Last modified: December 1, 2023

7060 P2 Classroom Visits

Download 7060 P2 Classroom Visits

The Board of Education values the partnership of our stakeholders and welcomes their interest in our academic process. To facilitate that partnership, every effort will be made to accommodate requests from stakeholders to visit our facilities. To ensure appropriate access and minimize disruption to the learning environment, the Board of Education developed the following procedure regarding visits to schools and classrooms.

General Information

School and classroom visits must be unobtrusive to the educational process and learning environment and should not occur on an excessive basis. All requests for visits will be coordinated through the building principal, his/her designee or teacher at least one day in advance. A request made through the teacher or designee must be communicated by the teacher or designee to the building principal as soon as possible.

In general, visits should not exceed the duration of 40 minutes or one class period. Any exceptions to this time guideline must be approved by the principal or designee.

Additional information about school and classroom visits, including the number of people who can participate in a visit, the process for viewing instructional materials and the protection of the privacy of students, may be obtained from the school’s administration.

Visits by Parents/Guardians of Current Students

Parents/guardians of current students visit the schools for various reasons, including:

Participating in school/classroom activities
Volunteering in their child’s school
Observing their child in one or more of his/her classrooms
Observing an educational placement or program that has or may be proposed for their child

Arrangements for school/classroom visits must be made at least one day in advance. If a special circumstance arises that prevents parents/guardians from giving a day’s notice, they must contact the principal, his/her designee or teacher as soon as possible to make arrangements. A request made through the teacher or designee must be communicated by the teacher or designee to the building principal as soon as possible.

Visits by Individuals Other Than Parents/Guardians of Current Students

In addition to parents/guardians, there are a number of other individuals who visit our schools on a regular basis. These individuals include, but are not limited to:

Parents/guardians of prospective students
Community volunteers
Qualified professionals
Members of the media
Student visitors •
Invited guests participating in a specific school/classroom activity

With the exception of members of the media, arrangements for visits by these individuals should be made with the principal or designee as far in advance as possible, but no later than one day in advance.

Parents/guardians of prospective students will be accompanied at all times by the principal or designee during their visit.

Members of the media will make arrangements for visits through the district’s communications coordinator or designee as far in advance as possible. These individuals will be accompanied at all times by the communications coordinator or designee during their visit (see Policy 7070).

To ensure appropriate access and minimize disruption to the learning environment, the superintendent has developed the following procedures regarding visits to schools and classroom.

School/Classroom Visit Protocols

School/classroom visits must be unobtrusive to the educational process and learning environment, and should not occur on an excessive basis.
All visits must be coordinated through the building principal, his/her designee or teacher. Individuals who are interested in visiting a school or classroom will provide the principal, his/her designee or teacher with detailed information about their visit (date, time, purpose, etc.) when submitting their request for access to the building. A request made through the teacher or designee must be communicated by the teacher or designee to the building principal as soon as possible.
Front office staff should all be notified about these visits as soon as they are scheduled so they know the dates and times to expect these individuals.
All visitors must enter through the main school entrance and register in the front office to obtain a visitor’s badge. This visitor’s badge must be worn at all times in the building. Anyone not wearing a visitor’s badge will be directed to the school office. Anyone who does not register with the front office is on school property without authorization and will be asked to identify himself/herself and obtain permission to remain on the premises or leave school grounds immediately. If the visitor refuses to obtain permission to stay on the premises and won’t leave the school grounds, the principal or designee will contact the police.
Any individual who shows up at a school for a visit without making prior arrangements must speak with the principal or designee about the purpose of his/her visit and either get permission to remain on school grounds or determine a more appropriate time to come back and conduct the visit.
In general, visits should not exceed the duration of 40 minutes or one class period. Any exceptions to this time guideline must be arranged with the principal or designee.
When school/classroom visits are being scheduled, the number of participants should be taken into consideration in order to avoid disruptions to the learning environment.
Visitors will not be allowed to visits classrooms during testing.
Visitors are expected to respect the instructional environment and the learning process. If questions arise during a visit while instruction is in progress, visitors should contact the principal or designee after the visit so they can be answered during non-instructional time.
Visitors may view the instructional materials being used by students and/or teachers if copies of these materials are readily available during their visit. Otherwise, arrangements can be made to view the instructional materials at another time.
Any visitors interested in using audio or video equipment to record school or classroom activities must get approval from the principal or designee. If approval is granted, visitors must use this equipment in accordance with the law, and work with the principal, his/her designee or teacher to protect the privacy of other students (see Policy 3210).
Visitors must agree that they will not disclose any information about student work groupings, behavior, or classroom contributions that would result in the identification of individual students (see Policy 3210).
If a situation requires a student to be called to the front office of the school to meet with a visitor who is not a parent/guardian, the principal or designee must be present during the visit except when required to be excluded by an authorized investigation conducted by law enforcement or child protective services. A student will not be permitted to leave the school with anyone who is not identified as his/her parent/guardian or an appropriately authorized person. No one may visit a student in school unless it is with the specific approval of the principal or designee.

Approved by Board of Education:

Revised:

References

Board Policy 3210 Compliance with FERPA

Board Policy 7070 Media Access to Students Board

Policy 7129 Parent Participation and Home-School Communication

Board Policy 7205 Safe and Orderly Learning Environment

Policy and Procedure

Policy No. 7060 Visitors on District and School Property

7060 P1 Visitors on District and School Property