ENGLISH LEARNER SUPPORT DIVISION UPDATES:
Bilingual/ESL Staff Support and Resources
Now that the November 1 deadline for Bilingual Exceptions and ESL Waivers has passed, you are likely aware that there are teachers on your campus who need support and guidance in order to provide linguistically accommodated instruction to the emergent bilingual students sitting in their classes. Parents have approved participation in a bilingual or ESL program – what does that mean at your school? Our division is responsible for compliance with state statute and rule (approving the submitted applications) but we also focus year-round on supporting LEAs in implementing high quality programs for their bilingual and ESL program students. We work closely with bilingual/ESL staff at all ESCs and it is now a common practice for ESCs to train LEAs on our program implementation rubrics as well as meet with individual LEAs to determine high leverage, achievable next steps based on your individual context.
I encourage you all to reach out to your ESC or our division at Englishlearnersupport@tea.texas.gov to start the conversation.
FINANCE DIVISION UPDATES:
Attendance Projection Worksheets Due December 14
All open-enrollment charter schools should submit the attendance projections worksheet in the FSP System for the biennium (school years 2023 – 2024 and 2024 – 2025). The collection will close by midnight on December 14, 2022. TEA correspondence on this topic containing more details was released on October 13 2022.
The Legislative Budget Board will use this data to begin the budget process for the upcoming 88th Legislative session.
The FSP System requires that a designated approver, usually the superintendent, submits the attendance projections data to the TEA.
For more information on the FSP System, including information on applying for specific roles in the system, please see the TEA FSP System web page. For more information on the Attendance Projections subsystem in the FSP System, please visit the Attendance Projections web page. For help with accessing the FSP application or submitting attendance projections data, please contact Thomas Heil at ADAprojections@tea.texas.gov or at 512-463-9622.
Reminder of Annual Financial Report Submission
The Audit application in TEA Login (TEAL) is currently open to accept the fiscal year 2022 Annual Financial Report (AFR) submissions.
The AFR is due by no later than 150 days after the close of a district's fiscal year. The following table shows the due dates for the two different fiscal year calendars.
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If a district's fiscal year ends on
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then the AFR is due to TEA on or before
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August 31
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January 28
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June 30
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November 27
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- The Texas Education Code (TEC), §44.008, does not provide for any extension when the due date falls on a holiday or weekend. The AFR is also not required to be submitted earlier.
- A complete, dated, signed and board-approved AFR, saved as a PDF, and a finalized data feed text file must be received through the Audit application in the TEA Login (TEAL) secure environment to meet submission requirements.
- Emailing the required AFR files does not meet submission requirements.
- The Audit application in TEAL is currently open to accept the FY2022 AFR submissions.
- The Audit application is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to accept electronic AFR submissions.
- The new J-4 Schedule is required for Charter Schools and ISDs (not ESCs) for this year's FY2022 submission.
- Schools should only include unallocated amounts coded to 199 or 420 on their J-4 schedule.
- Summary of Finance (SOF) Near-Final Run ID #37791 will be used for determining compliance with the state program spending requirements.
- Currently, to provide additional flexibility to the schools in meeting the state program allotment spending requirements, TEA’s internal calculations will include ESSER funds 266, 281, 282, and 283. However, schools should not include these amounts in their J-4 submissions.
The AFR submission will be considered late if the PDF of the completed, dated, signed and board-approved AFR and the finalized data feed text file are submitted later than 150 days after the district's fiscal year-end.
A late AFR submission could result in FAILURE of School FIRST if the PDF of the completed, dated, signed and board-approved AFR and the finalized data feed are submitted later than 180 days (30 days after the due date) after the district's fiscal year-end.
The AFR must be submitted in two forms: PDF and data feed text file.
- Verify that the AFR saved as a PDF includes the following:
- Certificate of the Board
- Checked: approved (or disapproved)
- Completed with correct date: month, day, and year
- Signed by board president and secretary (or other board member in place of them)
- Signed and dated auditor’s reports
- Federal Single Audit Report (required with $750,000 or more in federal expenditures)
- Management/comment letter (if applicable)
- Schedule L-1 Required Responses to Selected School First Indicators (ISDs only, charter schools submit RQ1 in data feed)
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Data feed text file. Verify the data feed file is complete, consistent with the PDF file, and finalized.
SCHOOL SAFETY UPDATES:
School Safety Standards Update
In light of recent events, ongoing public concern, and the charge by Governor Abbott, the Commissioner, as authorized by TEC, §7.061 and 37.115(b), is proposing §61.1031 to address school safety and ensure minimum school safety standards to address the safety of students and staff alike in our public schools. The proposed rule would require that all school system instructional facilities have access points that are secured by design, maintained to operate as intended, and appropriately monitored. Specific rule text will be available via the Texas Register soon and is preliminarily posted on TEA’s website here: Proposed amendment to 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 61, School Districts, Subchapter CC, Commissioner’s Rules Concerning School Facilities, §61.1031, School Safety Requirements.
TEA has also created a one-page summary of the rule available here: School Safety Standards Overview document.
School Safety Grant Opportunities
2023-2025 School Safety Standards Formula Grant
TEA will release a formula-based grant application in the coming weeks to support the school safety standards proposed rules referenced above. The grant will allow for pre-award for items purchased on or after June 1, 2022.
Allocation Methodology
This grant program will calculate formula allocations based on a per-pupil amount per LEA. Grant funds will be distributed by per-pupil counts that were derived from age 3-21 student enrollment as reported in the October 2021 PEIMS submission. There will be a $200,000 grant allocation for smaller and rural LEAs, even if using the per-pupil methodology they would receive less than the $200,000 minimum grant award.
Eligibility Criteria
Public school districts and charter schools with a reported enrollment of at least one student from the October 2021 PEIMS fall snapshot submission will be eligible for funding. New charter schools that opened in the 2022-2023 school year, prior to October 27, 2022, will be eligible for the minimum grant award amount. Any new charter school opening after October 27, 2022 (the date of announcement from Office of the Governor) will be ineligible for funding throughout the life of the grant. Private schools are not eligible recipients for funding.
Allowable Uses
The grant will allow spending on a variety of security-related items identified by the needs of each LEA. The grant will allow for various costs associated with school safety and security; however, the grant will come with a requirement that money must first be spent on items necessary to comply with the rule. Once the standards of the rule are met, remaining funds can be spent on other eligible security-related costs as defined in the grant program allowable costs.
For more information, LEAs should review the allocation funding, allowable costs, and grant links listed below.
2022-2024 Silent Panic Alert Technology Grant - Extension
TEA released a formula grant program on October 28, 2022, to provide grant funds to LEAs to purchase silent panic alert technologies for campuses as a measure of school safety. Silent panic alert technology is generally defined as a silent system signal generated by the activation of a device, either manually or through software applications, intended to signal a life-threatening or emergency situation (such as an active shooter, intruder, or other emergency situation) requiring a response from law enforcement and/or other first responders.
The grant funds support an alarm system as described in the proposed School Safety Standards Rule. The rule describes this as part of a school system communications infrastructure, which shall include a panic alert button, duress, or equivalent alarm system, via standalone hardware or integrated into other telecommunications devices, that includes the following functionality:
- an alert capable of being triggered manually by campus staff;
- an alert is triggered automatically in the event a district employee calls 911 from any location within the school system;
- with any alert generated, the location of where the alert originated shall be included;
- the alert notifies a set of designated school administrators as needed to provide confirmation of response, and if confirmed, notice is issued to law enforcement and emergency responder agencies of an emergency situation requiring a law enforcement and/or emergency response, and a notice can simultaneously be issued to all school staff of the need to follow appropriate emergency procedures; and
- for any exterior doors that features electronic locking mechanisms that allow for remote locking, the alert system will trigger those doors to automatically lock and to automatically notify relevant campus staff of any door where the lock cannot engage.
The 2022-2024 SPAT Grant Program application has been extended. Your LEA grantee application will be due 11:59pm CST on Tuesday, January 31, 2023. For grant details please visit TEA's grant opportunities webpage, and search for this grant by using the keywords “SPAT” or “2022-2024 Silent Panic Alert Technology (SPAT) Grant”. For information and guidance regarding the SPAT grant and other school safety related grant programs please visit here.
Additional School Safety Information
School safety resources are posted at the School Safety Resource Page.
If you have any questions, please contact safeschools@tea.texas.gov.
GRANTS ADMINISTRATION DIVISION UPDATES:
Competitive Grant Opportunity Published on the TEA Grant Opportunities Page
TEA is announcing the availability of grant funds for the 2023-2024 Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC), Cycle 12, Year 1 grant program. Request for Application (RFA) #701-23-106 is authorized by the Public Law 114-95, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Title IV, Part B (20 U.S.C. §§7171-7176). The RFA is available on the TEA Grant Opportunities page.
Eligibility
See the General and Fiscal Guidelines, Eligibility To Apply for Competitive Grants. Eligible applicants, include local educational agencies, including independent school districts, open-enrollment charter schools, and regional education service centers; community-based organizations; Indian tribe or tribal organization (as such terms are defined in the Indian Self-Determination and Education Act (25 U.S.C. 450b), §4); other public or private entities; or a consortium of two or more eligible organizations. Applications must propose to serve campuses that are eligible for schoolwide programs under ESSA, §1114, and the families of such students. A campus is ineligible to be included in a funded application if it meets either of the following conditions: the campus or school was newly opened in the school year 2022-2023 or the campus is a center or center feeder in an active Texas 21st CCLC, Cycle 11 grant program. If an eligible applicant includes one or more ineligible campus or feeder campus, TEA may deem the entire application ineligible for peer review. Each eligible applicant may submit only one application for funding up to 10 centers. Please see the Program Guidelines for additional information on eligibility.
Grant Period
- Initial Budget Period: August 01, 2023, through July 31, 2024.
- Total Project Period: August 01, 2023, through July 31, 2028.
Funding
- A total of approximately $56,688,672 is available for this grant program.
- It is anticipated that approximately 40 grants will be awarded.
- Grant awards are expected to range from $250,000 to $2 million each year of the five-year project period.
Annual funding after Year 1 (“continuation funding”) is contingent on satisfactory progress of prior year compliance with requirements, achievement of stated service and performance targets, general budget approval by the commissioner of education, and appropriations by the United States Congress.
Description
The federal Nita M. Lowey 21st CCLC program supports the creation and expansion of community learning centers that provide academic and enrichment opportunities during afterschool and summer programming particularly for students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools. The Texas 21st CCLC program operates as the Texas Afterschool Centers on Education, or Texas ACE. Cycle 12 of Texas ACE will focus on three key activities:
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Targeted academic support using high-quality instructional materials (HQIM), high-impact tutoring (HIT), and/or school-day aligned academic activities.
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Student interest-based enrichment that is both academic and enriching, including but not limited to: college and career readiness, service learning, physical fitness, health and wellness, and fine arts activities.
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Family engagement in learning through ongoing activities that connect parents to the school and community.
Application Deadline
Applications must be received by the Texas Education Agency by 11:59 p.m. (Central Time), January 23, 2023, to be considered for funding. TEA will only accept applications by email to competitivegrants@tea.texas.gov.
Launch of EDGAR 2.0 SmartSheet WorkApp
EDGAR 2.0 WorkApp
Following feedback from LEAs and ESCs, the Department of Grant Compliance and Administration (GCA) is pleased to launch a new version of the EDGAR SmartSheet Workapp. New features in this version include:
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Increased transparency. LEAs, ESCs, and other grantees will be able to submit their forms and see the status of where that form is in the approval process. The new Workapp will display all previously submitted Smartsheet forms for the grantee.
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More accountability. LEAs, ESCs, and other grantees will be able to monitor the status of their forms, to whom it is currently assigned in the review process, and track the overall progress of their form entry to the final stage. This will allow for greater levels of accountability for GCA staff to process these forms in a timely manner.
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Quicker form entry. The updated EDGAR SmartSheet Workapp will allow for LEAs, ESCs, and other grantees to enter their EDGAR forms in a quicker, more efficient manner. The GCA team has developed a more efficient way to enter forms in the WorkApp.
How do I Access the EDGAR 2.0 WorkApp?
To access the EDGAR 2.0 Workapp, LEAs, ESCs, or other grantees will have to be listed as a contact for your LEA, ESC, or organization, and must have completed the New User Certification form. Individuals with current access to the EDGAR SmartSheet Workapp will retain access to the EDGAR 2.0 Workapp.
What will I see in SmartSheet?
For instructions accessing the new EDGAR Forms 2.0 WorkApp please see this manual.
Additional Charter Funding and Grant Opportunities
ALDI Smart Kids Due December 15
These grants support local community organizations, including K-12 schools, that encourage children to be active in the areas of education, physical activity, nutrition, socializing and the arts. It is limited to communities where ALDI has stores, offices, or warehouses. ALDI's support ranges from monetary donations to ALDI gift cards. Click here to learn more.
Charter School Growth Fund - SEED Grant Due January 31
The Charter School Growth Fund supports educational leaders and entrepreneurs seeking to grow their high-performing public charter schools. SEED grants provide general operating grants for networks growing to serve 250 to 1,000 additional students in the next two years. Click here to learn more.
Middle School Music Grant Program Due January 31
This grant supports middle school music programs to embed social and emotional intelligence in teaching students. Grants endow student public service and provide funds for music teachers to use to enhance their school music education programs. Click here to learn more.
Duke Energy Foundation Powerful Communities: K-12 Grants Due January 31
These grants support a variety of K-12 programs. These include programs that address summer reading loss experienced by rising kindergartners through rising third-graders, programs for fourth through twelfth grade students that advance STEM education, and environmental education for students or for teachers through professional development. Programs serving under-represented, low-income or diverse students are prioritized. Click here to learn more.
Saxena Family Foundation
The Foundation awards grants to programs that have a particular focus on STEM education and empowering women in the United States and in India. Applications are accepted at any time. Learn More
Good Sports
Good Sports donates sports equipment, footwear, and apparel to organizations that provide physical activity programs to children ages 3 to 18 in high-need communities. To qualify, more than half of a school's student body must be eligible for free/reduced-price lunch. Applications are accepted at any time. Click here to learn more.
Daniels Fund K-12 Education Reform
This Foundation provides grants to improve the K-12 education systems in in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming by expanding choice, improving teacher and leader quality, and increasing parent involvement. Applications are accepted at any time. Click here to learn more.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Year Three ESSER Reporting Office Hours and Data Planning Workbook
Office Hours
TEA staff will be hosting the following office hour sessions to discuss Year Three USDE ESSER Annual Performance Reporting (these are open to LEAs and ESCs):
- December (14th to 16th)
- 2:00pm to 3:00pm everyday from December 14th to 16th, Register Here
- January (9th to 31st)
- 2:00pm to 3:00pm everyday from January 9th to 31st, Register Here
Year Three Reporting Data Planning Workbook
In preparation for the launch of the Official Year Three Data Collection Tool in SmartSheet, TEA staff have created a planning workbook to assist LEAs in reporting their Year Three information. The Year Three USDE ESSER Reporting Planning Workbook can be downloaded here. This workbook is to be used to assist LEAs in how to report their information, and is not intended to be submitted to TEA. LEAs will be required to enter reporting information in the Official Year Three Data Collection Tool in SmartSheet.
Launch of Official Year Three Data Collection Tool
More information will be forthcoming on the launch of the Official Data Collection Tool for Year Three ESSER reporting.
Support, Resources, and Technical Assistance
2022–2023 Significant Expansion of Enrollment Funding
Open-enrollment charter schools that have been awarded 2022–2023 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B (IDEA-B) federal grants may qualify for additional funding under these grants if they meet specific criteria defining significant expansion of enrollment.
Significant Expansion of Enrollment Criteria for ESSA and IDEA-B
To claim significant expansion of enrollment for both ESSA and IDEA-B, your open-enrollment charter school must meet both of the following criteria based on the newly expanded enrollment:
- A minimum total student enrollment (ages 3–21) of 50
- At least a 50% increase in the total student enrollment (ages 3–21) from previously reported student counts
For example, you would meet the criteria for significant expansion of enrollment if your total student enrollment increased from 250 to 375.
How to Request Access to Enrollment Reporting Form
If your open-enrollment charter school meets the criteria for significant expansion of enrollment for federal funding, email the Federal Fiscal Compliance and Reporting (FFCR) Division of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) at compliance@tea.texas.gov with your charter school name, county-district number, and a request that your 2022– 2023 SC5050–LEA Enrollment Data Request (SC5050) be opened.
The SC5050 collects actual enrollment data. TEA will open the SC5050 for you to enter, certify, and submit current actual enrollment counts. The current actual enrollment counts will be verified against the significant expansion criteria. You must maintain auditable documentation of the data submitted and be ready to submit the documentation to TEA upon request.
Timeline for Form Submission and Additional Funding
You may submit the updated SC5050 as soon as the 2022–2023 school year begins. The final date for submitting the SC5050 is January 31, 2023.
Any additional grant funding becomes available for either the 2022–2023 or 2023–2024 school year, depending on when you submit the updated SC5050.
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Date of Certified Submission
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Funding Availability
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By November 1, 2022
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2022–2023 school year final amounts
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November 2, 2022, to January 31, 2023
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2023–2024 school year planning amounts
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If you have questions, please contact the FFCR Division at (512) 463-8864 or by email at compliance@tea.texas.gov.
Updated Preliminary 2023 A–F Academic Accountability System Framework
The Texas A–F accountability system, passed via House Bill (HB) 22 (85th Regular Session) in 2017, is a tool to help continuously improve student performance to achieve the goals of eliminating achievement gaps based on race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status and ensuring Texas is a national leader in preparing students for postsecondary success. Valid, reliable, comparable, and objective measures of student outcomes are key to ensuring A–F ratings are fair, rigorous, and transparent to properly empower parents and educators to celebrate successes while improving student supports. The three-domain design of A–F reflects a commitment to recognize the better of student achievement or school progress, while maintaining focus on the students most in need.
Before A–F, Texas accountability rules were changed every year, with goals for students constantly increasing. With A–F, a commitment was made to maintain the same calculations and cut scores for up to five consecutive years without annual changes, to allow for better year-over-year performance comparisons. As schools emerge from the impact of COVID-19 both with new challenges and having achieved tremendous successes, we must set new goals for our students to ensure our state is a national leader in preparing students for postsecondary success. Cut scores will continue to be set using specific criteria so that ratings are never a fixed distribution, and it is mathematically possible for all schools in Texas to earn an A rating.
For answers to general questions about the A–F system, please visit Answers in About a Minute: A–F Accountability.
A–F represents our collective goals for children. As a result, TEA extensively engages educators, superintendents, school board members, community and business leaders, and other groups from across the state for feedback, offering a variety of specific refresh proposals for consideration, and gathering feedback on those proposals throughout. Specifically, we shared 10 considerations in the previous preliminary framework published in June, and have engaged in multiple rounds of feedback and proposal refinements since then. Based on that feedback, today we are releasing an updated preliminary framework, which is intended to guide discussions and encourage additional stakeholder feedback, which will be gathered through winter 2022–2023.
Resources with information about the updated framework are now available on the 2023 Accountability Development webpage:
- Updated Preliminary 2023 A–F Refresh Overview and Summary provides a broad overview of the A–F refresh, including design commitments, timeline, and a summary of the proposed A-F refresh changes
- Updated Preliminary 2023 A–F Refresh Framework provides detailed technical descriptions of the proposed A-F refresh changes
- 2023 A–F Refresh Summary of Stakeholder Feedback and Adjustments to Framework provides a summary of how stakeholder feedback has informed updates to the framework since the June release.
Stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback through February 2023, to help inform the proposed rule. The 2023 Accountability Manual will be published in proposed form in spring 2023 for additional feedback prior to becoming rule in summer 2023.
For answers to general questions about the A–F system, please visit Answers in About a Minute: A–F Accountability.
Nominate a Student Volunteer for the 2023 Student Heroes Award
The State Board of Education (SBOE) is now accepting nominations for the 2023 Student Heroes Award. The Student Heroes Award program recognizes Texas public school students in prekindergarten through high school who voluntarily work to assist or benefit their fellow Texas students. Student volunteers possess enormous passion and talents that are displayed in numerous ways. Actions of past recipients include organizing a project that distributed 350 care bags to the homeless and unsheltered, advocating for safe teen driving by successfully promoting an app, establishing a foundation to provide support to cancer patients and their families while receiving treatment, collecting supplies for disaster relief in hard-hit areas, and launching an organization dedicated to spreading awareness about mental health. Up to 15 students – one per State Board of Education district – may receive the award each year. Anyone may nominate a Texas public school student for the award. Award requirements include the following:
- The service, assistance, and/or good deed must be voluntary and not part of any curriculum, graduation requirement, class, or community project.
- The service, assistance, and/or good deed must benefit other students in Texas, either individually or collectively.
- The benefit may be to students of one campus, district, or community.
Nominations will be accepted through March 31, 2023, at 5 p.m. (CST). Recipients of the Student Heroes awards will be announced in June. A plaque and medal will be awarded to each Student Hero by his or her State Board of Education member. Nomination forms and program guidelines are available at https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/news- and-multimedia/awards/student-heroes-award. The online nomination form can be accessed directly at https://form.jotform.com/TXEd/student-hero- nomination-form. For more information, please email heroes@tea.texas.gov or call (512) 463-9007.
White House History Teacher Institute
The White House History Teacher Institute is a weeklong professional development program that explores American history through the lens of the White House and fosters collaboration among teachers to bring stories in White House history into their own classrooms. We welcome K-12 teachers from any school type and from many subjects including history, government, civics, social studies, language arts, and fine arts. In Summer 2023, we will host two iterations of the Institute—one from July 10-14 and another from July 17-21. Participating teachers receive free, shared housing at a local hotel, a participation stipend, and reimbursement of some travel expenses—we aim to make this program as accessible as possible!
For more information, please visit the White House Historical Association.
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