A. It shall be a policy of the State Board of Education to encourage each public school to explore outreach opportunities such as agreements with the parents of each child enrolled in school.

• 1. Such agreement may describe the beneficial relationship between parental interest and pupil achievement and provide an agreement that a child will achieve higher levels of competency if parents will guarantee that their child will attend school, behave satisfactorily while there, and complete homework. As part of the agreement, the school may state its intention to provide free remediation if a child fails to attain the necessary Standard of competency.
• 2. Such agreement may also emphasize the importance of parent-teacher conferences. The agreement should note the days of the school year reserved for professional meetings and staff development and state that on these days teachers are available to meet with parents. Teachers should also be encouraged to schedule conferences to accommodate working parents. Teachers should strive to hold at least one conference with each student’s parents at least once each semester.

B. The State Board of Education also shall require each local board of education to develop initiatives to promote schools as congenial places for parents to visit.

C. The State Board of Education shall also establish a program for encouraging private employers to give employees who have children in preschool programs, kindergarten, or school programs time off to visit the schools for parent-teacher conferences at least once each semester.