The Guiding Principles for Addressing Issues of Transitioning Military Students

The intent of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is to invite school systems that serve military-connected children to join together in committing to The Guiding Principles, as articulated in the MOA, hereafter referred to as the Agreement. A team of practicing school superintendents, school board members, and commanders developed the Agreement. The Guiding Principles are designed to encourage and support schools as they work together to increase the likelihood of predictability for mobile students and, as such, are:

• a unified understanding among many systems and; therefore, are not subject to local changes, additions, or modifications.
• an interconnected, total construct that asks participants to commit to The Guiding Principles as a unified whole.
• the nexus of local action and solutions.

Suggested Steps to Becoming a Signatory in the Agreement

• Study and discussion of the Agreement by the superintendent with the installation commander.
• Collaboration between the individual school systems and the installation in order to analyze how the Agreement “would look” in local implementation.
• Understanding and commitment by the local governing board (school board).
• Adoption by the local governing board and signature by the superintendent.
• Communication of The Guiding Principles to local school constituencies.
• Development of a plan for local action.
• Commitment to link with other signatories regarding specific areas open to reciprocity.

The Guiding Principles: Scope of the Memorandum of Agreement

• For and about the best interests of children. - A formalized covenant focused primarily on transition challenges for mobile students. - An Agreement among school systems that is supported by the installations that the schools serve. - Grounded in comprehensive research.
• Based-upon common understandings and targeted areas of professional and academic reciprocity among school systems that serve military-connected students.
• Respectful of local school autonomy and supportive of local action planning.
• The Guiding Principles are not perfunctory, rather signatories agree to actions worked in concert.
• The Guiding Principles are not exclusive to public schools that serve Army installations; rather any school system that serves military-connected students is invited to join the agreement.
• The Guiding Principles are not to be adopted in part, rather they are to be considered in totality, in concept and process, as a far-reaching and formal commitment.

The Three Rs for Joining the Agreement
There are three prerequisites to consider before joining the Agreement: relationships, roles, and responsibilities. These are the cornerstones for building initial community receptiveness and, upon adoption, sustaining the commitment to the Guiding Principles.

Relationships
There are two core relationships necessary to the function of the Agreement. First, a strong working relationship between the installation commander and the supporting school’s superintendent and governing body (school board) is essential. Secondly, there must be a willingness to be a part of a worldwide community of schools, represented by the other signatory school systems.

Roles & Responsibilities
The Superintendent — The superintendent of schools is “in charge” of the decision to initially consider the Agreement. During the study phase through adoption and implementation, the superintendent is responsible for building understanding by working collaboratively with appropriate system administrators and principals. Once the Agreement is adopted by the governing board (school board) and signed by the superintendent, the processes necessary to take action should become components of professional development in a way that permeates and affects daily practice. Additionally, the superintendent should work with the installation commander in localizing solutions to challenges faced by military-connected students.

School System Governing Boards — The board begins by working with the superintendent to carefully study the Agreement. The board considers the Agreement for adoption and upon formal acceptance they authorize the superintendent to become a signatory.

The Commander — The installation commander’s primary role is to take a personal interest that, in turn, will foster and sustain strong partnerships with the supporting schools. This can be done by providing opportunities for the school leadership to become informed about military life and the importance of helping teens in transition. The commander provides input to local action plans that meaningfully addresses transition issues specific to military-connected students and helps determine progress checks for the schools as well as the installation.

Process Note: If the school system concurs with The Guiding Principles, outlined in the Memorandum of Agreement, the Agreement should be placed as an “action item” at the next available governing board (school board) meeting. Upon approval, the superintendent should sign the Agreement and send a facsimile copy to the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) at (254) 953-1925.

Upon receipt, MCEC will add the superintendent’s signature to the original MOA document, send the update to the Agreement stakeholders, and distribute the updated document to all signatory superintendents. For additional information contact MCEC at: (254) 953-1923 or send an electronic mail to: mary.keller@militarychild.org.