(1) Each school accountability committee has the following powers and duties:

(a) To recommend to the principal of its school priorities for spending school moneys. The principal shall consider the school accountability committee's recommendations regarding spending state, federal, local, or private grants and any other discretionary moneys and take them into account in formulating budget requests for presentation to the local school board, if the school is a district public school, other than a charter school, or in creating the school budget if the school is a district or institute charter school. The school accountability committee for a district public school shall send a copy of its recommended spending priorities to the school district accountability committee and to the local school board.

(b) To advise the principal of the public school and, in the case of a district public school, the superintendent of the school district concerning the preparation of a school performance or improvement plan, if either is required pursuant to section 22-11-210, and to submit recommendations to the principal, and superintendent if applicable, concerning the contents of the performance or improvement plan;

(c) To advise the local school board or the institute concerning the preparation of a school priority improvement or turnaround plan, if either is required pursuant to section 22-11-210, and to submit recommendations to the local school board or the institute concerning the contents of the priority improvement or turnaround plan;

(d) To meet at least quarterly to discuss whether school leadership, personnel, and infrastructure are advancing or impeding implementation of the public school's performance, improvement, priority improvement, or turnaround plan, whichever is applicable, or other progress pertinent to the public school's accreditation contract with the local school board or the institute;

(e) To provide input and recommendations on an advisory basis to district accountability committees and district administration concerning:

(I) Principal development plans for their principal pursuant to section 22-9-106; and

(II) Principal evaluations conducted pursuant to section 22-9-106.

(f) To publicize and hold a public school accountability committee meeting pursuant to section 22-32-142 (2) or 22-30.5-520 (2) to discuss strategies to include in a public school priority improvement or turnaround plan;

(g) To publicize a public hearing held pursuant to section 22-32-142 (2), or, if the school is an institute charter school, to publicize and hold a public hearing pursuant to section 22-30.5-520 (2), to review a written public school priority improvement or turnaround plan. A member of the school accountability committee is encouraged to attend the public hearing.

(h) To increase the level of parent engagement in the school, especially the engagement of parents of students in the populations described in section 22-11-401 (1)(d). The committee's activities to increase parent engagement must include, but need not be limited to:

(I) Publicizing opportunities to serve and soliciting parents to serve on the school accountability committee. In soliciting parents to serve on the school accountability committee, the school accountability committee shall direct the outreach efforts to help ensure that the parents who serve on the school accountability committee reflect the student populations that are significantly represented within the school, as provided in section 22-11-401 (1)(d).

(II) Assisting the school district in implementing at the school the parent engagement policy adopted by the local school board pursuant to section 22-32-142; and

(III) Assisting school personnel to increase parents' engagement with teachers, including but not limited to parents' engagement in creating students' READ plans pursuant to part 12 of article 7 of this title, in creating individual career and academic plans pursuant to section 22-32-109 (1)(oo) or 22-30.5-525, and in creating plans to address habitual truancy pursuant to section 22-33-107 (3).

(2) Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (1) of this section to the contrary, the school accountability committee for a public school is not required to implement the requirements specified in paragraph (h) of subsection (1) of this section if the department determines that the public school's school district is rural, based on the geographic size of the school district and the distance of the school district from the nearest large, urbanized area, and the school district enrolls fewer than one thousand students in kindergarten through twelfth grade.