Dear editor,

October is Parent Involvement Month. Schools have invited parents to a variety of activities. Students whose parents are actively involved in their education tend to perform well academically and have fewer behavioral problems in school.

There is a growing trend in America today where some states’ lawmaking-bodies and the District of Columbia require a worker’s leave of absence to participate in their children’s educational activities.  The legislation is commonly referred to as the Family-School Partnership Act.

The Family-School Partnership Act first took effect in the state of California in 1995.

This act allows parents, grandparents, and guardians to take off from work to attend school conferences and to participate in their children’s school or child care activities.

The law allows a person to use existing vacation time, personal leave, or compensatory time off to account for time he or she uses for participating in his or her child’s school or child’s care activities.

A worker may also use time off without pay if permitted by his or her employer.  The employee, not the employer, chooses from the options that are available. California offers the most time, 40 hours a year and no more than eight hours per month, if you work for a business that has 25 or more employees at the same location. Each state should require a worker’s school visitation leave. It ultimately benefits children.

Gerald Shirley
Selma