Title I News - September 2020

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Title I News

 

September 2020

Volume 4, Issue 7

Accountability/Assessments

The Every Student Succeeds Act Section 1112(e)(2)(B) requires school districts that receive Title I funds to post information about state-required assessments and, where such information is available and feasible to report, assessments required districtwide by the local educational agency.

The unique circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 crisis have affected, or in the future could affect, state-required testing. As your district works to meet the requirement in the Every Student Succeeds Act, be sure to visit the KDE Accountability/Assessments, Assessments and the DAC Communications webpages to ensure the information provided on district/school webpages is correct and up-to-date.

Is this Allowable?

The increase in needs both at the district and school levels – along with additional funding through the Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds – have brought about questions of allowability in spending for Title I services.

As you work to review Title I plans and use of funds, now is a great time to review the ESSA Federal Fiscal Spending Handbook. This document provides general guidance on how Kentucky local education agencies (LEAs) may spend federal funds under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

There are three general spending considerations for all the programs discussed in the ESSA Federal Fiscal Spending Handbook:

  • All costs charged to U.S. Department of Education (USED) grants must be necessary and reasonable, considering the amount of money being spent and the needs of the program.
  • Activities supported by USED funds must be consistent with the LEA’s application for funds approved by the state education agency.
  • As discussed throughout the handbook, some ESSA programs require LEAs to spend on activities that are supported by evidence, are demonstrated to be effective or that are consistent with a formal needs assessment.

Even where this is not required, USED grant spending has the most impact when LEAs spend federal funds on effective activities designed to meet program goals. To do this, LEAs are encouraged to:

  • Carefully consider the needs of students, educators and other relevant shareholders;
  • Determine which activities are most likely to effectively address those needs; and
  • Prioritize those activities when deciding what costs to support with ESSA funds (unless those activities are being paid for by other funding sources).

For a deeper dive into funding uses, take this month to review the ESSA Federal Fiscal Spending Handbook, as well as the 2020-2021 Non-Competitive Funding Matrix, which can be found on KDE’s Federal Grants webpage.

Helpful Tips from Districts – Identifying and Serving Homeless Students During the COVID-19 Crisis

Bullitt County Public Schools

Linda Nason, Supervisor of Social Services

Beginning this year, Bullitt County schools is requiring families to register students online, which has helped the McKinney-Vento/homeless education coordinator identify families who are living in temporary housing situations.

The Bullitt County team that designed the online registration system included the McKinney-Vento liaison in the development process. As of the first day of school on Aug. 26, the county already had identified 200 students who qualify as McKinney-Vento eligible.

When a family indicates they are living in temporary housing, a box appears on the registration form that allows them to check whether it is due to hardship, building/buying a home, living in a shelter, living in a hotel or living unsheltered. If a family checks the box that they live in a temporary residence, the homeless coordinator automatically receives an email. She can then contact the family to get more information.

The system requires a parent/guardian to register the student, bringing an awareness of more unaccompanied youths to connect with and support. The system also alerts schools if more than one family is using the same address. This has helped identify families in doubled-up living situations.

Nason has served as the supervisor of social services for BCPS for 29 years, and has been the McKinney-Vento liaison for 14 years. 

Paducah Independent Schools

Heather Anderson, McKinney-Vento Liaison

VIDEO: COVID-19 & Homelessness | Challenges & Solutions Supporting Homeless Students in Paducah, KY: In this video, Heather Anderson, a McKinney-Vento liaison in Paducah Independent Schools, discusses some of the challenges she faces going back to school in the fall of 2020. She also shares some of her outreach strategies to reach families experiencing homelessness:

  1. Be everywhere. GO to the places students stay.
  2. Post educational notice signs EVERYWHERE, including payday lenders, hotels/motels, library, shelters, laundromats, assistance organizations, etc. Reach out to those places regularly. They also should be reaching out to the district homeless liaison because they should be familiar with the McKinney-Vento Act if the liaison is communicating with them on a regular basis.
  3. Train staff to listen for words/phrases such as staying with friends, couch surfing, foreclosure, evicted and nowhere to go. Liaisons depend a lot on coaches and other staff for identification. Bus drivers and staff who are at school early or late are VERY important in identification. They will see things that not everyone sees.
  4. If an adult or young person has not checked in in a few days, that is a flag to do a home visit.
  5. Check with students from last year to determine whether students who qualified last year still qualify this year.
  6. Conduct universal screening (all students fill out a student residency questionnaire) at registration.
  7. Stay in close contact with fire departments and code enforcement. Go on scene with them, especially when houses are condemned.
  8. Have a strong social media presence.

For more information on how both these districts work to identify and support homeless students, contact their McKinney-Vento liaisons.

A national resource for serving homeless students during the COVID crisis can be found by visiting SchoolHouse Connection: Preparing for School Reopening and Recovery: Considerations in Serving Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness.

Resources are not endorsed by the Kentucky Department of Education and are provided for informational purposes only.

If your district would like to share practices for any Title I project management in any area, email Brenda Considine.

Professional Learning Bulletin Board

Along with the increase in online learning for students due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the need for online professional learning opportunities for educators also has increased.

The Professional Learning Bulletin Board (PLBB) is a great resource for exploring options for professional learning. Currently, more than 70 professional learning offerings are posted on the PLBB, including sessions for administrators, counselors, and certified and classified staff.

A wide variety of topics are available in both virtual and on-demand formats, many of which include EILA credit, and the site is regularly updated.

 

Monthly Title I Webinar

The August Title I webinar and accompanying PowerPoint are available on the Title I, Part A Documents and Resources webpage. During the webinar, information centered around: reminders and updates (Aug./Sept. checkpoints on coordinator checklist, carryover limitations and comparability); required notifications on assessments; and English learner parent outreach.

The September webinar will be held at 10 a.m. ET on Sept. 24. A reminder email will be sent before the webinar.

 

CONTACTS

Title I District Consultant List