SECTION I:  REQUIRED NOTICES AND INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

This section of the Frank Stone Middle School Student Handbook includes several notices that the district is required to provide to you, as well as other information on topics of particular interest to you as a parent.

STATEMENT OF NONDISCRIMINATION

In its efforts to promote nondiscrimination, North Lamar ISD does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sex, or disability in providing education services, activities, and programs, including vocational programs, in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

The following district staff members have been designated to coordinate compliance with these legal requirements:

·           Title IX Coordinator, for concerns regarding discrimination on the basis of sex: Tommy Felty 903-737-2071

·           Section 504 Coordinator, for concerns regarding discrimination on the basis of disability:  Phyllis Lucas  903-737-2034

·           All other concerns regarding discrimination:  See the superintendent James Dawson at 903-737-2000.

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

Working Together

Both experience and research tell us that a child’s education succeeds best when there is good communication and a strong partnership between home and school.  Your involvement in this partnership may include:

·           Encouraging your child to put a high priority on education and working with your child on a daily basis to make the most of the educational opportunities the school provides.

·           Ensuring that your child completes all homework assignments and special projects and comes to school each day prepared, rested, and ready to learn.

·           Becoming familiar with all of your child’s school activities and with the academic programs, including special programs, offered in the district. 

·           Discussing with the counselor or principal any questions you may have about the options and opportunities available to your child.

·           Reviewing the requirements of the graduation programs with your child, if your child is entering ninth grade.

·           Monitoring your child’s academic progress and contacting teachers as needed.  [See Academic Counseling on page 15 and Academic Programs on page 13.]

·           Attending scheduled conferences and requesting additional conferences as needed.  To schedule a telephone or in-person conference with a teacher, counselor, or principal, please call the school office at 903-737-2041 for an appointment.  The teacher will usually return your call or meet with you during his or her conference period or before or after school.  [See Report Cards/Progress Reports and Conferences on page 30.]

·           Becoming a school volunteer.  [For further information, see policies at GKG and contact the principal at 903-737-2041.]

·           Participating in campus parent organizations.  Parent organizations include:  PTO, Band Booster Club, Athletic Booster Club

·           Serving as a parent representative on the district-level or campus-level planning committees, assisting in the development of educational goals and plans to improve student achievement.  For further information, see policies at BQA and BQB, and contact Shelly McDowell at 903-737-2041.

·           Serving on the School Health Advisory Council, assisting the district in ensuring local community values are reflected in health education instruction.  [See policies at BDF, EHAA, FFA, and  information in this handbook at School Health Advisory Council on page 23.]

·           Attending board meetings to learn more about district operations.  [See policies at BE and BED for more information.]

PARENTAL RIGHTS

Obtaining Information and Protecting Student Rights

Your child will not be required to participate without parental consent in any survey, analysis, or evaluation—funded in whole or in part by the U.S. Department of Education—that concerns:

·           Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or the student’s parent.

·           Mental or psychological problems of the student or the student’s family.

·           Sexual behavior or attitudes.

·           Illegal, antisocial, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior.

·           Critical appraisals of individuals with whom the student has a close family relationship.

·           Relationships privileged under law, such as relationships with lawyers, physicians, and ministers.

·           Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or parents.

·           Income, except when the information is required by law and will be used to determine the student’s eligibility to participate in a special program or to receive financial assistance under such a program.

You will be able to inspect the survey or other instrument and any instructional materials used in connection with such a survey, analysis, or evaluation.  [For further information, see policy EF(LEGAL).]

“Opting Out” of Surveys and Activities

As a parent, you have a right to receive notice of and deny permission for your child’s participation in:

·           Any survey concerning the private information listed above, regardless of funding.

·           School activities involving the collection, disclosure, or use of personal information gathered from your child for the purpose of marketing or selling that information.

·           Any non-emergency, invasive physical examination or screening required as a condition of attendance, administered and scheduled by the school in advance and not necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of the student.  Exceptions are hearing, vision, or scoliosis screenings, or any physical exam or screening permitted or required under state law.  [See policies EF and FFAA.]

Limiting the Display of a Student’s Artwork and Projects

As a parent, if you do not want your child’s artwork, special projects, photographs, and the like to be displayed on the district’s Web site, in printed material, by video, or by any other method of mass communication, you must notify the principal in writing.

Requesting Professional Qualifications of Teachers and Staff

You may request information regarding the professional qualifications of your child’s teachers, including whether a teacher has met state qualification and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction; whether the teacher has an emergency permit or other provisional status for which state requirements have been waived; and undergraduate and graduate degree majors, graduate certifications, and the field of study of the certification or degree.  You also have the right to request information about the qualifications of any paraprofessional who may provide services to your child.

Reviewing Instructional Materials

As a parent, you have a right to review teaching materials, textbooks, and other teaching aids and instructional materials used in the curriculum, and to examine tests that have been administered to your child.

Inspecting Surveys

As a parent, you may inspect a survey created by a third party before the survey is administered or distributed to your child.

Accessing Student Records

You may review your child’s student records.  These records include:

·           Attendance records,

·           Test scores,

·           Grades,

·           Disciplinary records,

·           Counseling records,

·           Psychological records,

·           Applications for admission,

·           Health and immunization information,

·           Other medical records,

·           Teacher and counselor evaluations,

·           Reports of behavioral patterns, and

·           State assessment instruments that have been administered to your child. 

[See Student Records on page 6.]

Granting Permission to Video or Audio Record a Student

As a parent, you may grant or deny any written request from the district to make a video or voice recording of your child.  State law, however, permits the school to make a video or voice recording without parental permission for the following circumstances:

·           When it is to be used for school safety;

·           When it relates to classroom instruction or a cocurricular or extracurricular activity; or

·           When it relates to media coverage of the school.

Removing a Student Temporarily from the Classroom

You may remove your child temporarily from the classroom if an instructional activity in which your child is scheduled to participate conflicts with your religious or moral beliefs.  The removal cannot be for the purpose of avoiding a test and may not extend for an entire semester.  Further, your child must satisfy grade-level and graduation requirements as determined by the school and by the Texas Education Agency.

Excusing a Student from Reciting the Pledges to the U.S. and Texas Flags

As a parent, you may request that your child be excused from participation in the daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Texas flag.  The request must be in writing.  State law does not allow your child to be excused from participation in the required minute of silence or silent activity that follows.  [See Pledges of Allegiance and a Minute of Silence on page 28 and policy EC(LEGAL).]

Excusing a Student from Reciting a Portion of the Declaration of Independence

You may request that your child be excused from recitation of a portion of the Declaration of Independence. State law requires students in social studies classes in grades 3–12 to recite a portion of the text of the Declaration of Independence during Celebrate Freedom Week unless (1) you provide a written statement requesting that your child be excused, (2) the district determines that your child has a conscientious objection to the recitation, or (3) you are a representative of a foreign government to whom the United States government extends diplomatic immunity.  [See policy EHBK(LEGAL).]

Requesting Notices of Certain Student Misconduct

A non-custodial parent may request in writing that he or she be provided, for the remainder of the school year, a copy of any written notice usually provided to a parent related to your child’s misconduct that may involve placement in a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP) or expulsion.  [See policy FO(LEGAL) and the Student Code of Conduct.]

Requesting Transfers for Your Child

As a parent, you have a right:

·           To request the transfer of your child to another classroom or campus if your child has been determined by the school board to have been a victim of bullying as the term is defined by Education Code 25.0341.  Transportation is not provided for a transfer to another campus.  See the Superintendent James Dawson at 903-737-2000 for information. [See policy FDB.]

·           To request the transfer of your child to attend a safe public school in the district if your child attends school at a campus identified by TEA as persistently dangerous or if your child has been a victim of a violent criminal offense while at school or on school grounds.  [See policy FDD(LOCAL).]

·           To request the transfer of your child to another campus or a neighboring district if your child has been the victim of a sexual assault by another student assigned to the same campus, whether that assault occurred on or off campus, and that student has been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for that assault.  [See policies FDD(LEGAL) and (LOCAL).]

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

Parents of Students with Disabilities

Parents of students with learning difficulties or who may need special education services may request an evaluation for special education at any time.  For more information, see Special Programs on page 34 and contact Phyllis Lucas at 903-737-2031.

Options and Requirements for Providing Assistance to Students Who Have Learning Difficulties or Who Need or May Need Special Education

If a child is experiencing learning difficulties, the parent may contact the person listed below to learn about the district’s overall general education referral or screening system for support services.  This system links students to a variety of support options, including referral for a special education evaluation.  Students having difficulty in the regular classroom should be considered for tutorial, compensatory, and other support services that are available to all students. 

At any time, a parent is entitled to request an evaluation for special education services.  Within a reasonable amount of time, the district must decide if the evaluation is needed.  If evaluation is needed, the parent will be notified and asked to provide consent for the evaluation.  The district must complete the evaluation and the report within 60 calendar days of the date the district receives the written consent.  The district must give a copy of the report to the parent.

If the district determines that the evaluation is not needed, the district will provide the parent with a written notice that explains why the child will not be evaluated.  This written notice will include a statement that informs the parent of his or her rights if the parent disagrees with the district.  Additionally, the notice must inform the parent how to obtain a copy of the Notice of Procedural Safeguards—Rights of Parents of Students with Disabilities.

The designated person to contact regarding options for a child experiencing learning difficulties or a referral for evaluation for special education is the principal at 903-737-2041.

If a student is receiving special education services at a campus outside his or her attendance zone,  the parent or guardian may request that any other student residing in the household be transferred to the same campus, if the appropriate grade level for the transferring student is offered on that campus.   [See policy FDB(LOCAL).]

Services for Title I Participants

The Parent Involvement Coordinator, who works with parents of students participating in Title I programs is Nikki Moss and may be contacted at 903-737-2031.

Student Records

Both federal and state law safeguard student records from unauthorized inspection or use and provide parents and eligible students certain rights.  For purposes of student records, an “eligible” student is one who is 18 or older OR who is attending an institution of postsecondary education.

Virtually all information pertaining to student performance, including grades, test results, and disciplinary records, is considered confidential educational records.  Release is restricted to:

·           The parents—whether married, separated, or divorced—unless the school is given a copy of a court order terminating parental rights.  Federal law requires that, as soon as a student becomes 18 or is emancipated by a court, control of the records goes to the student.  The parents may continue to have access to the records, however, if the student is a dependent for tax purposes.

·           District staff members who have what federal law refers to as a “legitimate educational interest” in a student’s records.  “Legitimate educational interest” in a student’s records includes working with the student; considering disciplinary or academic actions, the student’s case, or an individualized education program for a student with disabilities; compiling statistical data; or investigating or evaluating programs.  Such persons would include school officials (such as board members, the superintendent, and principals), school staff members (such as teachers, counselors, and diagnosticians), or an agent of the district (such as a medical consultant).

·           Various governmental agencies.

·           Individuals granted access in response to a subpoena or court order.

·           A school or institution of postsecondary education to which a student seeks or intends to enroll or in which he or she subsequently enrolls.

Release to any other person or agency—such as a prospective employer or for a scholarship application—will occur only with parental or student permission as appropriate.

The principal is custodian of all records for currently enrolled students at the assigned school.  The superintendent is the custodian of all records for students who have withdrawn or graduated.

Records may be inspected by a parent or eligible student during regular school hours.  If circumstances prevent inspection during these hours, the district will either provide a copy of the records requested or make other arrangements for the parent or student to review these records.  The records custodian or designee will respond to reasonable requests for explanation and interpretation of the records.  The address of the superintendent’s office is North Lamar ISD, 3201 Lewis Lane, Paris, Texas 75460.

The address(es) of the principals’ offices are:

Principal

Frank Stone Middle School

3201 Lewis Lane

Paris, Texas 75460

A parent (or eligible student) may inspect the student’s records and request a correction if the records are considered inaccurate or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights.  If the district refuses the request to amend the records, the requestor has the right to request a hearing.  If the records are not amended as a result of the hearing, the requestor has 30 school days to exercise the right to place a statement commenting on the information in the student’s record.  Although improperly recorded grades may be challenged, contesting a student’s grade in a course is handled through the general complaint process found in policy FNG(LOCAL).  [See Report Cards/Progress Reports and Conferences on page 30 and Student or Parent Complaints and Concerns on page 13 for an overview of the process.]

Copies of student records are available at a cost of ten cents per page, payable in advance.  If the student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunches and the parents are unable to view the records during regular school hours, one copy of the record will be provided at no charge upon written request of the parent.

Directory Information

The law permits the district to designate certain personal information about students as “directory information.”  This “directory information” will be released to anyone who follows procedures for requesting it. 

However, release of a student’s directory information may be prevented by the parent or an eligible student.  This objection must be made in writing to the principal within ten school days of your child’s first day of instruction for this school year.  [See the “Notice Regarding Directory Information and Parent’s Response Regarding Release of Student Information”.]

Directory Information for School-Sponsored Purposes

The district often needs to use student information for the following school-sponsored purposes: 

1. Admissions data, personal and family data, including certification

of date of birth.

2. Standardized test data, including intelligence, aptitude, interest,