March 2023

• 3/1 Expansion Amendment Request Window Closes
• 3/7 @ 11AM: CSPF Overall Rating & Tiering Engagement Session Opportunity #1
• 3/14 @ 11AM: CSPF Overall Rating & Tiering Engagement Session Opportunity #2
• 3/28 @ 11AM: Operator Council - Small (Single Campus Operators)
• 3/30 @ 10AM: Operator Council - Medium (2 to 5 Campuses)
• 3/30 @ 1PM: Operator Council - Large (6 or More Campuses)
• 3/31 Request for an Indirect Cost Rate for Charter Schools for 2023–2024 due

April 2023

• 4/18 @ 11AM: Using CSPF for Decision Making: Amendments Engagement Session

Registration for CSPF Feedback and Engagement Sessions 

• Please register for the CSPF sessions you would like to participate in. 
• Note that these are not Zoom meeting links, but registration links.  After you register for a meeting, you will be sent a separate email with instructions on how to join the meeting. 
• Only one person can use the unique link you receive after registering, so each person planning to attend a session must register individually. 
• If you have any questions or difficulty registering, please contact Bruce Marchand. 

The Charter Expansion Amendment Window is Open! 

Each year, January 1st through March 1st, the window opens for charters to file expansion amendment requests. There are four types of expansions: add a campus or site, add additional grade levels to the charter, expand charter geographic boundaries and increase maximum student enrollment. The expansion application is available online with detailed instructions including required documents for submission. All expansion applications are completed via this online form. 

Reminder – if a charter does not meet one or more of the expansion amendment standards outlined in 19 TAC §100.1033(b)(9)(A), a waiver will need to be filed in the waiver system via TEAL prior to submission of an expansion request. If you have any questions, please contact your charter portfolio coordinator or submit an email to Charteramendments@tea.texas.gov 

For your convenience we have scheduled amendment office hours every Tuesday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. to give schools an opportunity to visit face to face with their portfolio coordinator to answer questions about expansion amendments, non-expansion amendments, waivers, and whatever other questions you may have. Dates are Tuesday, January 3rd through Tuesday, February 28th. 

Expansion Office Hours Every Tuesday, 1-3 p.m. 

Schools beginning with A-L:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82993555499 

Schools beginning with M-Z:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83692235085 

High-Quality Designation

As a reminder, if you applied for the 2023-2025 Charter School Program grant, you will also need to apply for the High-Quality Designation, which is a requirement to receive CSP grant funds to support your expansion. This designation permits a charter holder to replicate its high-quality educational program at a new charter school campus under an existing high-quality open-enrollment charter school pursuant to federal statute. 

The high-quality application utilizes the Non-Expansion Form and must be filed with an expansion application and valid board resolution while meeting the following criteria in compliance with TAC §100.1033(b)(13): 

• The charter meets all general expansion requirements. 
• The charter has operated at least 5 years.  
• The charter is evaluated under standard accountability.  
• The charter is accredited.  
• The charter has 50% of students in tested grades.  
• The most current district accountability rating is the highest or second highest.  
• The previous two district accountability ratings are the highest or second highest.  
• The most current rating for all campuses operated by the charter is the highest or second highest.  
• The charter has no campus with federal interventions.  
• The charter is not under TEC Ch. 39 or federal sanctions. 
• The new HQ campus will serve at least 100 students by the third year of operation.  
• The new HQ campus program will be distinct from any existing campus in the charter. 

If you have any questions about the High-Quality Designation, please contact your portfolio coordinator or reach out to Bruce Marchand in the Division of Authorizing. 

Charter School Contact for AskTED

A reminder that any AskTED questions should be sent to charteraskted@tea.texas.gov. and AskTED updates can be submitted to TEA through the All-In-One Charter Update Form Our very own portfolio coordinators are available to assist with submissions to this inbox and have the expertise to address charter-specific needs. Thank you for your communication, and we look forward to hearing from you at CharterAskTED!

Share Your Best Practices!

On January 18, 2023, an email was sent to charter superintendents with information about an upcoming survey that will be used to learn more about best or promising practices of charter school campuses. This survey is intended to be completed by building principals. The survey link will be shared with superintendents with the request to please distribute the link to all charter school principals who are not currently on a charter campus that is receiving CSP Grant funds. Grantee campuses will receive a different survey at a later date. Any questions about the survey can be sent to Charlotte Nicklebur at charlotte.nicklebur@tea.texas.gov or Emily Lott at emily.lott@tea.texas.gov.

Is Your Charter Considering a Four-Day School Week?

Several charter operators have mentioned considering a four-day school week for the 2023-24 school year. To assist operators who may be considering this calendar option, we have outlined some requirements and best practices to review. 

Calendar creation is always a collaborative process, and taking the time to evaluate the impact of a four-day week is an essential first step in the process. There are a number of stakeholders who will be impacted by a four-day week calendar and opening a dialogue with these stakeholders is critical. Consider using surveys, conducting focus groups, and providing other opportunities for input so that all stakeholders are heard, and questions and concerns are addressed. Parents may be impacted in regard to childcare. What options can the school provide to mitigate this impact? Students who rely on the school for breakfast and lunch will be impacted as well. What can the school do to ensure that students’ nutritional needs will be met? What impacts will this change have on staff regarding workdays, pay and benefits, and non-exempt employees who may potentially work more than 40 hours a week? 

In addition, consider how student performance may be impacted by this change, especially as you consider students who currently need additional time and resources to achieve TEKS grade level mastery. Identify additional supports that will need to be provided so that all students will be successful and that the school will be able to achieve A/B academic performance. 

After these things are considered, the next step is to look at the educational plan in your charter to see if there is wording that would prohibit a four-day week option. For example, your charter may have language about tutoring or enrichment activities that specifically reference a five-day week. If you find anything in your educational plan or in another part of your charter that would prohibit a four-day week schedule, you will need to amend the language in your charter to reconcile with a four-day week schedule. You will then need to submit a non-expansion amendment for approval of the changes in your charter. This should be done prior to submitting your 2023-24 calendar to your board for approval. 

If you are considering a four-day week, taking the time to understand the needs of your stakeholders and the impact on student performance will help you to make the best decision for your charter. If you have any questions about planning and implementing a four-day week, please contact your portfolio coordinator or reach out to Bruce Marchand in the Division of Authorizing. 

Ice Storm Scheduling Issues

REMINDER: Your school may apply for a waiver for missed days beyond the first two days missed. Note: waivers are subject to a 4,200 minute waiver cap for the school year, inclusive of staff development, missed school days, and low attendance (see the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook 8.1 and 3.8.2).

Applications for Missed School Day waivers should be submitted in the TEAL waivers system using the Missed School Day waiver application.

If your district has experienced extenuating circumstances during this storm, please email Waivers@tea.texas.gov to provide information on your specific situation.  

If your district has questions regarding ADSY days, please contact ADSY@tea.texas.gov. 

FINANCE DIVISION UPDATES:

2023–2024 Process for Requesting Indirect Cost Rates

Charter School Process for Requesting an Indirect Cost Rate 

Open-enrollment charter schools must request an indirect cost rate each year by completing and submitting the Request for an Indirect Cost Rate for Charter Schools for 2023–2024 online survey. The deadline for submitting the survey and requesting an indirect cost rate for 2023–2024 is March 31, 2023. 

Charter School Indirect Cost Rates Based on Resident School District Data 

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will access certified Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) data related to each charter school’s resident public school districts and their respective calculated indirect cost rates to derive rates for charter schools that have requested a rate via the survey. 

Completing and Submitting the Survey 

The Request for an Indirect Cost Rate for Charter Schools for 2023–2024 survey is available on the Indirect Cost Rates page of the TEA website and/or from any active link within this letter. 

2022–2023 Indirect Cost Rate Timeline for Charter Schools 

The following table lists milestones for the indirect cost rate request process:

Resources 

Please refer to the Indirect Cost Rates page of the TEA website for further information and additional resources regarding indirect cost rates. 

For Further Information 

If you have questions about the indirect cost rate process and/or survey, please email compliance@tea.texas.gov.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT DIVISION UPDATES:

Information for Districts and Charter Schools Eligible for Title I, 1003 (a) School Improvement Funding via the Effective Schools Framework Focused Support Grant

The purpose of this letter is to provide school districts and open-enrollment charter schools (collectively, LEAs) with 2023–2025 Effective Schools Framework (ESF) Focused Support Grant funding information. 

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will provide Comprehensive Support and Improvement, Targeted Support and Improvement, and Additional Targeted Support campuses the opportunity to apply for a letter of intent (LOI)-competitive grant titled 2023-2025 ESF Focused Support Grant.  

All Title I, Part A-served federally identified campuses (Comprehensive Support and Improvement, Targeted Support and Improvement, and Additional Targeted Support) will have the opportunity to apply for funding and support from the Division of School Improvement for the 2023–2024 and 2024-2025 school years. LEAs may apply on behalf of their Title I, Part A-served federally identified campus(es) for one or more identified grant paths including: 

• Pathway 1 participation in one or more Texas Instructional Leadership (TIL) cohorts through a regional education service center  

and/or 

• Pathway 2 participation in an external Vetted Improvement Program (VIP) identified on the ESF Vetted Programs website 
  • Please note that additional VIPs will be included in the ESF VIP list in mid-February 2023. Please review this information after that time for a complete list of approved VIPs for the upcoming school year.

The Title I, 1003 ESF-focused support grant will post tentatively on March 13, 2023. LEAs will have 30 days to complete the application. Additional details and information can be found on the Division of School Improvement LEA grants Division of School Improvement LEA grants webpage.  

FEDERAL PROGRAM COMLPIANCE DIVISION UPDATES:

Title IV, Part A - LEA Special Data Collection

As per the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Title IV, Part A, Subpart 1, Sections 4104(a)(2) and 4106(e)(1)(E), the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is required to collect and publicly report how all local educational agency (LEA) Title IV, Part A, Subpart 1 funds are being expended per content areas by Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) and the degree to which progress has been made toward meeting program objectives and intended outcomes. 

All LEAs that applied for Title IV, Part A, Subpart 1 program funds in 2022-2023 are required to report the information requested. TEA will be taking a phase-in approach in launching the Title IV, Part A Special Data Collection. During the first phase of the collection, LEAs will provide their Title IV, Part A Program Objectives and Intended Outcomes for the 2022-2023 school year. 

For this phase of the data collection, the TEA Federal Program Compliance (FPC) Smartsheet WorkApp opened on January 17, 2023. The deadline for LEA data submission will be March 17, 2023. 

How to Access the Title IV, Part A Special Data Collection Tool 

All LEAs that applied for Title IV, Part A, Subpart 1 program funds in 2022-2023 have been granted access to the FPC WorkApp Smartsheet for the Special Data Collection. 

In this first phase of the data collection process, TEA will be collecting Title IV, Part A program objectives and intended outcomes for the current school year. In subsequent data collections scheduled for October 2023 and October 2024, LEAs will report on the degree to which progress has been made toward meeting the program objectives and intended outcomes reported. LEAs will also continue to report their Title IV, Part A expenditures by service/content areas. However, the collection of the expenditure data will transition from the PR3107 – Title IV, Part A Compliance Report to the Title IV, Part A Special Data Collection Smartsheet WorkApp. The expenditure data will be collected in subsequent data collections scheduled for October 2023 and October 2024. 

LEAs that applied for Title IV, Part A funds are federally mandated to submit the required information in the FPC Smartsheet WorkApp. The information reported by each LEA will be publicly reported on TEA’s webpage and available for USDE and the public at the end of the period of performance by Federal Fiscal Year as required by federal statute. 

For Further Information and Resources 

For information and guidance on the Title IV, Part A program and/or special data collection, please contact the FPC Division via email at ESSASupport@tea.texas.gov. A news bulletin was sent out with training dates, links to the resources available, and statewide virtual question and answer sessions. Resources are posted on the Title IV, Part A webpage.

PERFORMANCE REPORTING DIVISION UPDATES:

A–F Accountability

As the TELPAS writing domain is being updated for 2023, the English Language Proficiency (ELP) component will be evaluated differently for 2023 accountability. TELPAS results will be evaluated at the domain level in place of the composite rating. A student is considered having made progress if the student advances, or is scored as Advanced High or Basic Fluency, in at least two of three domains from the prior year (2022) to the current year (2023). The three evaluated domains are listening, speaking, and reading. Only students evaluated in all three domains in both 2022 and 2023 are evaluated. For 2024, the ELP methodology will return to the use of the TELPAS composite rating. This proposal generated questions about how the ELP component would impact reclassification. The Emergent Bilingual Support Division has provided the following guidance.

At the end of the school year, a district may reclassify an emergent bilingual (EB) student/English Learner (EL) as English proficient if the student is able to participate equally in an English instructional program with no second language acquisition supports as determined by satisfactory performance in the following assessment areas below and the results of a subjective teacher evaluation using the state’s Emergent Bilingual/English Learner Reclassification Rubric. Given the release date for the TELPAS Writing scores, LEAs will be have a 30 calendar day extension in the Fall of 2023, to allow language proficiency assessment committees (LPACs) to meet and consider possible reclassification.  LPACs should continue considering all 4 language domains using the 2023 TELPAS Assessment for reclassification purposes. The current Emergent Bilingual/English Learner Reclassification Criteria chart is still applicable for the 2022 –2023 school year.

Assessment Scoring and Reporting

Spring 2023 TELPAS Administration

• Holistic Rating Upload Process

With the implementation of the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) holistic rating upload process, new information has been added to the Enter Student Information into TIDE section of the District and Campus Coordinator Resources and the TIDE User Guide. In addition, minor updates have been made to the TELPAS Test Administrator Manual, the TELPAS Rater Manual, and the TELPAS Test Administration Information to reflect this new process. These documents can be found on the Texas Program Manuals and Materials webpage.

• Calibration Passcodes

For the spring 2023 administration of TELPAS, a document titled TELPAS Holistic Rating Training Coordinator Resources will be posted to the district testing coordinator’s secure inbox in the Test Information Delivery Engine (TIDE) on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. This document includes information about online training for TELPAS holistic ratings as well as passcodes for monitored calibration sessions. The information in this document should only be shared with other designated testing personnel acting as district coordinator assistants or campus testing coordinators. Raters should be provided the appropriate passcodes only at monitored calibration sessions.

Test Delivery System Update

The Test Delivery System (TDS), including the student and test administrator interfaces, will be unavailable from 8:00 p.m. (CT) on Friday, February 3, 2023, until 5:00 a.m. (CT) on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

For questions or assistance regarding the information in this communication, contact Texas Testing Support at 833-601-8821, TexasTestingSupport@cambiumassessment.com, or TexasAssessment.gov via live chat.

Performance Reporting Calendar

February: Updated 2023 A–F System Framework Release

Late March: Alternative Education Accountability (AEA) Campus Registration Window 

April-May: What If Report (TEAL and Public Web) Release April-May: Preliminary 2023 Accountability Manual Release

Late May: College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) Verifier Corrections Window 

August 2023: Final 2023 Accountability Manual (All Chapters and Appendices) Release

September 2023: Accountability ratings under the refreshed system released.

OTHER IMPORTANT UPDATES:

Teacher Leadership Fellowship Application

TEA is launching a new Teacher Leadership Fellowship (TLF) in June of 2023. The TLF is a highly selective yearlong fellowship designed to strengthen teacher leadership pathways at the state-level and increase meaningful opportunities for teachers to shape the profession.  Fellows will meet monthly from June 2023-June 2024, and will have the opportunity to continue their fellowship for a second year. Teachers in the fellowship will develop their leadership skills, collaborate with educators across the state, and provide timely input to TEA staff on state-level initiatives and programs.

Teachers interested in the fellowship should submit their Teacher Leadership Fellowship application by Monday, March 20th. To be eligible for the program, teacher applicants must be currently serving as a teacher of record, have a minimum of 2 years teaching experience, and plan to remain in a classroom teaching role for the 2023-2024 school year.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Kyla Jaramillo.

2022-2025 Safety Standards Formula Grant Application Deadline Extension

The 2022-2025 School Safety Standards Formula Grant application has been extended to meet LEA needs. Your LEA grantee application will be due 5:00pm CST on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.  

For grant details please visit TEA's grant opportunities webpage, and search for this grant by using the keywords "2022-2025 School Safety Standards Formula Grant".

For information and guidance regarding the School Safety Standards grant and other school safety related grant programs please visit here. 

To submit questions regarding the SPAT grant, Safety Standards Grant, or Proposed Standards, please complete this form. 

2022-2023 School Health Survey

The annual School Health Survey is available for school district and open-enrollment charter school completion through June 2, 2023. 

Texas Education Code (TEC), §38.0141, requires school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to provide the agency with information relating to school health and physical activity. The School Health Survey has been developed for this purpose, and data gathered will allow the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and policy makers to better address the health-related needs of Texas public schools and students. Please forward this letter to the most appropriate member of your staff to complete the survey. 

The survey is expected to take approximately 15-30 minutes to complete. This survey must be completed online and can be submitted only once for each school district and open-enrollment charter school. Responses should reflect the 2022-2023 academic year and may require input from different staff members within the district or charter school to completely answer the survey questions. A copy of the survey questions is attached for your convenience. 

Please submit data for your district or charter school no later than Friday, June 2, 2023. To access the survey, please visit https://tea.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4I0bsXVTqjQjwXA, or scan the QR code at the bottom of the letter. Detailed instructions are provided at the beginning of the survey. 

If you have questions concerning the survey, please contact, Barney Fudge, Health and Physical Education Coordinator, by phone at (512) 463-9581 or by email at healthandsafety@tea.texas.gov.  

Your input is very valuable and will assist TEA in understanding how your district or charter school is implementing school health mandates and other health-related programs and policies. Thank you for your time, and your cooperation in support of this important project is appreciated. 

2022-2023 School Health Survey QR Code

Attachment: 2022-2023 School Health Survey (PDF)

Do you have exciting news to share?

Send your Charter School Spotlight, news, and events to allison.werner@tea.texas.gov