School Governance for Parents
Training series for parents involved in their School Site Councils and English Learner Advisory Committees (ELAC)
At Parent for Public Schools, we believe that the most effective School Site Councils function when all the members and stakeholders share a vision and understand their roles. Parents for Public Schools developed this training in order to engage parents as partners in improving academic achievement at their schools.
PPS-SF School Governance for Parents, originally developed in partnership with SFUSD, is an eight module program designed to facilitate a decision-based partnership between parents and educators in a school community. The eight modules (available in English, Spanish and Chinese) focus on the different aspects of the academic planning process and provide detail about the scope of involvement for School Site Council members.
1. School Site Council Fundamentals
2. Reviewing your School's Academic Performance
3. ELAC Made Easy
4. Elections, Meetings and Bylaws
5. Monitoring the Academic Plan
6. Ensuring your budget is aligned with school priorities
7. School Surveys and Community Meetings
8. Developing the Balanced Scorecard
Through this comprehensive training, participants will:
- build leadership skills and be more engaged in the school governance structure
- gain knowledge of the role and responsibilities of the School Site Council
- understand the language and terms used in the Balance Score Card
- know how to read the school budget
- gain knowledge of the district goals and how to read student data to inform decisions
- maximize input from advisory committees such as ELAC
Module 1: School Site Council Fundamentals
Module 2: Reviewing your School’s Academic Performance
Training presentation | English, Spanish, Chinese (pdf)
Sample: Ortega School Accountability Report Card (SARC) highlights (pdf)
Sample: STAR student report card (pdf)
Module 3: Advisory Committees (ELAC & SAC)
Module 4: Elections, Meetings and Bylaws
Module 5: Monitoring the Balance Score Card
Module 6: Ensuring your Budget is Aligned with School Priorities
Training presentation | English, Spanish, Chinese (pdf)
Detailed instructions for reading the budget allocations | English, Spanish, Chinese (pdf)
Sample: Fairmount SSC Budget: English (xls)
Sample: Miraloma - presentation of the budget to the school community English (ppt)
Module 7: School Surveys and Community Meetings
Training presentation | English, Spanish, Chinese (pdf)
Sample: Lowell HS Parent Survey | English (doc), Spanish (doc), Chinese (pdf)
Sample: Lowell HS Parent Survey Instructions | Spanish (doc)
Sample: Lowell HS Student Survey | English (pdf)
Sample: Miraloma ES Parent Survey, 2007-08 | English (doc)
Sample: Miraloma ES Parent Survey, 2006-07 | English (doc), Spanish (doc), Chinese (doc)
Sample: Miraloma ES Student Survey 2006-07 | English (pdf)
Sample: Argonne Meeting Agenda | English (doc)
Sample: Argonne Parent Survey 2007-08 | English (pdf)
Sample: Lilienthal Annual School Survey | English (pdf)
Sample: Visitacion Valley ES Parent Survey | English (pdf)
Sample: Peabody ES Survey 2008 | English (pdf)
Module 8: Developing the Balance Score Card
Additional Materials
FAQs for SSCs English (doc)