“When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
―Haruki Murakami, "Kafka on the Shore"
February in Kentucky means winter storms are likely to abound. But we may find ourselves fighting the bigger storms of illness, absence and fatigue. Let’s allow the storms that may come in this season to shape us into someone ever stronger when we walk out of them.
In this issue of the newsletter, you’ll find tips on contacting private and home school officials regarding Title I participation, reporting reminders and updating Person Role Manager.
Initiating Contact with Private/Home School Officials Regarding Participation in the Title I Program
Many districts already have been using their hold harmless percentages to plan their budgets for next year. As a reminder, the hold harmless percentages are posted on the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) website and was discussed in the January webinar. This is the time of year that districts also need to plan for equitable services for the next school year.
Annually, districts must contact officials of each private/home school with children who might reside in the district to determine whether those officials would like for their eligible students to participate in equitable services under Title I, Part A (Elementary and Secondary Education Act section 1117(b)(1)). Each district has the responsibility to contact all private and home schools within and outside the district that might have students eligible to participate in Title I programs.
A district may not be aware, however, of every instance in which a student who resides in a participating Title I, Part A public school attendance area attends a private school outside the district. If a private school has students it believes may be eligible for services because they reside in a participating Title I, Part A public school attendance area in another district, and the private school has not been contacted, private school officials should contact the district directly. This will ensure eligible students are considered for services.
A district can customize the Letter of Notification to Private Schools and Participation Survey contained in the Title I Sample Documents found on the Title I, Part A website. This document is sent annually to private/home school officials to determine their interest in participating in equitable services. The letter includes a brief description of the services, as well as the Non-Public School Participation Survey.
Districts may send this form by certified mail in order to document receipt of the form by private/home school officials. Other methods to document the sending of the notification could include an email with a read receipt, screenshots of invitations sent or a picture of an addressed, stamped envelope.
Once returned, the surveys will be used to: identify the schools wishing to participate; help plan and initiate consultation; help with data collection; and help with the Title I, Part A application completion. Districts may use March and April as a potential time window for sending the Letter of Notification and Participation Survey.
A district may set a reasonable deadline – taking into consideration private/home school schedules – for private/home school officials to indicate their intent to participate. When doing so, a district must provide clear and sufficient notice of the deadline, identify potential consequences for not meeting the deadline and give adequate time for private/home school officials to respond.
The Title I Letter of Notification to Private Schools and Participating Survey is not to be confused with the Private, Non-profit (PNP) Schools Declaration of Participation for Title II-A, Title IV-A and IDEA-B assurance forms and the Private, Non-profit Schools and Home Schools Declaration of Participation for Title III-EL assurance forms. Those documents are for private schools and home schools physically located in your school district’s geographic boundaries for Title II-A, Title IV-A, IDEA-B and Title III-EL.
For additional information on the PNPs and the declaration of participation, visit KDE’s Additional Federal Grant Information webpage. Additional Title I, Part A equitable services resources can be found on KDE’s Title I, Part A webpage and Non-Public School Ombudsman webpage.
Questions may be sent to your KDE Title I, Part A consultant.
Keep Your District's Contacts Up to Date on Person Role Manager
KDE emails information regarding the Title I, Part A program to all district Title I coordinators throughout the year. These communications include important announcements and deadlines for funding and programmatic needs, new and updated resources, newsletters, and professional learning and training opportunities.
The list of recipients for these emails is generated by a program called Person Role Manager. The district web application administrator points of contacts can update the personnel listed in this program. The district contacts listed in Person Role Manager feed into the Open House website.
Districts must check and update, if necessary, the name of the Title I coordinator for their district to ensure the correct person receives communications from KDE in a timely manner. This process includes adding new coordinators, as well as removing coordinators no longer working with the Title I, Part A program.
To change or verify the Title I coordinator for your district, follow these instructions:
- Verify the Title I coordinator by selecting your district on the Open House website.
- If the role is blank or incorrect, the update must be made in Person Role Manager via KDE Web Applications.
- For Title I coordinators who are listed but no longer should be, their Role Status must be changed to “inactive” and a Role End Date entered via KDE Web Applications | Person Role Manager.
- To add a Title I coordinator, the Role Status must be set to “active” and a Role Start Date entered. Also ensure that an email address is entered on the demographic screen. This should be done via KDE Web Applications | Person Role Manager as well.
To ensure important communications are received, update the contact information and list the correct point of contact as “active” in Person Role Manager for Title I coordinator.
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