Parent & Family Engagement Policy 

We want your feedback!

Blanco ISD is conducting an annual review of its parent and family engagement policy. Please review the policy here and submit your feedback by clicking this link: Parent & Family Feedback Form.

Click the link to view the Title 1 Blanco Elementary 2024-25 School Year School-Parent-Student Compact.

The Blanco Independent School District will implement the following statutory requirements:

• The school district will implement programs, activities, and procedures for the engagement of parents in all of its schools as planned with the consultation of parents of participating children.
• The school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parental engagement policies meet the legal requirements and include, as a component, a school-parent compact for Title I schools.
• The school district will incorporate this district-wide parental engagement policy into its improvement plans.
• In carrying out the parental engagement 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 of children with disabilities, and parents of migratory children. It will provide 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.
• The school district will involve the parents of children served in Title I schools in decisions about how the one percent of Title I funds reserved for parental engagement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95 percent of the one percent reserved goes directly to the schools.
• The school district will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental engagement and expects that its schools will carry out programs, activities, and procedures in accordance with this definition: Parent and Family Engagement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring
  • that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;
  • that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;
  •  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.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Blanco Independent School District is dedicated to providing a quality education for every student in our district. In support of the district's mission to "inspire and educate students to be productive citizens,” Blanco ISD will develop and nurture partnerships with parents/caregivers, students, and community stakeholders. Furthermore, the district will involve parents/caregivers in all aspects of the various local, state, and federal programs offered in Blanco ISD schools.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN DEVELOPING THE POLICY

Blanco Independent School District will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance:

• Campus support from the district to serve in an advisory capacity to campuses.
• Meetings of parents/caregivers, community members, and campus personnel to provide feedback and input on campus plans, policies, and budget allocations.
• Appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses, including faith-based organizations, in parental engagement activities.

Blanco Independent School District will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its district/school parental engagement plan:

• Actively recruit parents/caregivers to participate in parent advisory capacity.
• Schedule meetings at convenient times and locations to participate in a comprehensive review of policy, budget, and programs for parent involvement.
• Annually solicit feedback on the policy via the website, social media, and parent organizations.
• Offer a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening.
• Present the plan to the public online and annually to the School Board.

ANNUAL MEETINGS FOR TITLE 1 PARENTS

Blanco Independent School District uses Title I funds to provide school-wide services for all students enrolled on Title I campuses. The Title I campuses will hold at least one meeting annually to review Title I guidelines and services offered at campus level. Copies of the district’s current Parent & Family Engagement Policy and campus designed School-Parent Compact will be distributed at the meeting. Both documents will be provided in English and in Spanish on bilingual program campuses. The meeting will be held at a convenient time and location; notice of the meeting will be provided through public announcements and school-based information flyers. Translators will be available upon request. Blanco Independent School District will provide parents of participating children if requested by parents, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practically possible.

The district will, with the assistance of its 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.
• Pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parental engagement activities to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions.
• 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 those conferences at school.

MATCHING PARENTS ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS TO THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY

Blanco Independent School District will build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for strong parental engagement in order to ensure effective engagement of parents and to support a partnership among the schools involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, through the following activities:

The District will, with the assistance of its schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district or school, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following:

• 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
• how to work with educators

The Blanco Independent School District will coordinate and integrate parental engagement strategies under Title I with the following other programs: Preschool programs, Special Education programs, Gifted Education programs, Career and Technology programs, ESL programs, and Family Literacy programs.

STAFF/PARENT COMMUNICATION

The district, with the assistance of its schools and parents, will 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. Furthermore, the technology departments provide methods of communication through social media and software programs.

In carrying out parental engagement communication, districts, and schools, to the extent practicable, shall 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 a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents can understand.

EVALUATION

Blanco Independent School District will take action 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 schools. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in parental engagement activities with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, disabled, limited English proficiency, limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background. The school district will use the findings of the evaluation about its parental engagement policy and activities to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary and with the involvement of parents, its parental engagement policies.

Blanco ISD administers satisfaction surveys annually to parents, staff, and students (as age-appropriate), and will use the results of the surveys as part of the evaluation of parent and family engagement.