An Act To Encourage Parental Involvement in Education
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1770
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: ALFOND, NELSON, GERZOFSKY, LOVEJOY, RANKIN
Amends: 20-A MRSA §255, 20-A MRSA §1001, 20-A MRSA §2403, 20-A MRSA §2415

Legislative Document 
No. 1770 
S.P. 609 
In Senate, January 11, 2012 
An Act To Encourage Parental Involvement in Education 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
JOSEPH G. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator ALFOND of Cumberland. 
Cosponsored by Representative NELSON of Falmouth and 
Senator: GERZOFSKY of Cumberland, Representatives: LOVEJOY of Portland, 
McCLELLAN of Raymond, RANKIN of Hiram. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §255, sub-§6 is enacted to read: 
6.  Parental involvement plans; post.  Beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, 
the commissioner shall post on the department's publicly accessible website the parental 
involvement plans submitted by school administrative units pursuant to section 1001, 
subsection 19. The commissioner shall post on the department's publicly accessible 
website the names of all schools that do not comply with the requirements of section 
1001, subsection 19. 
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §1001, sub-§19 is enacted to read: 
19.  Parental involvement plan.  Beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, a 
school board shall annually approve a parental involvement plan for the school 
administrative unit.  A school board shall develop the parental involvement plan in 
consultation with parents, teachers and administrators. The parental involvement plan 
must promote the involvement of parents, guardians and legal guardians of children 
enrolled in the school administrative unit in order to improve student achievement.  The 
parental involvement plan approved by the school board under this subsection must 
include but is not limited to: 
A.  Procedures to improve parental participation in the schools and parent, teacher 
and administrator cooperation in areas in which parental involvement has been shown 
to improve student achievement and foster student success, such as academic 
engagement, homework, attendance and student conduct; 
B.  Procedures by which parents may learn about the school curriculum, courses of 
study and other instructional programs, including placement in gifted and talented 
programs, special education programs, career and technical education programs or 
online learning programs, that are available for their children; 
C.  Procedures by which parents may learn about school policies and practices related 
to student attendance, student assessment, student report cards, requirements for 
student promotion and requirements for high school graduation; 
D.  Procedures by which parents may be informed about the nature and purpose of 
clubs and activities that are part of the school curriculum as well as the cocurricular 
and extracurricular clubs and activities that have been approved by the school; 
E.  Procedures by which parents may access and review instructional materials and 
other educational resources that are used by teachers and administrators in promoting 
the educational performance or development of students; 
F.  Procedures that promote communication between the schools and parents 
concerning school programs and the academic progress of the parents' children; 
G.  Strategic initiatives and school-based programs that encourage and enable parents 
to participate actively in their children's education and that promote opportunities for 
parents to participate in and support classroom instruction and cocurricular and 
extracurricular activities at the school; and 
H.  Strategic initiatives and school-based programs that support, with appropriate 
training, parental involvement in school board decision making and that encourage 
parent membership on school advisory councils. 
A school board shall annually submit the parental involvement plan approved pursuant to 
this subsection by August 31st to the commissioner.  Beginning with the 2014-2015 
school year, a school board shall annually consult with parents, teachers and 
administrators to review the school administrative unit's performance in implementing the 
parental involvement plan. 
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA §2403, sub-§8 is enacted to read: 
8.  Parental involvement plans; post.  Beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, 
the commissioner shall post on the department's publicly accessible website the parental 
involvement plans submitted by public charter schools pursuant to section 2415, 
subsection 4. The commissioner shall post on the department's publicly accessible 
website the names of all public charter schools that do not comply with the requirements 
of section 2415, subsection 4. 
Sec. 4.  20-A MRSA §2415, sub-§4 is enacted to read: 
4.  Parental involvement plan.  Beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, a 
governing board shall annually approve a parental involvement plan for the public charter 
school.  A governing board shall develop the parental involvement plan in consultation 
with parents, teachers and administrators. The parental involvement plan must promote 
the involvement of parents, guardians and legal guardians of children enrolled in the 
public charter school in order to improve student achievement.  The parental involvement 
plan approved by the governing board under this subsection must include but is not 
limited to: 
A.  Procedures to improve parental participation in the public charter school and 
parent, teacher and administrator cooperation in areas in which parental involvement 
has been shown to improve student achievement and foster student success, such as 
academic engagement, homework, attendance and student conduct; 
B.  Procedures by which parents may learn about the public charter school 
curriculum, courses of study and other instructional programs, including placement in 
gifted and talented programs, special education programs, career and technical 
education programs or online learning programs, that are available for their children; 
C.  Procedures by which parents may learn about public charter school policies and 
practices related to student attendance, student assessment, student report cards, 
requirements for student promotion and requirements for high school graduation; 
D.  Procedures by which parents may be informed about the nature and purpose of 
clubs and activities that are part of the public charter school curriculum as well as the 
cocurricular and extracurricular clubs and activities that have been approved by the 
public charter school; 
E.  Procedures by which parents may access and review instructional materials and 
other educational resources that are used by teachers and administrators in promoting 
the educational performance or development of students; 
F.  Procedures that promote communication between the public charter school and 
parents concerning public charter school programs and the academic progress of the 
parents' children; 
G.  Strategic initiatives and public charter school-based programs that encourage and 
enable parents to participate actively in their children's education and that promote 
opportunities for parents to participate in and support classroom instruction and 
cocurricular and extracurricular activities at the public charter school; and 
H.  Strategic initiatives and public charter school-based programs that support, with 
appropriate training, parental involvement in governing board decision making and 
that encourage parent membership on public charter school advisory councils. 
A governing board shall annually submit the parental involvement plan approved 
pursuant to this subsection by August 31st to the commissioner.  Beginning with the 
2014-2015 school year, a governing board shall annually consult with parents, teachers 
and administrators to review the public charter school's performance in implementing the 
parental involvement plan. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires school administrative units and public charter schools, in 
consultation with parents, teachers and administrators, to develop a parental involvement 
plan that promotes student achievement.  Each school board and governing board is 
required to annually approve a parental involvement plan for the school administrative 
unit and the public charter school and to submit the plan to the Commissioner of 
Education. The bill also requires the Commissioner of Education to post on the 
Department of Education's publicly accessible website the names of all schools and 
public charter schools that do not develop a parental involvement plan.