Federal Programs and the SC Public Charter School District

1. Federal Programs and the SC Public Charter School District Robert Compton, Ph.D., Director of Federal Programs

2. Agenda • Federal Programs Staff • Federal Programs and Your Charter School • Title I • Title III • Title IX • Title II • To be discussed tomorrow: • IDEA • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

3. Federal Programs Who’s Who Title I – Mr. V Title II – Robbie Title III – Mr. V Title IX - Traci IDEA – Beckie/Robbie Section 504 - Robbie

4. Federal Programs and Your Charter School • Simply put, the SC Charter School Law cannot (does not) supersede federal law. This means, that your school must meet all applicable federal and state regulations. • The district (authorizer), since we’re considered a/your LEA, is the one who is held responsible for your school meeting the obligation of the applicable federal programs. • Additionally, federal and state regulations require that the district (authorizer) oversees and monitors federal programs (and federal funds) since we’re considered the LEA and the one who signs the district assurances associated with these funds.

5. Designing a Quality Title I Program Presented by: Vamshi Rudrapati (Mr. V) Assistant Director of Federal Programs South Carolina Public Charter School District

6. What is Title I? Title I, Part A provides federal funding to more than 90% of the nation’s school districts to offset the effects of poverty on the educational opportunities of low performing children in high-poverty schools.

7. How does the SCPCSD determine the Poverty Percentage of the schools? To determine poverty counts for eligibility, South Carolina Public Charter School District (SCPCSD) uses the number of students who receive free and reduced-priced lunches in each school.

8. How do we collect Lunch Data? • Schools collect the lunch data using lunch forms and code them in PowerSchool. • EVERY parent should complete a Lunch Form for the students enrolling in your school. • Even if you choose not to provide lunch at your school, you still require parents to complete a lunch form. • Yes, Virtual schools also collect lunch data.

9. District of Residence As it is very important component schools need to pay more attention when entering the District of Residence information. The schools need to use the student educational records, transcripts received from the transferring school/district to determine the DOR. The SCPCSD will verify the DOR information provided in PowerSchool at the beginning of the school year.

10. When do we know that we qualify for Title I Funds? The South Carolina Public Charter school District official Title I allocations are based upon the schools official 5th day count obtained by PowerSchool. This report is run by the SCPCSD Director of Technology Services. Schools at or above the poverty rate of 45% are eligible for assistance and to operate as a school wide program. Pages 4 -5: SCPCSD Title I Policies and Procedures

11. Title I School wide Programs • Seek to close the achievement gap for all students • Plan for comprehensive, long term improvement • Provide continuous learning for all entities • Seek to strengthen the school’s internal structures • Consolidate resources to achieve the goals • Engage in continuous self-assessment for the purpose of improvement

12. Establish a School wide Planning Team Suggested membership • Administration team • Teacher representatives from the school’s grade span • Special education teacher • Related arts teacher • Paraprofessional • Parents  • Student representative (high school) • Community representative • Business partner

13. Establish Priorities • Review the root causes • Prioritize the major concerns • Focus on what you can actually change

14. Let’s Summarize

15. Title I Plan • Eligible schools assigns one person as the School Title I coordinator. • Once you are eligible to operate a school wide Title I Program, your school’s Title I Coordinator will receive instructions to develop your school Title I Plan. • Once the Plan is approved by the district it will be submitted to the State. • You can submit for reimbursements after the plan is approved by the State. • Amendments can be made to the plan if needed. Page 8 & 12: SCPCSD Title I Policies and Procedures

16. Title I Resources SCPCSD Title I Policies and Procedures http://sccharter-web.sharepoint.com/Pages/Title1Resources.aspx District of Residence http://southcarolina.hometownlocator.com/schools/index.cfm http://www.schooldistrictfinder.com/

17. Title III The purpose of this federal grant program is to provide funds to improve the education of limited English proficient students, including immigrant children and youth, by assisting the children and youth to learn English and meet challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards. ESOL: English for Speakers of Other Language ELL: English Language Learners

18. How do we identify an ELL Student? A home language survey is completed at the time of enrollment for every student who enters your school to determine if there is an influence of a language other than English. Please add a question to your enrollment packet, for the parent to provide the school on what language they prefer the notifications to be sent. 

19. A Home Language Survey MUST given to every student that enrolls at your school and the Home Language Survey is a part of each students file. Resources available on SharePoint

20. Enrollment Procedures • Please review the Memorandum (06/20/2013) Procedures for Enrolling LEP, Homeless and MEP

21. Title II

22. Title II • Contact: • Robert Compton, Director of Federal Programs • The purpose of ESEA Title II, Part A is to help states and school districts ensure that all students have effective teachers; that is, teachers with the subject-matter knowledge and teaching skills necessary to help all children achieve to high academic standards, regardless of individual learning styles or needs. In this regard, the program provides substantial funding to help states and districts recruit, train, reward, and retain effective teachers. 

23. Title II Funding • For this school year, only non-Title I schools were able to submit a Title II professional development request, however, all schools had access to participate in the “district initiated” Title II activities (i.e. Praxis and tuition reimbursement). • Like other federal programs, once approved, the school accesses these funds through reimbursements. • Looking ahead: • We’ll conduct a needs assessment (survey) then have a meeting with school leaders and other stakeholders (teacher) in the early Fall about the use of Title II funds and what the focus should be.

24. Title IX

25. Title IX – Gender Equity • Contact: • Traci Bryant-Riches, Director of School Development (District’s Title IX Coordinator) • Robert Compton, Director of Federal Programs • Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discriminate on the basis of race, gender, disability, age, religion, immigrant status, or national origin in its educational programs and employment practices. • Non-discrimination Policy- Title VI requires every school to post a nondiscrimination statement on its website, handbook and on any information available to the general public. It also requires each school to appoint a 504 and Title IX Coordinator who are appropriately trained.

26. Title IX – Gender Equity • Title IX ensures gender equity and prohibits discrimination based on sex in admission to and participation in all programs. • This Act requires all schools to do age- appropriate sexual harassment training. • Assigning Title IX Coordinators - If you have not already assigned someone this responsibility please do so before the school year begins. While it doesn’t have to be a person of authority it is best if it is as this person should be included in any staff/student or student/student sexual harassment claims. • The district will follow-up with information regarding Title IX training in the early Fall.

27. Other Federal Programs • Questions • To be discussed on Thursday: • IDEA • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act