138.04 Accreditation Standard

CLEAR and FOCUSED GOALS. The school has a clearly written statement reflective of the needs, beliefs and values of the school community. The statement is supported by written goals and objectives and is consistent with the unit's philosophy. The statement shows evidence of long and short-range planning and assures the involvement of teachers, administrators and community in the process of its development and evaluation.

COMMUNITY/SCHOOL RELATIONS. The school shall have a written, collaboratively planned program of community outreach which encourages parent/guardian and community involvement in the educational process toward the achievement of the school's goals and objectives. School goals., procedures, and student progress are regularly discussed with and communicated to parents/guardians and citizens.

C. K-2 Education

• (1) Programs. School administrative units may develop programs that are in compliance with all applicable reporting requirements for local early childhood programs, and may include but are not limited to one or more of the following elements:

• (h) Family outreach. Provide family outreach and support programs designed to improve parent-school relations and parenting skills.

4.03 Adoption of the Comprehensive Education Plan

A proposed Comprehensive Education Plan shall be on the agenda of at least one meeting of the school board. The school board shall invite participation and discussion of the Plan by parents, citizens, staff, and students. After receiving comments on the proposed Plan, the school board shall review the proposal, make any modifications deemed appropriate, and adopt a final Plan by the end of the 2002-2003 school year. [...]

5.15 Family Outreach and Support Programs

School administrative units shall provide family outreach and support programs designed to improve parent engagement and parent-school relations consistent with 20-A M.R.S. §4252(8) . Programs shall have written policies and procedures that demonstrate intentional, strength-based practices designed to foster strong reciprocal relationships with families. These practices include, but are not limited to: open houses, parent conferences, parent education opportunities, newsletters, family events, and program evaluations. Policies and procedures are to be translated in languages understandable to parents. 20-A M.R.S. §4502(5)(P) .

The commissioner shall have the following educational duties.

• 16. Parental involvement initiatives. The commissioner shall strongly encourage each school board to adopt local procedures for implementing a districtwide parental involvement initiative as school board policy in accordance with section 255, subsection 6.

6. Parental Involvement Initiatives; Post. Beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, a school administrative unit that adopts a parental involvement initiative may submit a copy of that initiative to the department, and the commissioner shall post that initiative on the department’s publicly accessible website. The commissioner also shall post on the department’s publicly accessible website links to the publicly accessible websites of those school administrative units that have chosen to adopt districtwide parental involvement initiatives as school board policy and that have submitted those initiatives to the department.

The initiatives local units may elect to develop may include, but not be limited to, one or more of the following:

1. Class size. Reduce the class size in all classrooms;

2. Teacher training. Provide training programs for teachers in screening, educational diagnosis, program prescription or program development;

3. Screening. Establish or expand preschool or early childhood screening programs, including psychometrically valid English language proficiency screening for potential English learners as defined in section 15672, subsection 7-B as determined by a language use survey developed by the department, and the development of individualized educational prescription based on the findings of the screening;

4. Programs for children 4 years of age and 5 years of age. Encourage the development of public preschool programs or 2-year kindergartens in conformity with section 5201, subsection 2, paragraph C and other appropriate programs to address the needs of children 4 years of age and 5 years of age;

5. Multigrade classrooms. Establish classroom units of more than one grade level;

6. Learning environment. Develop a learning environment which would encourage each student to learn and progress at that student’s own functional level;

7. Transition. Facilitate the transition of children from preschool programs to public school programs;

8. Family outreach. Provide family outreach and support programs designed to improve parent-school relations and parenting skills; and

9. Early childhood statewide assessments. The use of early childhood statewide assessment tools pursuant to chapter 222 to inform instruction and to communicate effectively with parents. An early childhood statewide assessment must avoid inappropriate use of assessment information; specifically, the assessment may not result in labeling children, restricting kindergarten entry or predicting children’s future academic and life success.

5. Other requirements. The state board and the commissioner shall jointly adopt basic school approval rules governing school administrative units and elementary and secondary schools. These rules must set minimum requirements in the following areas, incorporating such requirements as are established by statute:
   • P. Provision of family outreach and support programs designed to improve parent-school relations and parenting skills consistent with section 4252, subsection 8.