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Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the summary and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §254, sub-§16  is enacted to read:
 
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.
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §255, sub-§6  is enacted to read:
 
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.
Sec. 3. Parental involvement initiative. In collaboration with organizations representing school boards, school administrators, teachers, parents, students and other community members, the Commissioner of Education shall review parental involvement initiatives developed in this State and other jurisdictions that promote improvement in student learning and academic achievement. The commissioner shall select exemplary parental involvement initiatives and shall post prominently, or include links to, the selected initiatives on the Department of Education's publicly accessible website. The commissioner shall disseminate information in writing to school administrative units on the selected initiatives no later than December 31, 2012 and shall strongly encourage each school board to adopt local procedures for implementing a districtwide parental involvement initiative as school board policy. The exemplary parental involvement initiatives selected by the commissioner must include:
1. Provisions that promote parental involvement in ways that result in improvement in student learning and academic achievement and that provide opportunities for continuous engagement and ongoing partnerships between school boards, administrators, teachers, parents, students and other community members;
2. Procedures that may be used by those school administrative units that choose to develop local districtwide parental involvement initiatives for adoption as school board policy; and
3. Procedures for school administrative units to designate a contact person or persons who provide guidance and relevant information to parents regarding their child's education, opportunities to participate in particular school-based programs or specific information pertaining to particular school policies or programs. The procedures may include protocols for providing parents with contact information for the designated contact person or persons, including posting the contact information on the school administrative unit's publicly accessible website.’
 
SUMMARY
This amendment strikes and replaces the bill. It directs the Commissioner of Education, in collaboration with school boards, school administrators, teachers, parents, students and other community members, to review parental involvement initiatives developed in this State and other jurisdictions that promote improvement in student learning and academic achievement. The commissioner is required to select exemplary parental involvement initiatives and post information on the selected initiatives on the Department of Education's publicly accessible website. The commissioner is also required to disseminate information in writing to school administrative units on the exemplary parental involvement initiatives posted on the department's publicly accessible website no later than December 31, 2012 and directed to strongly encourage school boards to adopt local procedures for implementing a districtwide parental involvement initiative as school board policy. The amendment provides that, 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, which the commissioner is required to post on the department's publicly accessible website along with links to the publicly accessible websites of those school administrative units that have adopted districtwide parental involvement initiatives as school board policy.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)