By Jessica Vician
It’s time to start planning your school’s budget for the 2017-2018 school year, which means it’s time to make due on that promise you made to yourself, your teachers and staff, or maybe even a few parents—fit parent engagement into the budget.
It’s not as difficult as it may seem. Teacher trainings can qualify for staff development. School leadership training can support administrator workshops and parent leadership training workshops.
No matter how big or small your budget is, you can work parent engagement into it. Start small with a Parent Workshop to teach parents how to support college and career readiness at home. If your budget allows it, host a Training Workshop so that your staff can learn the YOU Program and then host your own parent workshops. The latter approach is the most cost-effective, as you are starting to build a sustainable parent engagement program at your school that you can expand each year.
Federal funding and grants are available to get you started.
Title I
Title I funds can be used for parent workshops, training workshops, and parent leadership training workshops, as these programs:
- Build capacity and leadership
- Guide parents to support academic achievement
- Make information fully accessible to parents
Title III
These workshops also qualify for Title III funds, as they are available in English and Spanish and can help Spanish-speaking parents learn the best practices for parent engagement practices and about the school’s resources for English Language Learners (ELLs).
Remember, you must use all of your 2016-2017 funding before you can use your 2017-2018 funding. If you have funds leftover this school year, end on a high note with a parent workshop, teaching parents how to avoid the summer slide. Then you can start 2017-2018 fresh, greeting new arrivals with a parent engagement program that they can participate in as it grows.
Contact us to chat about your school’s parent engagement needs and we will prepare a custom implementation plan for your review.
It starts with YOU. 
