Florida Senate - 2011 SB 1680
By Senator Storms
10-01565A-11 20111680__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to parental or guardian involvement
3 and accountability in public schools; creating s.
4 1008.347, F.S.; providing a purpose and principles
5 concerning parental or guardian involvement; providing
6 strategies that a parent or guardian may use to
7 support and improve student achievement; requiring
8 that teachers and schools develop information or use
9 existing information to share with parents or
10 guardians; specifying the type of information to be
11 shared; requiring that prekindergarten through grade 3
12 teachers monitor and assess the quality of parent or
13 guardian involvement for each student; requiring that
14 the teacher mail an evaluation of parental or guardian
15 involvement under certain circumstances; requiring
16 that the State Board of Education adopt rules
17 establishing an appeals process; requiring
18 implementation beginning with the 2012-2013 school
19 year; providing an effective date.
20
21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23 Section 1. Section 1008.347, Florida Statutes, is created
24 to read:
25 1008.347 Parental or guardian involvement and
26 accountability in public schools.—
27 (1) PURPOSE.—Although the school environment has a great
28 impact on a child’s well-being and academic success, parents or
29 guardians and the home environment form the foundation of a
30 child’s present and future life. Without proper parental or
31 guardian involvement in all aspects of a child’s life, the
32 child’s prospects for becoming a well-equipped and useful member
33 of society are greatly diminished. The purpose of this section
34 is to facilitate the provision of information and tools to
35 parents or guardians of prekindergarten through grade 12
36 students which enable them to have a positive impact on their
37 child’s educational success and to set standards for parental or
38 guardian accountability.
39 (2) PRINCIPLES.—
40 (a) Parental or guardian involvement is most effective when
41 it is comprehensive, well planned, and continues throughout the
42 school year.
43 (b) Parental or guardian involvement should be
44 developmental, with a preventive rather than remedial approach,
45 and should be an integral part of a strategy to improve student
46 achievement.
47 (c) Parents or guardians do not need to be formally
48 educated in order to provide the support and assistance
49 necessary to improve the academic performance of their child.
50 (d) At-risk children have the most to gain from parental or
51 guardian involvement.
52 (3) STRATEGIES.—Strategies that parents or guardians may
53 employ to support the learning of their children and improve
54 student achievement include, but are not limited to:
55 (a) Attending parent-teacher or guardian-teacher
56 conferences during which the student’s strengths and weaknesses
57 are discussed and goals for the student are collaboratively set.
58 (b) Maintaining correspondence with the child’s teachers
59 through submission of signed forms and signed homework
60 assignment sheets and responding to formal requests for
61 conferences.
62 (c) Establishing a home environment that supports the child
63 as a student.
64 (d) Contacting the teacher if a problem or issue arises
65 regarding homework, absences or makeup assignments, or a
66 situation in the home that may disturb the student’s
67 performance.
68 (e) Facilitating the student’s performance in school by
69 monitoring homework completion and test preparation and helping
70 with curriculum-related activities.
71 (f) Providing for the student’s on-time attendance at
72 school, preventing frequent absences from school, and providing
73 needed school supplies.
74 (4) SHARED INFORMATION.—Teachers and schools shall develop
75 information packets, forms, or videos, or shall use existing
76 information packets, forms, or videos, in order to share
77 information with each parent or guardian, and the parent or
78 guarding shall provide written acknowledgement of receiving the
79 information. The shared information may be presented in the
80 parent or guardian guide to successful student achievement or in
81 the checklist of parental or guardian actions, as required under
82 s. 1002.23, both of which provide expectations of parents or
83 guardians with respect to:
84 (a) Requirements for school attendance.
85 (b) A child’s physical readiness for school, which
86 includes, but is not limited to: necessary school supplies,
87 which may be obtained through various organizations if needed;
88 meals, which may be obtained through a school’s free or reduced
89 priced meal program if qualified; and immunizations and medical
90 care.
91 (c) A child’s academic work, including time set aside for
92 daily homework and reading, nightly check of homework completion
93 and preparation for tests, early preparation of assigned school
94 projects, signatures on required forms, and check of contents of
95 the school backpack.
96 (5) ACCOUNTABILITY.—
97 (a) In order to help parents or guardians establish a home
98 environment that supports the child as a student, each teacher
99 shall monitor and assess the quality of the involvement of the
100 parent or guardian of each student in his or her class. A report
101 shall be sent by mail to each parent or guardian of a
102 prekindergarten through grade 3 student which contains the
103 teacher’s evaluation of parental or guardian involvement as
104 “satisfactory,” “needs improvement,” or “unsatisfactory” on each
105 of the following criteria:
106 1. Parental or guardian response to requests for
107 conferences or communication.
108 2. The student’s completion of homework and preparation for
109 tests.
110 3. The student’s physical preparation for school, which has
111 an effect on mental preparation.
112 4. The frequency of the student’s absence and tardiness.
113 (b) The report shall be mailed to a student’s parent or
114 guardian only if one of the following occurs during any academic
115 quarter:
116 1. Five unexcused absences or 10 unexcused tardy
117 attendances for the student; or
118 2. Five requests for communication between the student’s
119 teacher and the parent or guardian have passed without any
120 communication occurring.
121 (6) APPEALS PROCESS; RULES.—The State Board of Education
122 shall adopt rules establishing an appeals process by which the
123 principal, the teacher, and the parent or guardian meet and
124 discuss how the involvement grade was determined. The meeting
125 must also include a discussion on the steps needed to improve
126 the involvement grade and improve the environment and elements
127 that affect student learning and achievement.
128 (7) IMPLEMENTATION.—This section shall be implemented
129 beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.
130 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.