Collaborative School Committee (CSC)

  • What is a Collaborative School Committee?

    The Collaborative School Committee (CSC) brings together families, staff and community members to create and implement a plan to promote high achievement within a school. This committee meets on a regular basis throughout the school year and is an opportunity for key stakeholders to have a voice in their school. 

    We recommend that the CSC serves as the primary family involvement structure for schools, and that the other structures (such as Title I Family Engagement and ELA Parent Advisory Committees) function as subcommittees. 

    Colorado law requires all schools to have a CSC to increase the amount of accountability and family involvement in our schools. (To learn more about the law and guiding DPS Board of Education policies, see the "Relevant laws and policies" section below.)

    The CSC is one of five school committes. See the School Committee Matrix for more information about the scope of work of each of these committees.

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    ***NEW REQUIRED TRAINING FOR PRINCIPAL AND ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS***

    This course will prepare you for the upcoming CSC sessions during Leadership Week and to run successful CSCs in your community! 

    This 20 min training can be accessed in Learning Space.

    Please search "Intro to CSCs" to find the course. Completing this course before your CSC sessions during Leadership Week is ideal, however, please complete this course by September 1st.

    The training is also available to the community in all consent decree languages on the DPS website. Pleae share with your communities!

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    What are the CSC's responsibilities?

    Every school is required by state statute to have a School Accountability Committee (SAC), which are known as CSCs in Denver. The CSC is an advisory committee and responsible for:  

    • Providing guidance, evaluation, and recommendations to the Principal and/or the Instructional Superintendent about:
      • Spending priorities
      • Preparing a school's Unified Improvement Plan (and school priority improvement and turnaround plan, if required)
      • Discussing whether school leadership, personnel, and infrastructure are advancing implementation of the public school's improvement plan (or priority improvement or turnaround plan, whichever is applicable); discussing any other progress pertinent to the public school's accreditation contract with the Board
      • Principal development plans and evaluations
      • Providing input for principal evaluations as it relates to the CSC
      • Increasing family engagement, especially ensuring that parents represent the diversity of the student body (including race, free/reduced lunch, limited English proficiency, and disability--as described by Colorado law (.pdf)). The committee's activities to increase parent engagement must include, but need not be limited to:
        • Publicizing opportunities for parents to serve on the CSC, ensuring the diversity of parents on the CSC reflects the diversity of the school's population. 
        • Helping the school implement the DPS family engagement policy (such as that outlined by the Family Empowerment Team)
        • Helping school personnel increase parents' engagement with teachers, including (not not limited to) parents' engagement in creating students' READ Plans, Individual Career and Academic Plans (ICAP), and habitual truancy prevention plans.

    The CSC does NOT:

    • Participate in the day-to-day operations of the school;
    • Involve itself in issues relating to individuals (staff, students, or parents) within the school
    • Involve itself in personnel issues (the School Personnel Committee will stand alone according to the current DPS/DCTA contract)
    • Advocate for their own perspective, rather than for the greater good of the school

    What is the difference between CSCs and PTAs?

    As explained above, CSCs are required by state law and have specified responsibilities and structures. While parent-teacher organizations can look and feel similar to a CSC — in that they are comprised of parents and teachers, and facilitate family-school partnership — they serve different functions. The National Parent-Teacher Association is an advocacy organization focused on engaging and empowering families in schools. Parent-teacher organizations can work with the National PTA to formalize governance structures and receive membership benefits. For more information about PTAs, contact Cindy Daisley of the Colorado PTA at cindydaisley@copta.org. 
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