Trustees received bad news when it came to the evaluation of the Family and Community Engagement Department in Garland ISD.

Will Hardaway from Gibson Consulting presented the findings during the Tuesday, Oct. 25, regular meeting and presented several recommendations for the district to improve the department.

One of the problems Hardaway found was that the department lacks definitions for approaching family and community engagement in three communities that are different in their size, socioeconomic status and race and ethnicity makeup.

“Both the longitudinal changes and differences between the cities underscore the importance of having strong systems and processes to effectively engage parents and community members,” Hardaway said.

The department also lacks controls to monitor compliance with actions stipulated by Title 1, Part A, which covers family engagement through communicating policy changes, events and training.

“Because the vast majority of GISD campuses participate in Title 1, Part A, this document in effect defines GISD’s expectations for how campuses interact with their families,” Hardaway said. “At GISD, the federal programs department monitors Title 1, Part A compliance using a checklist. Campuses virtually upload documents to show they have completed required actions.”

According to the audit, only four of GISD’s 20 campuses submitted all required documentation for Title 1, Part A compliance, said Hardaway, as of March 26. The recommendation to fix these issues is implementing a regular annual audit to ensure compliance, he added.

Additionally, the district has struggled to integrate the department because objectives are not clearly defined.

“Research shows that a key component of promoting systemic family engagement in a district is ensuring that it is integrated into the district’s goals and not treated as an add-on,” Hardaway said. “However, the strategic plan and improvement plan inadequately prioritize the engagement plan which led to a siloing of the FACE Department’s efforts.”

For the full story, see the Nov. 3 issue of The Sachse News.