Parent Communications about Choice

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 Parents SHOULD be notified that their child is eligible for school choice well before the beginning of the school year. But in many school districts, parents are not receiving notification until well after the school year, or not at all. This may be due to states not notifying local school districts about state assessment results until the fall when children are already in school. It's also possible that school districts may not be informed or understand the requirements of the law, or school districts may ignore the requirements of NCLB.
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 Although the school district can set the timelines for parents to make their decisions to choose another school, the district should allow enough time for parents to make an informed decision about selecting a school. Districts could establish various times during the year for transfer such as the beginning of the school year, the end of the first semester, or the spring of the previous school year.
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 If there are no schools to which the child may transfer, parents must still be notified that their child’s school is identified for improvement. In that case, the district is allowed to provide supplementary educational service for those students.
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 Communications with parents must be in a comprehensive, easy-to-understand format, and to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.
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 At a minimum, the parental communication must include:
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 Notice that their child is eligible to attend another public school due to identification of the current school as in need of improvement;
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 Information that identifies each public school, which may include charter schools, that the parent can select;
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 Information on the academic achievement of the schools that the parents may select;
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 Information and explanation of why the choice of parents may be limited due to transportation, availability of non low performing schools, or health and safety concerns. However, every student in a Title I low performing school must have the opportunity to chose another school;
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 Districts must take into consideration parent preferences when choosing another school; and
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 If all of the public schools within a school district are all identified as needing improvement, corrective action or restructuring, the school district must to the extent practicable, reach a cooperative agreement.