The Federal Programs Department offers compliance guidance, resources, and support in the areas of Titles I, II, III, and IV for the Royse City Independent School District. Our mission is to serve those who serve our students, parents, families, and communities while meeting the programmatic mandates and intents of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

DISTRICT WRITTEN PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT POLICY

Royse City Independent School District will implement the following statutory requirements:

• Develop programs, activities, and procedures for the involvement of parents in schools with Title I programs. These programs, activities, and procedures will be planned and operated through meaningful consultation with parents.

• Work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parental involvement policies meet or exceed the Title I requirements.

• Provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with children with limited English proficiency, parents whose children have disabilities, and parents of migratory children.

• Involve the parents of children served in Title I schools in decisions about how Title I funds reserved for parental involvement are spent.

Development of the Written Parent and Family Engagement Policy
The District Improvement Council is comprised of parents, members of the community, business leaders, teachers, school administrators, and district leadership. The District Improvement Council is the District equivalent of campus site-based teams and, as such, plays an important role in Royse City ISD. The council serves in an advisory capacity to the Board of Trustees. This council will discuss the design and implementation of the District Improvement Plan and Parent and Family Engagement Policy, among other tasks.

Royse City ISD will actively recruit volunteers for the District Improvement Council through various avenues of publicity. Committee selections will strive to produce a diverse parent population that will include all student groups serviced by the district with arrangements for translators to help with communications if needed. Meetings will be planned at convenient times and locations for all members of the committee.

Title I Annual Parent Meeting
Royse City ISD uses Title I funds to provide school-wide services for all eligible students. The district will hold at least one meeting annually to review Title I guidelines and services offered through the district. Copies of the District and Campus Written Parent and Family Engagement Policy and Campus School-Parent-Student Compact (Elementary Only) will be distributed at the meeting. Documents will be provided in English and Spanish.  Other languages will be available upon request. Notice of the meeting will be provided through written invitation to parents/caregivers and through public notices. The District will also respond to a parent’s request for language assistance and recognize that parents can be limited English proficient even if their child is proficient in English.

Parent Involvement Opportunities
Royse City ISD will support parental involvement as it develops and maintains an optimal learning environment for all students. The district will communicate information to limited English proficient parents in a language they can understand about any program, service, or activity that is called to the attention of parents who are proficient in English.

Parents are encouraged to: 

• contribute through volunteer programs;      

• annually solicit feedback on the policy via the website, social media, and parent organizations;                           

• participate in parent-teacher conferences;

• attend school meetings;

• serve on committees; and

• provide their input about the school/district. 

Building Capacity
Royse City ISD values the partnership of parents in their children’s education. There are many ways parents can make significant contributions to student success both at home and by volunteering at the school. Student achievement is the result of effective home-school-community partnerships.

Parents may be assisted in understanding state standards, district and school assessments, and how to monitor a child’s progress in the following ways:

• Provide assistance to parents/families in understanding the state's academic content standards and academic achievement standards, local academic assessments, how to monitor a child’s progress, and how to collaborate with educators to improve the achievement of their children.

• Post the Testing Calendar online so parents can stay informed of the testing schedule.

• Provide materials and training as necessary to help parents work with their children to improve achievement.

• Provide education to teachers, administrators, and other staff on ways to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners at school.

• Assist parents in monitoring their child’s progress through Skyward and reports of student progress.

• Communicate information to limited English proficient parents in a language they can understand about any program, service, or activity that is called to the attention of parents who are proficient in English.

 
Staff and Parent Communication
Royse City ISD website, social media, newsletters, teacher notes, school marquee, conferences, personal contacts, phone calls, and written notices will be used to establish and maintain open lines of communication with parents/caregivers. The District will also respond to a parent’s request for language assistance and recognize that parents can be limited English proficient even if their child is proficient in English.

The district, with the assistance of its schools and parents, will educate its teachers, principals, and other staff on 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.

The school/district will take the following actions to ensure that 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: translators provided at the campus level for parents in Spanish Bilingual/Dual Language programs; district phone call out system based upon the primary language identified for the home; provide a centralized District level contact for translation requests and assistance. In addition, Royse City ISD will provide technology-assisted website translations for all district and campus webpages from English into numerous languages including, but not limited to, Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, Chinese, and Urdu.

Coordination of Programs
Royse City ISD will annually assess the needs of parents and children in the school community using a variety of tools. The findings will be used to revise the Title I program to meet current needs. Workshops or other training will be made available to educators and parents to address these needs. Parents will be notified about training opportunities through the district’s website at https://www.rcisd.org/.

Evaluation
Royse City ISD will take action to conduct an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this written parent and family engagement policy to improve the quality of Title I schools. The evaluation will include identifying barriers that limit participation by parents in parental involvement activities with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, disabled, or have limited English proficiency. The District will use the findings of the evaluation to design strategies for more effective parental involvement.

Statewide Initiative
Texas has established a Parent and Family Engagement Initiative hosted by the Region 16 Education Service Center. Website: www.esc16.net/page/title1swi.home. The Department of Federal Programs in Royse City ISD is responsible for annually reviewing and publishing this policy. Please contact Tyisha Nelson, Director of Federal Programs, at 972-636-2413 with any comments or concerns. Please refer to https://www.rcisd.org/ for handbooks for parents, calendars of school events, and information on how to become a volunteer, or talk to your school principal about opportunities to serve on committees