Proposed revisions to the policy on parental involvement have been tentatively adopted for community comment by the Board of Education to ensure that there are successful strategies in place in every school to encourage and sustain active parent involvement.

In fact, for the first time, the revised Policy ABC, Parental Involvement, would ensure that “parent involvement efforts reflect the rich cultural and linguistic diversity of local school communities.”

Individual schools would be encouraged, in collaboration with their parent community, to develop and implement statements on the shared responsibilities that schools have with parents and families. Examples of these statements include parental agreements on the educational objectives for their children. Schools also would be encouraged to develop more effective two-way communication, partnerships, and opportunities for volunteering, training, and shared decision-making.

Individuals who wish to comment should respond in writing by July 12, 2002. All responses should be sent to the Office of the Superintendent of Schools, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850. The comments will be shared with the Board of Education.

The revised policy is available as a PDF file at the link below.