Oregon Title IA Supplemental Education Services

Getting Started

Districts with Title IA funded schools in year two of improvement status, corrective action or restructuring are required to offer supplemental education services (SES) to eligible students until the school has made adequate yearly progress (AYP) for two consecutive years.

Providers

SES must be provided by SES providers approved by the Oregon Department of Education. The list of approved providers, including contact information and a description of services are found on the ODE SES webpage. Providers may be for profit companies, non profit organizations, districts, schools or educational service districts. Providers must meet the criteria established by NCLB and ODE. To continue to be approved by Oregon, SES providers must demonstrate that over a two year period students receiving services make progress toward meeting academic goals described in the contract for services.

Existing After school program

After-school programs housed in public school buildings that operate independently from the school and are not a part of the school’s regular program may become supplemental educational service providers if they meet the SEA’s criteria. The status of the school does not affect the eligibility of an independent entity housed in the school.

Funding SES

Districts must set aside an amount equal to up to 20% of their Title IA allocation to fund SES and public school choice. Up to 5% must be used for public school choice (if needed to fill all requests for transfer) and up to 5% for SES (if needed to meet all requests). The other 10% funds whichever option parents choose. Parents who choose public school choice during the first year or second year of improvement are not eligible for SES.

Calculating the per-pupil funding cap

Divide district Title IA allocation by the number of children residing within the district aged 5 to 17 from families below the poverty level, as determined by the most recent census estimates from the Department of Commerce.

(For census data, go to http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/saipe/school/sd02ftpdoc.html .)

The per pupil cap equals the district per child allocation for Title IA.

Multiply the per pupil cap by the number of students eligible for SES. This is the maximum amount the district will pay for SES.

Identifying Eligible Students

  1. Low income students
  2. Eligible for free or reduced lunch
  3. In schools under provisions 2 and 3 of NSL all students are eligible
  4. Attending school in year 2 of Title IA improvement status, corrective action or restructuring
  5. All low income students in SWP or TAS
  6. Need not be served by Title IA
  7. Regardless of academic achievement
  8. Free or reduced lunch eligibility (National School Lunch Act (NSLA))
  9. Officials determining free/reduced lunch eligibility
  10. may disclose eligibility information to school personnel directly connected with Title IA, and need to know
  11. Prior to disclosure school officials enter into agreement
  12. Specifies
  13. who would have access to information
  14. how information would be used/protected
  15. statement of penalties for misuse/improper disclosure

Providers may not have access to free or reduced lunch eligibility information

Parent Notification

The district must provide notice to the parents of each eligible student including:

  1. A list of providers
  2. serving in district, distance providers, statewide providers
  3. a description of services (Found on the ODE website/SESP webpage)
  4. Procedures and timelines in selecting a provider
  5. Deadline for requesting services

The district should make available to the public, including parents:

  1. district’s per-pupil allocation for SES;
  2. how student eligibility is determined;
  3. when parents will be notified
  4. process to obtain services

Enrollment timelines

Districts may establish a reasonable deadline for parents to request services. Parents must have sufficient time, information, and opportunity to make decisions. Usually districts allow 6 weeks, from the date the notification is sent, to request services.

Insufficient funds

If the district estimates costs and finds that if parents of all eligible students request services there will be insufficient funds, the district must set criteria to determine which eligible students will receive services. Criteria must be set before notifications are sent and included in the notification.

Criteria may include:

  1. low achieving students in
  2. content area resulting in improvement
  3. subgroup or grade level not meeting

After the deadline for requesting services districts determine whether or not the criteria will be needed. If there are funds to meet all requests for SES the district may not use the criteria, all eligible students requesting services must be served.

Provider Advertising

Providers are allowed to market their services directly to members of the community; the district may not restrict them from doing so.

The district may:

  1. Allow providers to provide stamped envelopes with program information to be mailed by the district to parents of eligible students.
  2. Give providers “directory information” on all students in the school district (whose parents have not opted out of “directory information”)
  3. Hold a “provider fair” and invite parents to come meet with providers
  4. Provide information to parents in newsletters or at eligible schools

Selection of provider

A “request for services” is not a binding contract by the parents of eligible students to receive services. After the parent requests services:

  1. District contacts parents for their selection of provider
  2. District contacts selected provider and arranges a meeting with the parents, provider and district representative to develop and sign a contract for services.
  3. This may be a telephone conference call, as long as all parties participate.
  4. The district must record and submit to ODE “Contract Verification” forms

Contract

A contract for the provision of SES must include:

  1. Specific academic achievement goals
  2. developed in consultation with student’s parents and the district
  3. address exactly what the student will learn as a result of the SES
  4. A description of how student’s:
  5. progress will be measured
  6. parents and teachers will be informed of progress
  7. A timetable for improving the student’s achievement
  8. A provision for termination of the agreement if the provider fails to meet student progress goals and timetables
  9. Payment for SES, number and length of sessions
  10. Provisions for:
  11. prohibiting the provider from disclosing to the identity of any student eligible for SES without the written permission students’ of parents
  12. assurance SES provided consistent with health, safety, civil rights laws
  13. Districts may include provisions addressing
  14. responsibility for student supervision before, during and after SES
  15. student and tutor absenteeism
  16. date SES begins

The district may want to design a generic agreement that can be tailored to a particular student and provider.

Students with Disabilities

Achievement goals, measurement and reporting of progress, and timetables must be consistent with the student’s IEP. Students covered by 504 must have services consistent with the student’s 504 plan. Services shouldn’t be written into IEP or 504 plans.

Required options for parents of students with

disabilities or covered under Section 504

Districts must ensure that eligible students with disabilities, students covered under Section 504 and LEP students may participate. If no provider is able to provide services, the district must, either directly or through a contract.

Districts may use existing district after school programs to serve eligible students with disabilities and or LEP students, if there are no providers available and the existing program meets the requirements of establishing goals, measures for progress, reporting to parents and timelines for service. Districts do not have to become approved providers, and the district may count the cost of services toward the 20%.

District Responsibilities

The district may determine:

  1. fees charged to providers for the use of school facilities,
  2. frequency of payments to providers
  3. how student attendance will affect payments
  4. how tutor attendance will affect payments
  5. supervision of students before and after services

Districts do not pay for, or provide transportation to, service providers

A district may not:

  1. impose requirements on a provider that affect the design of a provider’s program
  2. require that providers offer a certain number of hours of services
  3. require programs have certain student-teacher ratios

Termination of Services

A district may terminate services to an individual student if the provider is unable to meet the student’s specific achievement goals and the timetable set out in the contract. The contract must specify the terms and processes for terminating services.

No Approved Providers

If there are no providers able or willing to provide services in the district, the district requests an exemption from ODE. A waiver form must be submitted and will be approved if:

(1) none of the approved providers can make their services available and

(2) the district provides evidence that it cannot provide these services.

ODE will notify the district of approval/disapproval of the request within 30 days of receiving the request

A waiver must be requested and approved annually, while the district is required to offer SES.

Provider Responsibilities

A provider is responsible for meeting the terms of the contract and implementing the program described in their SES application including:

  1. Enabling the student to attain specific achievement goals (as described in the contract)

2.  Measuring student’s progress (as described in the contract)

3.  Informing student’s parents and teachers of progress (as described in the contract)

  1. Meeting contract timetable for improving the student’s achievement
  2. Not disclosing the identity of eligible students without written permission of the student’s parents
  3. Providing SES consistent with applicable health, safety, and civil rights laws
  4. Providing SES that are secular, neutral, and nonideological

An SES provider may offer services in the summer

Summer programs can augment school-year instruction and can help reduce “summer learning loss”

Reallocation

If the demand for public school choice and SES is met with less than an amount equal to 20% of district Title IA allocation, the district may reallocate unused funds. If school allocations were reduced to meet the 20% requirement, the district must reallocate unused funds to those schools. If school allocations were not reduced, unused funds may be reallocated to other purposes subject to the equitable participation requirements.

Districts must submit a written report to ODE describing the amount and plan for the reallocated funding.

Title IA carryover SES/choice set aside

The 15 % carry over cap applies to the entire Title IA allocation, and covers any funds reserved, but not spent, for SES. Carryover funds are not added to the district allocation for the following year in the calculation of the SES and public school choice set aside..

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J:\Support to Districts Team\ESEA\Title IA (Improving Basic Programs)\SESP\SUP ED SVCES PROV\Webpage documents\July 2006 additions\getting started.doc