Parent and Family Engagement Policy
On December 10, 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. Developed and passed with strong, bipartisan agreement, ESSA replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB) as the nation’s main education law.
Under ESSA, school districts are required to plan and implement a District-level parental engagement policy with meaningful consultation of parents of District students. The District's Parent and Family Engagement Policy was originally adopted in 1989 and last revised in July 2023.
The policy establishes the role of the School District of Pittsburgh in engaging parents and families and clarifies the relationship between the school's role in parent and family participation and the role of the parent and family. Recent revisions include suggested means of parent and family outreach, removal of outdated policy language, and modifications to ensure consistency with current District practices.
The current policy is available here.