The State Board of Education shall:

• (1)  require school and district long-range improvement plans required in Section 59-139-10 to include parental involvement goals, objectives, and an evaluation component;
• (2)  recognize districts and schools where parental involvement significantly increases beyond stated goals and objectives; and
• (3)  establish criteria for staff training on school initiatives and activities shown by research to increase parental involvement in their children’s education.

The State Superintendent of Education shall: (1)  design parental involvement and best practices training programs in conjunction with higher education institutions and the pre-K through grade 12 education community, including parental program coordinators, which shall include:

• (a)  practices that are responsive to racial, ethnic, and socio-economic diversity, and are appropriate to various grade-level needs;
• (b)  establishment and maintenance of parent-friendly school settings;
• (c)  awareness of community resources that strengthen families and assist students to succeed; and
• (d)  other topics appropriate for fostering partnerships between parent and teacher;

(2)  work collaboratively with the Commission on Higher Education to incorporate parental involvement training into teacher preparation and principal preparation programs consistent with the training provided in subsection (1) of this section.

The State Superintendent of Education shall: (1)  promote parental involvement as a priority for all levels from pre-K through grade 12, with particular emphasis at the middle and high school levels where parental involvement is currently least visible; (2)  designate a Department of Education staff position whose specific role is to coordinate statewide initiatives to support school and district parental involvement; (3)  collect and disseminate to districts and schools practices shown by research to be effective in increasing parental involvement at all grade levels; (4)  provide parental involvement staff development training for district and school liaisons, as needed;

Each local school board of trustees shall: (1)  consider joining national organizations which promote and provide technical assistance on various proven parental involvement frameworks and models; (2)  incorporate, where possible, proven parental involvement practices into existing policies and efforts; (3)  adopt policies that emphasize the importance, strive to increase and clearly define expectations for effective parental involvement practices in the district schools; (4)  provide for all faculty and staff, no later than the 2002-2003 school year, parental involvement orientation and training through staff development with an emphasis on unique school and district needs and after that, on an ongoing basis as indicated by results of evaluations of district and school parental involvement practices and as required by the State Board of Education; (5)  provide incentives and formal recognition for schools that significantly increase parental involvement as defined by the State Board of Education; (6)  require an annual briefing on district and school parental involvement programs including findings from state and local evaluations on the success of the district and schools’ efforts; and (7)  include parental involvement expectations as part of the superintendent’s evaluation.

SC FitnessGram implemented in majority public school districts provides teachers and families with info to support health/fitness