September, 2011

Dear Northwest Community,

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, each state is required to assess all school districts to determine if each district has made adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward meeting the academic testing standards and additional measures set by the state.  AYP decisions are based on the results of state testing in communication arts and math and the district's attendance rate and graduation rate.  If the district has not made AYP for two consecutive years in any one of the four areas, it is considered "in need of improvement."

Based on the results of this year's academic testing in communication arts and math and the district's attendance rate and graduation rate, the Northwest R-I School District did not make adequate yearly progress.  The information in the chart below compares district scores with the proficiency target and state averages.

2011 data

The district is considered to be in Level 3 of District Improvement, Corrective Action.  We will evaluate and update the plan for improvement that has been developed.  One important component of this plan is parent involvement in the implementation of the plan.  The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will review the district's progress toward meeting the goals and objectives of the plan and may impose additional sanctions.

You can also help by increasing your understanding of the assessment, understanding the importance of good attendance and graduating from school, visiting schools and becoming a volunteer, and engaging in reading and math strategies at home.

Information about No Child Left Behind and what parents can do to improve student achievement can be found at: http://www.ed.gov/parents/landing.jhtml .

Sincerely,

Dr. Paul Ziegler

Superintendent of Schools

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and subsequent amendments in 1990, 1994, 2001 and 2004 provide considerable protection for the educational needs of homeless children and youth in the United States. Subtitle B of Title VIII states that it is the policy of Congress that:

1. Homeless children and youth have equal access to the same free, appropriate public education as provided to other children and youth.

2. Residency requirements, practices or policies that may act as a barrier to enrollment will be revised to ensure that homeless children and youth are afforded the same free, appropriate public education as provided to other children and youth.

3. Homelessness alone should not be sufficient reason to separate students from the mainstream school environment.

4. Homeless children and youth should have access to the education and other services that such children and youth need to ensure that such children and youth have an opportunity to meet the same challenging state student performance standards to which all students are held.

School districts of each homeless child and youth are required to determine the child's best interest by either:

1. Continuing the child's education in the school of origin:

a. For the remainder of the academic year; or

b. In any case in which a family becomes homeless between academic years, for the following academic year; or

2. Enrolling the child in any school that non-homeless students who live in the attendance area in which the child or youth resides are eligible to attend.

For more information, please contact the homeless services coordinator, at 636-677-9980.

Employees and applicants for employment, students and applicants for admission, sources of referrals of applicants for employment and admission, parents of elementary and secondary school students and professional teacher/support staff associations recognized by the District are hereby notified that the Northwest R-I School District does not discriminate in employment in district programs and activities on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, religion, age or handicap/disability.

Any person having an inquiry concerning the district's compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or Title II of Americans with Disability Act of 1990 may contact:

The Assistant Superintendent of Human Resource

Northwest R-I School District

2843 Community Lane, High Ridge, MO, 63049

Telephone: (636) 677-3473 or Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education.

Any person having an inquiry concerning the district's compliance with the above regulations and established grievance procedures concerning student matters should contact:

The Executive Director of Student Services

Northwest R-I School District

5684 Highway PP, High Ridge, MO 63049

Telephone: (636) 677-9980 or Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education.

The Northwest R-I School District will abide by all rules and regulations regarding the sharing and dissemination of student discipline records incompliance with the Safe Schools Act (HB 1301) codified at 167.020(7) RS Mo.

Under the Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), this option is available to all parents whose child attends a Title I school in School Improvement the first year and every year the building is in School Improvement status.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 contains a procedure for parent complaints.  This complaint resolution procedure applies to all programs administered by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

A complaint is a formal allegation that a specific federal or state law or regulation has been violated, misapplied, or misinterpreted by school district personnel or by Department of Elementary and Secondary Education personnel.

Any parent or guardian, surrogate parent, teacher, administrator, school board member, or other person directly involved with an activity, program, or project operated under the general supervision of the Department may file a complaint.  Such a complaint must be in writing and signed; it will provide specific details of the situation and indicate the law or regulation that is allegedly being violated, misapplied, or misinterpreted.

The written, signed complaint must be filed and the resolution pursued in accordance with local district policy 1480, Public Complaints to the Board.  If the issue cannot be resolved at the local level, the complainant may file a complaint with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  If there is not evidence that the parties have attempted in good faith to resolve the complaint at the local, the Department may require the parties to do so and may provide technical assistance to facilitate such resolution.

Any person directly affected by the actions of the Department may file a similarly written complaint if they believe state or federal laws or regulations have been violated, misapplied, or misinterpreted by the Department itself.

Anyone wishing more information about this procedure or how complaints are resolved may contact the Northwest R-I School District Executive Director of Student Services or the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

All responsible public agencies are required to locate, evaluate, and identify children with disabilities who are under the jurisdiction of the agency, regardless of the severity of the disability, including children attending private schools, children who live outside the district but are attending a private school within the district, highly mobile children, such as migrant and homeless children, children who are wards of the state, and children who are suspected of having a disability and in need of special education even though they are advancing from grade to grade. The Northwest R-I School District assures that it will provide a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) to all eligible children with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21 under its jurisdiction. Disabilities include autism, deaf/blindness, emotional disorders, hearing impairment and deafness, intellectual disabilities, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairments, specific learning disabilities, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment/blindness and young child with a developmental delay.

The Northwest R-I School District assures that it will provide information and referral services necessary to assist the State in the implementation of early intervention services for infants and toddlers eligible for the Missouri First Steps program.

The Northwest R-I School District assures that personally identifiable information collected, used, or maintained by the agency for the purposes of identification, evaluation, placement or provision of FAPE of children with disabilities may be inspected and/or reviewed by their parents/guardians. Parents/guardians may request amendment to the educational record if the parent/guardian believes the record is inaccurate, misleading, or violates the privacy or other rights of their child. Parents have the right to file complaints with the U.S. Department of Education or the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education concerning alleged failures by the district to meet the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

The Northwest R-I School District has developed a Local Compliance Plan for the implementation of State Regulations for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This plan contains the agency's policies and procedures regarding storage, disclosure to third parties, retention and destruction of personally identifiable information and the agency's assurances that services are provided in compliance with the General Education Provision Act (GEPA). This plan may be reviewed at the district administrative office, 2843 Community Lane, High Ridge, MO between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday.

This notice will be provided in native languages as appropriate.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires that the Northwest R-I School District, with certain exceptions, obtain your written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your child's education records. However, the Northwest R-I School District may disclose appropriately designated "directory information" without written consent, unless you have advised the District to the contrary in accordance with District procedures. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the Northwest R-I School District to include this type of information from your child's education records in certain school publications. Examples include:

• A playbill, showing your student's role in a drama production;
• The annual yearbook;
• Honor roll or other recognition lists;
• Graduation programs; and
• Sports activity sheets, such as for wrestling, showing weight and height of team members.

Directory information, which is information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released, can also be disclosed to outside organizations without a parent's prior written consent. Outside organizations include, but are not limited to, companies that manufacture class rings or publish yearbooks. In addition, two federal laws require local educational agencies (LEAs) receiving assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to provide military recruiters, upon request, with three directory information categories - names, addresses and telephone listings - unless parents have advised the LEA that they do not want their student's information disclosed without their prior written consent. ⁽¹⁾

If you do not want the Northwest R-I School District to disclose directory information from your child's education records without your prior written consent, you must notify the District in writing by August 15 of each year. The Northwest R-I School District has designated the following information as directory information:

Student's name

• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
• Address
• Telephone listing
• Weight and height of members of athletic teams
• Electronic mail address
• Photograph
• Degrees, honors, and awards received
• Date and place of birth
• Major field of study
• Dates of attendance
• Grade level
• The most recent educational agency or institution attended

Footnotes:

1.These laws are: Section 9528 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7908), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-110), the education bill, and 10 U.S.C. 503, as amended by section 544, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (P.L. 107-107), the legislation that provides funding for the Nation's armed forces.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents and students over 18 years of age ("eligible students") certain rights with respect to the student's education records. These rights are:

1.The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days of the day the School receives a request for access. Parents or eligible students should submit to the Director of Student Services a written request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. The School official will make arrangements for access and notify the parent or eligible student of the time and place where the records may be inspected.

2.The right to request the amendment of the student's education records that the parent or eligible student believes are inaccurate or misleading. Parents or eligible students may ask the School to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. They should write the Director of Student Services, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading. If the School decides not to amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student, the School will notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and advise them of their right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the parent or eligible student when notified of the right to a hearing.

3.The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. One exception, which permits disclosure without consent, is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the School as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel); a person serving on the School Board; a person or company with whom the School has contracted to perform a special task (such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist); or a parent or student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility. Upon request, the School may disclose education records without consent to officials of another school district in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.  The school district will make a reasonable attempt to notify the parent or eligible student of such a records request.

4.The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the School to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA are:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-8520

Our district is required to inform you of certain information that you, according to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110) have the right to know.

Upon request, our district is required to provide you in a timely manner the following information:

• Whether your child's teacher has met state qualification and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction.
• Whether your child's teacher is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which state qualification or licensing criteria have been waived.
• Whether your child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.
• What baccalaureate degree major the teacher has and any other graduate certification or degree held by the teacher, and the field of discipline of the certification.

Such requests must be made in writing to the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Northwest R-I School District, 2843 Community Lane, High Ridge, MO  63049 or (636) 677-3473.

 In addition to the information that parents may request, districts must provide to each individual parent -

• Information on the achievement level of the parent's child in each of the state academic assessments as required under this part; and
• Timely notice that the parent's child has been assigned, or has been taught for four or more consecutive weeks by, a teacher who is not highly qualified.

If you have any questions about the above information, please contact the Director of State and Federal Programs, Northwest R-I School District, (636) 677-3473.

Model Notification of Rights Under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA)

PPRA affords parents certain rights regarding our conduct of surveys, collection and use of information for marketing purposes, and certain physical exams.  These include the right to:

· Consent before students are required to submit to a survey that concerns one or more of the following protected areas ("protected information survey") if the survey is funded in whole or in part by a program of the U.S. Department of Education (ED)-

1.  Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or student's parent;

2.  Mental or psychological problems of the student or student's family;

3.  Sex behavior or attitudes;

4.  Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior;

5.  Critical appraisals of others with whom respondents have close family relationships;

6.  Legally recognized privileged relationships, such as with lawyers, doctors, or ministers;

7.  Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or parents; or

8.  Income, other than as required by law to determine program eligibility.

  · Receive notice and an opportunity to opt a student out of -

1.  Any other protected information survey, regardless of funding;

2.  Any non-emergency, invasive physical exam or screening required as a condition of attendance, administered by the school or its agent, and not necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of a student, except for hearing, vision, or scoliosis screenings, or any physical exam or screening permitted or required under State law; and

3.  Activities involving collection, disclosure, or use of personal information obtained from students for marketing or to sell or otherwise distribute the information to others.

· Inspect , upon request and before administration or use -

1. Protected information surveys of students;

2. Instruments used to collect personal information from students for any of the above marketing, sales, or other distribution purposes; and

3. Instructional material used as part of the educational curriculum.

These rights transfer from the parents to a student who is 18 years old or an emancipated minor under State law.

Northwest R-I School District has developed and adopted policies, in consultation with parents, regarding these rights, as well as arrangements to protect student privacy in the administration of protected information surveys and the collection, disclosure, or use of personal information for marketing, sales, or other distribution purposes.  Northwest R-I School District will directly notify parents of these policies at least annually at the start of each school year and after any substantive changes.  Northwest R-I School District   will also directly notify, such as through U.S. Mail or email, parents of students who are scheduled to participate in the specific activities or surveys noted below and will provide an opportunity for the parent to opt his or her child out of participation of the specific activity or survey.  Northwest R-I School District will make this notification to parents at the beginning of the school year if the District has identified the specific or approximate dates of the activities or surveys at that time.  For surveys and activities scheduled after the school year starts, parents will be provided reasonable notification of the planned activities and surveys listed below and be provided an opportunity to opt their child out of such activities and surveys.  Parents will also be provided an opportunity to review any pertinent surveys.  Following is a list of the specific activities and surveys covered under this requirement:

· Collection, disclosure, or use of personal information for marketing, sales, or other distribution.

· Administration of any protected information survey not funded in whole or in part by ED.

· Any non-emergency, invasive physical examination or screening as described above.

Parents who believe their rights have been violated may file a complaint with :   

  Family Policy Compliance Office

  U.S. Department of Education

  400 Maryland Avenue, SW

  Washington, D.C.  20202-8520

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and assures that students with disabilities have educational opportunities and benefits equal to those provided to students without disabilities.  A student eligible under Section 504 is a student who (a) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity such as learning, self-care, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, working, and performing manual tasks, (b) has a record of having such an impairment, or (c) is regarded as having such an impairment.  The following is a description of the rights granted by federal law under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The intent of this notice is to fully inform parents concerning decisions about their children with disabilities and to inform them of their rights if they disagree with any of these decisions.

Each parent and/or student with a disability has the following rights:

1. The student has a right to take part in, and receive benefits from, public education programs without discrimination because of his/her disability.
2. The student and parent have the right to be advised by the school district of their rights under federal law.
3. The parent has the right to receive notice with respect to identification, evaluation, or placement of the student.
4. The student has the right to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE).
5. The student has the right to receive services and be educated in facilities that are comparable to those provided to non-disabled students.
6. The student has the right to evaluation, education, and placement decisions based on a variety of information sources, and by persons who know the student and who are knowledgeable about the evaluation data and placement options.
7. The student has the right to transportation provided to and from an alternative placement setting if determined necessary to provide FAPE (if the setting is a program not operated by the district) at no greater cost to the parent than would be incurred if the student were placed in a program operated by the district.
8. The student has the right to an equal opportunity to participate in nonacademic and extracurricular activities offered by the district.
9. The parent has the right to examine all relevant records relating to decisions regarding the child's identification, evaluation, and placement.
10. The parent has the right to request mediation or an impartial due process hearing related to decisions or actions regarding the child's identification, evaluation, educational program, or placement.  The parent and the student may take part in the hearing and be represented by counsel.  Hearing requests must be made to the district superintendent.
11. The parent has the right to file a local grievance.

The person in the Northwest R-I School District responsible for assuring that the district complies with Section 504 is the Director of Student Services, who may be reached at (636) 677-3473 or by writing to: Director of Student Services, Northwest R-I School District, 2843 Community Lane, High Ridge, MO 63049.