Requires school boards and BOCES to develop and implement programs which provide opportunities to develop parents and volunteer mentors as partners for student achievement and which encourage community mentors to participate in the schooling process; directs the promulgation of rules and regulations related to cost, incentives, and program development.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6865
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 13, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to providing for partner-
ships in education programs for parents and responsible adult mentors
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 3036
2 to read as follows:
3 § 3036. Partnerships in education program. 1. Boards of education and
4 boards of cooperative educational services are hereby authorized to
5 participate in the partnerships in education program in accordance with
6 the provisions of this section.
7 2. Each board of education or board of cooperative educational
8 services shall adopt a written policy on parent and volunteer involve-
9 ment and shall approve a parent and volunteer involvement program for
10 each school in the district, such program to be developed by a committee
11 composed of educational professionals, parents, and volunteers in that
12 school. The program shall be consistent with the following purposes:
13 (a) To positively engage parents and other responsible adult mentors
14 in the educational process by helping parents and volunteer mentors
15 develop skills and programs to support academic efforts at school and
16 student development as responsible future members of society;
17 (b) To provide parents and other responsible adult mentors with tech-
18 niques and strategies that build students' academic success;
19 (c) To build consistent and effective communication between the home,
20 school, and community so parents and community mentors will know when
21 and how to support students' classroom learning activities;
22 (d) To train teachers, administrators, and boards of education to
23 regularly communicate effectively with parents and community mentors;
24 and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04022-01-9
A. 6865 2
1 (e) To train and engage community members in decision making regarding
2 school policy and procedures affecting the educational process.
3 3. Each program shall contain, but need not be limited to, the follow-
4 ing elements:
5 (a) Procedures to facilitate consultation between educational profes-
6 sionals, parents and responsible adult mentors in the community to
7 ensure their participation in the planning, design, implementation and
8 evaluation of the program;
9 (b) Regular and periodic presentations throughout the school year
10 providing training, instruction, and information to parents and mentors
11 consistent with the purposes of this section; and
12 (c) A designated volunteer coordinator who shall, to the extent neces-
13 sary, maintain records of all partnership programs, coordinate sched-
14 ules, and provide periodic reports to the governing school boards.
15 4. Each participating school district shall conduct an annual review
16 and assessment of the program's progress toward meeting the program
17 objectives. Such assessment and review shall include a survey of all
18 residents of the school district. Parents and community members shall be
19 made aware of the existence of this review and assessment through regu-
20 lar school communications mechanisms and shall be given a copy upon
21 request.
22 5. Each school district shall annually submit to the department a cost
23 accounting, such accounting to begin with the fiscal year after the
24 effective date of this section. The commissioner shall develop an
25 incentive program and review the process to provide school districts
26 with assistance in funding which may be associated with this program.
27 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
28 it shall have become a law; provided, however, that the commissioner of
29 education is authorized and directed to promulgate, on or before its
30 effective date, any and all rules and regulations and take any other
31 measures necessary to implement this act on or before its effective
32 date.
