POLICY 2-1.1 SCHOOL BOARD GOALS FOR SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS

The division superintendent shall keep the community informed of the objectives, achievements and needs of the Montgomery County Public Schools and shall establish channels of communication through which citizens may make their desires and criticisms known to the Montgomery County School Board. Persons visiting the Montgomery County Public Schools or requesting information regarding a Montgomery County school shall be treated in a courteous manner and may expect a prompt and informative reply to legitimate questions.

The School Board may set goals and standards for school-community relations and may regularly evaluate its relationship with the public and its programs for maintaining open channels of communication and good relations with parents, community organizations, the business and industrial sector, the community at large, and media organizations.

Through this school-community relations program, the School Board will encourage the community to, among other things:

1. take an active interest in the schools and participate in planning activities;

2. place a high priority on education and make funds available for an educational system that supports learning for all children; and

3. establish partnerships with the schools to enhance learning opportunities.

School-community relations are essential to securing public input and public support for educational programs. To satisfy this objective, the division superintendent, through the school division’s strategic plan and with the assistance of appropriate representatives from the school division’s various constituencies, shall regularly review and revise the division’s public relations goals and practices.

The division superintendent or his/her designee, after receiving input from members of the community, including parents, students, civic and business leaders, may develop and from time-to-time revise the Montgomery County Public Schools public relations program.

LEGAL REFERENCE: Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, §§ 22.1-29.1, 22.1-79(2), (8), 22.1-89.4, 22.1-253.13:1(B), 22.1-253.13:6.B(C) and 22.1-253.13:7.B.4 (4).

Adopted: April 2004

Revised: August 2004