School Pact Comes On Too Strong Some Parents Refuse To Sign Document Sent Home With Kids

(From For the Record, May 11, 1997:) Name incorrect: Ron Booth was quoted in an article about the Home School Compact that appeared in Saturday’s newspaper. His last name was incorrect in that story.

When Ron Smith’s kindergartner brought home a “Home-School Compact” for him to sign, he balked.

It looked like a contract. It looked like a government intrusion into his household, telling him how to raise his daughter by insisting on things he would have done anyway, such as make sure she gets enough sleep.

He refused to sign.

Ironically, the school officials who sent the compact home agree that it’s a bad, Big-Brotherish idea.

But the federal government is making them send it.

“This compact sticks in our craw,” said John House, principal of Bryan Elementary, which Smith’s daughter attends. “You spend 24 hours a day trying to cement the relationship between neighborhood schools and parents, and then you have to send out something like this that says maybe somebody’s questioning your judgment. That’s alienating people.”

Not everyone objects. Some parents are enthusiastic about an agreement aimed at academic success and signed by themselves, their child, the teacher and the principal.

Ninety-six percent of Bryan Elementary parents signed the form.

School district officials knew beforehand that some of them, particularly those sensitive to government heavy-handedness, would not like the compacts.

Congress sure did.

In fact, its members insisted on the written agreements when they passed the Improving America’s School Act of 1994.

The compacts didn’t go out until this year, said district Title I coordinator Lynn Dennis, because the state didn’t send guidelines to the school districts until last fall.

The compacts are part of the federal Title I program. It was begun in 1965 to help schools in poor neighborhoods improve children’s reading and math skills.

There’s a definite link between income levels and school achievement, said Dennis. But once a school qualifies, any child who needs Title I help can get it.

If qualifying schools don’t send out the compacts, the school district will lose $765,000 a year in federal aid. State investigators will be in Coeur d’Alene this month to review the district’s Title I program.

They’ll be checking to make sure the compacts were sent, Dennis said.

Title I schools are those with a high percentage of children whose family incomes are low enough to qualify them for free or reduced-price lunches.

At Bryan, that amounts to 68 percent of the students. The high number means Bryan can have a “whole school” Title I program. So the Home-School Compact was sent to all Bryan parents regardless of income.

Other schools have sent, or will send, the compacts only to the families that qualify for the subsidized lunches. Those are Fernan, Borah, Hayden Lake, Ramsey, Sorenson and Winton.

Sorensen has put off sending the paperwork to parents.

“I need clarification,” said Principal Bob Shamberg, who is uncomfortable with the compact.

“The purpose is good. It says, ‘Let’s work together, you do your part and we’ll do ours.’ “But when you send a piece of paper home, it comes across as legalist and Big Brotherish.”

Both Shamberg and House are enthusiastic about Title I, which provides tutoring and special programs for children and parents.

“I don’t know what we’d do without it,” said Shamberg.

Dennis said the goal of parent cooperation could be achieved without the compacts. House agreed.

He and Bryan’s Title 1 teacher both heard from other parents who were put off by the compacts.

“I had one phone call from another dad who said ‘John, I do all this stuff. It’s offensive to me that a government agency would require that I sign this in order to validate that I’m a good parent.”’ Smith was especially incensed because his daughter was refused ice cream, a treat that all the other children in her class got for returning the signed forms.

House said that was an unfortunate mistake. The ice cream was simply meant as an incentive for children to get the compact home to their parents, who were free to sign or not sign.

“It was a communications error,” he said. “We deserve a public flogging over that one.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: The compact The “Home-School Compact” sent home with some Coeur d’Alene elementary school children asks for the signatures of the parents, student, teacher and principal. Here’s what the parties agree to do. Parents/caregivers: Go over my child’s assignments and read all school communications. Establish with my child a place and time to study. Make sure my child gets enough sleep each night. Establish a daily reading time. Attend open house and conferences. Try to attend the school family nights when possible. Student: Come to class on time and be prepared to work. Be responsible for my own behavior. Give corrected work and school communications to my parent/ caregiver. Pay attention and ask for help when needed. Complete classwork on time and to the best of my ability. Classroom teacher: Regularly communicate with parents on child’s progress. Teach necessary concepts to students and encourage practice of academics at home. Be aware of needs of each child. Principal: Provide an environment that allows for positive communication between the teacher, parent and student. Encourage teachers to regularly provide opportunities for practice of academics at home.