Project Sunshine is the Rochester Fund’s outreach program, founded on the belief that meaningful community engagement is essential to any successful school reform effort. Project Sunshine aims to give Rochester parents and taxpayers the knowledge and skills necessary to hold their schools accountable and constructively participate in the process of changing their schools. The project will help develop the public’s capacity to both access the public record of the Rochester City School District and contribute to it.

Mentoring

Using a ‘train-the-trainer’ approach, community mentors will provide technical assistance to parent and community members seeking information from the Rochester City School District.

Community Workshops

YOUR CHILD'S ACADEMIC RECORD: Parents and guardians will learn to use the Family Eduational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to monitor their children's academic progress and appeal any errors or ommissions that might adversely affect a student's academic future.

FOIA 101: Participants will learn how to write a Freedom of Information Act request and appeal and learn about key records required under the No Child Left Behind Act and New York State’s accountability system.

THE PARENT VOICE—Persuasive writing & speaking Participants will learn how to contribute to the public debate on school reform though effective letter writing and speaking at open meetings.

THE PARENT VOICE— Introduction to local, state and federal complaint procedures: Agency officials and parent advocates will discuss ‘plausible deniability’ in our schools and the important role of administrative and legal remedies to effect systemic change. Participants will learn about different federal and state agency complaint procedures

Community Publications

The Rochester Parent’s Guide to the Freedom of Information and Open Meeting Laws, Open Meeting Checklist, Index of Key Public School District Records and Reports will be developed by a team of local and national experts and communications specialists. Copies of these publications and other critical documents will be made available on the Rochester Fund web site.

District Watch: Sunshine Laws Compliance Monitoring

The Rochester Fund will track and report on district records access and public meeting practices.

Coalition for Sunshine in our Schools

The Coaltion for Sunshine in our Schools is a network of organizations and individuals working at the national, state and local levels interested in advancing the public's right to know and reducing secrecy in our public school systems.