) of Chapter 1 of Part 29,
may receive funds for school improvement plans pursuant to Chapter 6
(commencing with Section 52000) of Part 28 or economic impact aid
pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 54020) of Chapter 1 of
Part 29 only if they comply with this chapter.