GUIDELINES ON THE

SCHOOL-TO-SCHOOL
PARTNERSHIPS
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016
In line with DepEd Order 83, s. 2012 re:
Implementing Guidelines on the Revised
School-Based Management (SBM)
Framework, Assessment Process and Tool
(APAT), the Department of Education (DepEd)
continues to build networks of educational
leaders in schools and communities that will
guide the educational system achieve its
shared vision, mission, and goals.
To provide a mechanism and guidance for this
kind of cooperation between and among schools
and to promote the culture of sharing, the DepEd
issues the enclosed Guidelines on the School-to-
School Partnerships for Fiscal Year 2016.
The Department of Education (DepEd) believes
that high-performing schools can be instruments
for reform. Through school-to-school
partnerships, high-performing schools can share
their practices and help other schools improve
their school performance using Learning Action
Cells (LAC), the Continuous Improvement (CI)
Program, and School-Based Management (SBM).
 CRITERIA PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
Efficiency of Liquidation 90% of funds for school-to-school
partnerships are fully liquidated by
December 31, 2016.

Quality of 80% of randomly monitored school-

School-to-School to-school partnerships attain any of
Partnerships the short-term outcomes at the end
of the school year.

KPI FOR MONITORING AND EVALUATION

 Definition of Terms
Continuous Improvement (CI) projects-projects
that revolve around the continuous improvement
of an identified school process and service
delivery related to access, quality, or governance,
with the end view of improving learning
outcomes.
Implementing Units (IUs) – secondary schools
that maintain separate books of accounts.

Leader Schools – high-performing schools

categorized as Level 5, 6, 7, or 8 in the
Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) performance
categories.
Learning Action Cells (LAC) – a group of people who
organized themselves to learn together and carry out
staff development through self-learning; local-based
staff development system institutionalized by DepEd,
primarily to enable teachers to help each other
improve their professional competencies during the
course of their day-to-day work…
Sessions can be held at the School, District, or
Division level with focus on improving teachers’
instructional management skills and providing
immediate on-the-job applications of these skills.
Non-Implementing Units (Non-IUs) – public
elementary and secondary schools, without separate
books of accounts, which are under the direct
supervision of the Schools Division Office (SDO).

Partner Schools- schools that will be assisted by Leader

Schools in reaching their potential in school
performance. Operationally, these are the schools
categorized as Level 1,2,3 or 4 in the 2014 PBB
performance categories.
Partnership activities and projects – collaborative
activities and projects between a Leader School
and a Partner School. This includes the sharing of
best practices or provision of technical assistance
as well as coaching and mentoring support by the
Leader School to its Partner School.
 Roles and Responsibilities
School Level:
The School Head of the Leader shall be accountable for
the implementation of the activities agreed upon with
the Partner School and is responsible for the following:
A. Selecting a Partner School (see section 5.2)
and initiating the partnership;

B. Organizing teams from its roster who will provide

the technical assistance and support needed by the
Partner School and appointing a focal person who will
liaise with the Partner School;
C. Orienting its teaching and non-teaching
personnel about their school’s involvement and
participation in the school-to-school partnership;

D. Assessing the needs of the Partner School

based on their School Improvement Plan (SIP);
E. Identifying its organization strengths and
capacity to support its Partner School;

F. Preparing a Work and Financial Plan

(WFP) based on the needs of the Partner
School and the scope of support that will
be provided;
G. Entering into a formal agreement with
the Partner School;

H. Receiving the funds and implementing

the school-to-school activities found in the
approved WFP, following the costing
parameters and timelines;
I. Monitoring the outcomes of the activities and
processing the insights and learnings gained
by its teams involved in the partnership; and

J. Submitting liquidation reports and

accomplishment reports to the SDO.
 School Head of the Partner School
A. Orienting its teaching and non-teaching personnel
about their involvement and participation in the
school-to-school partnership;

B. Appointing a focal person who will liaise with the

Leader School;
C. Preparing the list of Priority Improvement Areas
(PIAs) in the SIP and participating in the needs
assessment done by the Leader School;

D. Assigning a Project Team to work with the

Leader School to implement partnership activities;
E. Providing feedback and suggestions on the
WFP and the partnership agreement
prepared by the Leader School;

F. Allotting time and resources to undertake

the partnership activities and projects;
G. Monitoring the outcomes of the activities
and processing the insights and learnings
gained by its teams involved in the
partnership; and

H. Documenting the implementation of the

partnership activities and projects including
the outcomes and gains.
Division Level: The School Governance Operations
Division (SGOD) shall oversee the overall
implementation of the school-to-school partnerships at
the Division level and is responsible for the following:

The Schools Division Superintendent (SDS) shall be

accountable for school-to-school partnerships at the
Division level
Each of these Leader Schools must select one
nearby Partner School from a list which can be
accessed using this link: bit.ly/school_partner.

Leader Schools will receive P140,000 each which

all be used for the partnership activities.
 Eligible Activities
These eligible activities are just examples and are in no
way complete and exhaustive. Therefore, these
activities should not be taken as the only means of
achieving authentic partnerships. Based on its needs,
the Leader and Partner Schools should prioritize which
activities to implement.
 General Eligible Activities
• Contextualization of learning materials and teaching
guides;

• Creation of teacher-made learning materials for use

in differentiated and innovative instruction;

• Capacity-building for teachers on content,

pedagogy, classroom management, differentiated
instruction, and inclusive education;
• Conduct of activities for teaching and
assessment including the purchase of
supplies and materials necessary to conduct
them;

• Tapping Indigenous People (TP) resource

persons from the community to share their
knowledge and practices;
• Implementation of LAC projects particularly
for Special Education (SPED), Multigrade
Education, and SHS; and

• Organization, mobilization, and other

supporting activities LAC Project Teams.
 Eligible Items

All expenses incurred in support of Section 5.3.1

are eligible as long as the expenses are classifiable
as MOOE under Commission on Audit (COA)
Circular No. 2003-001.
 Non-Eligible Expenses Items
A. Hiring and payment of salaries of additional staff;
B. Payment of professional fees/honoraria;
C. Payment of utilities;
D. Purchase and reproduction of National
Achievement Test reviewers;
E. Purchase of commercially available
instructional materials;
G. Purchase of equipment;
H. Activities funded by other special or national
programs or subsides; and
I. Gifts or token for DepEd monitoring and field
Technical Assistance teams.
 Incentives for Leader Schools
• Leader Schools who successfully implement a school-to-school
partnerships shall have a rating of 2 (evidence indicates
planned practices and procedures are fully implemented and
aligned to A Child-and community-Centered Educational
System (ACCESs) for all indicators under the Leadership and
Governance Dimension of the SBM Framework in DepEd
Order 83, s.2012. Exemplary Leader Schools shall be prioritized
by the SED for future support and assistance.
• For teaching and non-teaching personnel of the
Leader Schools who provide support to the Partner
Schools, the school-to-school partnership and its
activities shall be considered Key Result Areas in
their respective Individual Performance
Commitment and Review Form (IPCRF) and
Organizational Performance Commitment and
Review Form (OPCRF).
• Participation of teachers (either as a coach/mentor
/trainer or as a participant) in partnership activities
undertaken during vacation, holidays and weekends
shall be considered as “services rendered by those
who train teachers in addition to their normal
teaching load” and as “attendance/participation in
special
DepEd projects and activities which are short-term in
duration, if such are held during summer vacation or
during weekends”, provided in DepEd Order 53, s.2003.
Thus, the said teachers shall be entitled to service credits
subject to existing rules and regulations as well as
approval of the SDS.
 Availing the Funds
The Leader Schools should select a Partner School and
submit their WFP to the SGOD on or before July 15,
2016 corresponding to the fund allocated in Annex 1
and following the format in Annex 7. The SGOD shall
appraise WFP within five (5) calendar days and ensure
that the activities are eligible.
The SGOD shall summarize these schools’ WFPs by
object of expenditure. The SGOD shall also prepare
a list of Leader Schools with approved WFPs
together with a list of their corresponding Partner
Schools which shall be submitted to the RO in
Excel format (.xls or .xlsx) following Annex 8 on or
before July 31, 2016.
The RO will consolidate the list of Leader
Schools with approved WFPs together
bhrod.sed@deped.gov.ph on or before August
15, 2016. The SGOD shall also retain copies of
the WFP for monitoring purposes.
 Procurement Process
The existing Bids or Awards Committee (BAC) of the
school shall be responsible for the procurement of
supplies and materials. In the absence of a committee,
the School Head shall create one through a
memorandum.
The school’s BAC shall be composed of five members
consisting of school personnel and representative/s
from the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) and/or
School Governing Council (SGC).
In the interest of check and balance, the School Head is
prevented from becoming the chairperson or a member
of the school’s BAC. The BAC’s recommendations on the
supplies and materials, however, shall be subject to the
School Head’s approval. The purchase orders shall be
signed by the School Head or his/her authorized
representative.
For schools with less than five (5) permanent
employees, schools may avail the services of a BAC that
is accessible to their schools (e.g. cluster schools’ BAC,
District or Division BAC).
The School Head of the Leader Schools shall submit the
liquidation report of the utilized fund to the SDO on or before
the 10th day of the following month after the conduct of an
activity. For example, if the fund was spent on several
activities in the month of August, the liquidation of all these
activities shall be made on or before September 10. If there
are no activities or expenses in a given month there is nothing
to liquidate on the 10th day of the following month.
 Monitoring and Evaluation

The SDO shall conduct progress monitoring of this

policy to ensure efficient fund utilization and timely
submission of liquidation reports of all Leader Schools.
The SGC and SPT of the Leader School shall monitor the
utilization of the fund at the school level. The School
Head of the Leader shall report the fund amount,
utilization, and liquidation in the SRC, in school
assembles, to the PTA, and to the SGC.
 Reportorial Requirements

6.2.1 Using Annex 11, all Leader Schools shall

submit to their respective SDOs in Excel format
(.xls or.xlsx) their physical and financial
th
accomplishments on or before the 10 day of the
following month after the conduct of the activity.
Note that financial accomplishments shall be
based on their actual liquidation report.
6.2.2 The SDOs shall review and validate reported
accomplishments of Leader Schools on or before
th
the 12 day of the following quarter (July 12,
October 12, 2016 and January 12 of the ensuing
year).