For the first time in 15 years, the state Board of Regents is looking to revamp its parental engagement policy, aiming to reshape the role families play in holding schools accountable for student achievement.

In a town hall meeting at the Arthur Schomburg Library in Harlem tomorrow night, parents are invited to weigh in on how the state should alter its guidelines.

Tomorrow night’s meeting is the sixth of seven forums being held around the state.

Under the current policy from 1991, each school district is required to develop its own “parent partner ship policy.” The regents have directed the state’s Department of Education to determine if the policy is “effective” and “appropriate to education today.”

The state’s associate commissioner of education, Sheila Evans-Tranumn, said that over the past two months she’s heard parents across the state asking that schools be required to do more to reach out to families.

“Maybe there is something the school needs to do on a more proactive basis,” she said.

Ms. Evans-Tranumn said the new policy would also include language that recognizes grandparents as legal guardians.

“More and more grandparents are taking care of children,” she said.

A senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Sol Stern, questioned the value of the Regents’ reform efforts.

“It’s one of those slogans like motherhood,” Mr. Stern said about parental engagement. “Nobody can be against it, but it’s an excuse for taking your eye off the ball in the essential matters that the Regents should be focusing on. … I’m not saying that parental involvement isn’t important, but it’s something that has to happen on the local school level.”

In taking over the city schools, Mayor Bloomberg made parent involvement the cornerstone of his agenda.

Mr. Bloomberg abolished the city’s 32 school boards and replaced them with parent groups. He also created a full-time parent coordinator position in every school and gave each one a cell phone and placed their phone numbers on the Internet.

Despite funneling funds into efforts ramp up parent involvement, members of the chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council have said they feel marginalized. Last month the group sent the schools chancellor, Joel Klein, a long letter detailing their gripes.

The founder of the Association of New York City Education Councils, Carmen Colon, said she’s “given so much testimony” over the past couple of years about parent engagement that she’s not sure how much good it will do to speak out at the meeting tomorrow night.

“But I can’t imagine not going,” she said. “There’s always a chance that they’ll take those recommendations under consideration.”