[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 127 (Friday, July 2, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40360-40365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-15121]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Notice Authorizing Schoolwide Programs To Consolidate Federal
Education Funds and Exempting Them From Complying With Statutory or
Regulatory Provisions of Those Programs
AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of
Education.
ACTION: Notice of authorization and exemption of schoolwide programs.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Secretary of Education (the Secretary) authorizes a
schoolwide program under Part A of Title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), to consolidate funds from Federal education
programs that the Secretary administers and exempts the school from
complying with many statutory or regulatory provisions of those
programs, if the intent and purposes of the programs are met in the
schoolwide program. This notice identifies which Federal education
program funds and services may be incorporated in a schoolwide program
and provides guidance on
[[Page 40361]]
satisfying the intent and purposes of the programs incorporated.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacquelyn C. Jackson, Ed.D, Acting
Director, Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs,
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3W202, FB-6, Washington, DC
20202-6132. Telephone (202) 260-0826.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Schoolwide Programs In General
A schoolwide program is a comprehensive reform strategy to improve
the academic achievement of all students in the school, particularly
the lowest-achieving students. Schoolwide programs grew out of research
about what makes schools work for disadvantaged students. Repeated
findings show that staff in highly successful high poverty schools
develop and carry out comprehensive schoolwide reform strategies,
establish safe environments that are conducive to learning, and support
enriched instruction in an expanded core of subjects for all students.
Over the years, researchers have documented that, when the entire
school is the target of change, schools serving even the most
academically challenged students can achieve success.
Section 1114 of Title I authorizes a school with a concentration of
poverty of at least 40 percent to use funds under Title I, Part A,
along with other Federal, State and local funds, to operate a
schoolwide program and upgrade the entire educational program in the
school in order to improve the academic achievement of all students,
particularly the lowest-achieving students. This is in contrast to a
Title I targeted assistance program, in which Part A funds may be used
only for supplementary educational services for eligible children
identified as being most at risk of not meeting State standards. The
school operating a schoolwide program may also combine other Federal
education funds (see the heading ``Inclusion of Other Federal Education
Program Funds'').
There are three core elements of a schoolwide program. (1) A school
operating as a schoolwide program must conduct a comprehensive needs
assessment of the entire school to determine the performance of its
students in relation to the State's challenging academic content and
achievement standards. (2) Using data from its needs assessment, the
school must then develop a comprehensive plan to improve teaching and
learning in the school, particularly for those students farthest away
from demonstrating proficiency on the State's academic content and
achievement standards. The comprehensive plan must (a) include
schoolwide reform strategies that are research-based and designed to
strengthen the core academic program so that all students attain
proficient and advanced levels of achievement; (b) provide for
instruction by highly qualified teachers and contain strategies to
attract them; (c) provide high-quality and ongoing professional
development for staff and parents; (d) include strategies to increase
parental involvement; (e) provide activities to ensure that students
who experience difficulty attaining proficiency receive effective and
timely additional assistance; (f) include plans for assisting preschool
students in the successful transition from early childhood programs to
elementary schoolwide programs; and (g) provide for coordination and
integration of Federal, State and local services and programs. (3) A
school operating a schoolwide program must annually evaluate the
implementation of, and the results achieved by, the schoolwide program
and revise the plan as necessary based on the results of the evaluation
to ensure continuous improvement of students in the school. The final
Title I regulations that were published in the Federal Register on
December 2, 2002 (67 FR 71710) explain schoolwide programs in greater
detail.
A school operating a schoolwide program is not required to identify
particular students as eligible to participate in the schoolwide
program, or demonstrate that the services provided with Title I, Part A
funds are supplemental to services that would otherwise be provided.
The school is also not required to maintain separate fiscal accounting
records, by program, that identify the specific activities supported by
those particular funds, but must maintain records that demonstrate that
the schoolwide program addresses the intent and purposes of each of the
Federal programs whose funds were consolidated to support the
schoolwide program. Each State educational agency (SEA) must encourage
schools to consolidate funds from Federal, State and local sources in
their schoolwide programs, and must modify or eliminate State fiscal
and accounting barriers so that these funds can be more easily
consolidated.
Inclusion of Other Federal Education Program Funds
A school that operates a schoolwide program may consolidate funds
from other Federal education programs in addition to Title I, Part A
funds to improve academic achievement throughout the school.
Specifically, section 1114(a)(3)(A) of Title I authorizes the
Secretary, through publication of a notice in the Federal Register, to
permit schoolwide programs to consolidate funds from any other
noncompetitive, formula grant program or any discretionary grant
program administered by the Secretary and to exempt schoolwide program
schools from many statutory and regulatory provisions of the programs
whose funds are consolidated, if the intent and purposes of the
programs are met.
Except as noted below and consistent with section 1114 of Title I
and this notice, the Secretary authorizes a schoolwide program school
to consolidate funds that the school receives from any Federal
education program, administered by the Secretary, whose funds can be
used to carry out activities in a public elementary or secondary
school. This authority also extends to services, materials, and
equipment purchased with those funds and provided to a public
elementary or secondary school. To provide schoolwide program schools
maximum discretion in using resources from Federal education programs
to their best advantage, the Secretary encourages local educational
agencies (LEAs), to the extent possible, to provide Federal funds
directly to those schools, rather than only providing personnel,
materials, or equipment. All consolidated funds and services must
support the school's schoolwide plan.
This authority affords a schoolwide program school significant
flexibility to better serve all students by improving the entire
instructional program, rather than only providing separate services to
specific target populations. The Secretary emphasizes that a school
operating a schoolwide program must address the needs of all students
in the school, particularly the needs of the lowest-achieving students
who are members of the target population of any program that is
included in the schoolwide program.
A schoolwide program school may not consolidate funds under Subpart
1
[[Page 40362]]
of Part B of Title I of the ESEA (Reading First) to establish reading
programs for students in kindergarten through grade 3.
A schoolwide program school may consolidate funds under the
following programs only as outlined below:
Migrant Education. Consistent with section 1306(b)(4) of
Title I and 34 CFR 200.29(c)(1) before a school operating as a
schoolwide program consolidates funds received under Part C of Title I,
ESEA for the education of migratory children, the school must, in
consultation with parents of migratory children or organizations
representing those parents, or both, first meet the unique educational
needs of migratory students that result from the effects of their
migratory lifestyle and those other needs that are necessary to permit
those students to participate effectively in school, and must document
that these needs have been met.
Indian Education. Consistent with section 7115(c) of the
ESEA and 34 CFR 200.29(c)(2), a school operating as a schoolwide
program may consolidate funds received under Subpart 1 of Part A of
Title VII of the ESEA regarding Indian education only if the parent
committee established by the LEA under section 7114(c)(4) of the ESEA
approves the inclusion of those funds.
Special Education. Consistent with section 613 (a)(2)(D)
of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and 34 CFR
200.29(c)(3), a school that operates as a schoolwide program may
consolidate funds received under Part B of IDEA. However, the amount of
funds consolidated may not exceed the amount received by the LEA under
Part B of IDEA for that fiscal year, divided by the number of children
with disabilities in the jurisdiction of the LEA, and multiplied by the
number of children with disabilities participating in the schoolwide
program. A school may also consolidate funds it receives for students
with disabilities under section 8003(d) of the ESEA. A school that
consolidates funds under Part B of IDEA or section 8003(d) of the ESEA
may use those funds in its schoolwide program for any activities under
its schoolwide program plan but must comply with all other requirements
of Part B of IDEA, to the same extent it would if it did not
consolidate funds under Part B of IDEA or section 8003(d) of the ESEA
in the schoolwide program.
The Secretary notes that he does not administer the National School
Lunch Program or Head Start programs. As a result, the authority to
consolidate funds in a schoolwide program does not extend to those
programs.
In addition, the authority to consolidate funds from other Federal
programs in schoolwide program schools does not apply to funds that are
allocated by formula to nonschoolwide program schools in an LEA. This
is not an authority to redistribute funds among schools. Any
redistribution of funds would have to be consistent with the
authorizing statute.
Satisfying ``Intent and Purposes''
Consistent with section 1114 of Title I, a school that consolidates
and uses, in a schoolwide program, funds from any other Federal program
administered by the Secretary, except Reading First, is not required to
meet most statutory or regulatory requirements of the program
applicable at the school level, but must meet the intent and purposes
of that program to ensure that the needs of the intended beneficiaries
are met. Such a school must be able to demonstrate that its schoolwide
program contains sufficient resources and activities to reasonably
address the intent and purpose of included programs, particularly as
they relate to the lowest-performing students.
The school is not required to maintain separate fiscal accounting
records, by program, that identify the specific activities supported by
those particular program funds. It must, however, maintain records that
demonstrate that the schoolwide program as a whole addresses the intent
and purposes of each of the Federal education programs whose funds were
consolidated to support it.
A school operating a schoolwide program must identify in its
schoolwide plan the programs that have been consolidated and address
how it intends to meet the intent and purposes of those programs.
The following examples illustrate how a schoolwide program can meet
the intent and purposes of specific Federal education programs. An LEA
should make similar determinations for all other programs it combines.
Title IV, Part A, Subpart 1--Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities
State Grants Program
The intent and purposes of this program are to support programs
that prevent violence in and around schools; prevent the illegal use of
alcohol, tobacco and drugs; and involve parents and communities in
efforts to foster a safe and drug-free learning environment that
supports student achievement. A schoolwide program school may
demonstrate that it has met these intent and purposes if the school has
implemented drug and violence prevention programs and activities that
are consistent with the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act
principles of effectiveness, and are coordinated with other school and
community-based services and programs.
Title I, Part D, Subpart 2--Prevention and Intervention Programs for
Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk
The intent and purposes of this program are to support the
operation of LEA programs that involve collaboration with locally
operated correctional facilities to (1) carry out high-quality
education programs to prepare children and youth for secondary school
completion, training, employment, or further education; (2) provide
activities to facilitate the transition of such students and youth from
the correctional program to further education or employment; and (3)
operate programs in local schools for children and youth returning from
correctional facilities and programs that may serve at-risk children
and youth. A schoolwide program school may demonstrate that it meets
the intent and purposes of this program if its comprehensive schoolwide
plan addresses the need to improve educational services and
opportunities for the achievement of neglected or delinquent children,
by, for example, providing transitional programming for students
returning from institutionalization to further schooling or by creating
other support systems to prevent these students from dropping out of
school.
Title III, Part A, Subpart 1--English Language Acquisition and Language
Enhancement and Academic Achievement
The intent and purposes of this program are to help ensure that
children with limited English proficiency become proficient in English,
develop high academic attainment in English, and meet the same
challenging State academic content and achievement standards in the
core academic subjects that all other children are expected to meet.
Another purpose of this program is to increase the capacity of schools
to establish, implement and sustain high-quality language instruction
programs and English language development programs that assist schools
in effectively teaching students with limited English proficiency.
Title III, Part A is also designed to promote the participation of
parents and communities of limited English
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proficient children in English language instruction programs.
A schoolwide program may demonstrate that it meets these intents
and purposes if it incorporates strategies that provide high-quality
instruction for students with limited English proficiency in English in
the core academic subjects that are designed to assist these students
in attaining the same high academic content and achievement standards
that all children are expected to meet. In addition, to meet the
intents and purposes of this program, a schoolwide school must support
the participation of the parents of limited English proficient students
in English language instruction programs through the parent involvement
component of the schoolwide program.
Title II, Part A--Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality
Teachers and Principals
The intent and purposes of this program are to increase student
academic achievement through strategies such as improving teacher and
principal quality; increasing the number of highly qualified teachers,
principals, and assistant principals in schools; and holding LEAs and
schools accountable for improvements in student academic achievement.
A schoolwide program may demonstrate that it meets the intent and
purposes of this program if the school's comprehensive plan contains
activities and strategies that promote increased student achievement
such as helping teachers and the principal or principals become more
highly qualified through high-quality professional development;
increasing the number of highly qualified teachers in the school
through recruitment initiatives; and implementing initiatives designed
to promote the retention of highly qualified teachers, such as teacher
mentoring and support or other incentives.
IDEA, Part B
To help facilitate the inclusion of students with disabilities, the
1997 Amendments to the IDEA, under Section 613(a)(2)(D) and 34 CFR
300.234(a), provided new flexibility to LEAs. The Amendments allow an
LEA to use a portion of the funds received under Part B of IDEA for any
fiscal year to carry out a schoolwide program under the ESEA, so long
as students with disabilities included in such schoolwide programs
receive special education and related services in accordance with a
properly developed Individualized Education Program (IEP), and are
afforded all of the rights and services guaranteed to children with
disabilities under IDEA.
The intent and purpose of the IDEA is to ensure that all children
with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public
education designed to meet their individual needs. A schoolwide program
may demonstrate that it meets the intent and purpose of this program by
ensuring that, except as to certain use of funds requirements, all the
requirements of the IDEA are met, and that children with disabilities
are included in schoolwide activities.
High-quality professional development required for all staff and
designed to result in improved learning outcomes for all children,
including children with disabilities, is one example of a schoolwide
activity that meets the intent and purposes of the IDEA. For example, a
school may combine IDEA, Part B funds with other program funds for
professional development activities that support the implementation of
a comprehensive student assessment model aligned with student academic
content and achievement standards that enables teachers of all core
academic subjects to incorporate alternative assessment procedures in
the instructional setting in order to diagnose student achievement and
monitor student progress on an ongoing basis. Alternate assessment
procedures might include individual reading inventories, writing
samples, classroom observations, conferences, and self-assessments.
Using this kind of professional development as a way of meeting the
intent and purposes of the IDEA ensures that all students, regardless
of their special needs, will benefit.
Requirements With Which a Schoolwide Program School Must Comply
A school that consolidates funds from other Federal programs in its
schoolwide program is not relieved of the requirements relating to--
Health and safety.
Civil rights. These include the requirements of Title VI
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments
of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age
Discrimination Act of 1975, and Title II of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990. In addition, if a schoolwide program school
receives Magnet Schools Assistance funds to eliminate, reduce, or
prevent minority group isolation, the school must continue to operate
under its desegregation plan.
Participation and involvement of parents and students. A
schoolwide program school must implement extensive parent involvement
requirements under Part A that would likely satisfy most, if not all,
parent involvement requirements in other Federal education programs.
Private school children, teachers, and other educational
personnel. Applicable requirements concerning the equitable
participation of eligible private school children, teachers, and other
educational personnel under other Federal education programs must be
met even though funds from those programs are consolidated in
schoolwide program schools.
Maintenance of effort. For programs covered under the
maintenance of effort requirements in section 9521 of the ESEA, those
requirements would be met through participation in Part A. Note that
the use of IDEA funds in a schoolwide program does not change an LEA's
obligation to meet the maintenance of effort requirements in 34 CFR
300.231.
Comparability of services. To be eligible to receive funds
under Parts A and C of Title I, an LEA must already meet the
comparability requirements in section 1120A(c) of Title I with respect
to schoolwide program schools. If an LEA consolidates funds under the
Carl D. Perkins State Vocational and Applied Technology Education
Program in a secondary schoolwide program, the school must be provided
services from State and local funds that, taken as a whole, are at
least comparable to the services being provided in other secondary
schools or sites within the same LEA that are not being served with
Perkins funds.
Use of Federal funds to supplement, not supplant non-
Federal funds. A school operating as a schoolwide program must receive
at least the same amount of State and local funds that, in the
aggregate, it would have received in the absence of the schoolwide
program, including funds needed to provide services that are required
by law for children with disabilities and children with limited English
proficiency. The school, however, does not have to demonstrate that the
specific services provided to students with those funds are
supplemental to services that would have been provided to them in that
school in the absence of the schoolwide program.
Distribution of Funds to State Educational Agencies (SEAs) and LEAs
Cross-Cutting Federal Requirements
There are requirements contained in the General Education
Provisions Act and in the Education Department
[[Page 40364]]
General Administrative Regulations that apply generally to Department
of Education grants, including Title I. To the extent that these
requirements affect activities in schools, they would also apply to a
schoolwide program school by virtue of its participation in Title I.
The consolidation of Department programs in a schoolwide program,
however, would not add to these requirements or require that they be
applied separately on a program-by-program basis.
Discretionary Grant Funds
In general, a schoolwide program school may consolidate funds it
receives from discretionary (competitive) grants as well as from
formula grants, except for Reading First as indicated earlier in this
notice. If a schoolwide program school consolidates funds from
discretionary grant programs, the school must still carry out the
activities described in the application under which the funds were
awarded. However, a schoolwide program school would not need to account
separately for specific expenditures of the consolidated Federal funds.
Although not required, it is preferable that the applicant LEA or
school indicate in its application for discretionary funds that some or
all of the funds would be used to support a schoolwide program and
describe its activities accordingly. Moreover, if authorized by the
program statute, the Department or an SEA could include in its
selection criteria for a particular program extra points for conducting
activities in a schoolwide program school. For example, an SEA could
include such points when awarding subgrants under the Even Start Family
Literacy program, which requires an SEA to give priority to applicants
that target services to families in need of family literacy services
residing in areas with high levels of poverty, illiteracy, or other
such need-related factors, including projects that would serve a high
percentage of children who reside in participating areas under Part A.
The following examples illustrate how schoolwide program schools
can consolidate and use discretionary grant funds by carrying out the
activities described in the application under which the funds were
awarded.
Programs Under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, Title II of
the Workforce Investment Act of 1998
The intent and purposes of Adult Education and Family Literacy
programs are to improve the basic and literacy skills of adults through
high-quality research-based programs that will equip those adults to
succeed in the next phase of their education and employment as
demonstrated by meeting core performance indicators. An LEA receiving
Adult Education and Family Literacy Act funds has the flexibility to
determine how it will offer services. Some LEAs may decide to offer
services at the district level; others may decide to offer services
through schools, including them as part of a schoolwide program. A
schoolwide school that combines Adult Education and Family Literacy
funds must still carry out the activities described in the LEA's Adult
Education and Family Literacy Act application under which the funds
were awarded, including complying with the performance reporting and
accountability requirements established by the State to meet the
requirements of section 212 of the Act.
A schoolwide program school could incorporate adult literacy
services in a number of ways, e.g., as part of a family literacy
program or as part of a parent involvement strategy to help parents
work with their children to improve their children's achievement.
However adult literacy services are addressed through a schoolwide
program, however, the school's comprehensive plan must contain specific
goals and objectives for meeting the core performance indicators.
Even Start Family Literacy Programs
If an LEA participates in a partnership that receives an Even Start
discretionary subgrant, the approved project may be part of a
schoolwide program as long as the LEA and its required partners carry
out the activities described in the Even Start application under which
the funds were awarded, including serving families with eligible adults
and children generally under the age of eight. A schoolwide program
school can consolidate and use Even Start discretionary grant funds by
offering a four-component family literacy program that is an integral
part of the overall instructional program of the school. This family
literacy program must integrate high-quality, intensive, instructional
programs based on scientifically based reading research (to the extent
that research is available) in four areas: Early childhood education,
adult literacy (adult basic and secondary-level education and/or
instruction for English language learners), parenting education, and
interactive parent and child literacy activities. While each eligible
family that participates in these family literacy services must be most
in need of the services for Even Start purposes, a schoolwide program
could extend these services to other needy families as part of a
comprehensive parent involvement strategy.
Limitations
This notice does not apply to nonschoolwide program schools that
participate in Title I. Those schools must comply with all statutory
and regulatory requirements that apply to funds or benefits they
receive. This notice also does not relieve an LEA from complying with
all requirements that do not affect the operation of a schoolwide
program. For example, to the extent an LEA is required under the
Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to designate a homeless
liaison to ensure, among other things, that homeless children and youth
enroll and succeed in school, the LEA would not be relieved of this
requirement by virtue of operating one or more schoolwide programs.
Guidance and Technical Assistance
The Secretary intends to issue additional guidance on schoolwide
programs in the near future. In addition, staff in the office of
Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs, in conjunction
with staff in the other affected Federal program offices, are available
to assist LEAs and schools operating schoolwide programs to implement
the authority contained in this notice. If LEAs or schools have
specific questions, they should contact Jacquelyn C. Jackson, Ed.D,
Director, Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs, as
provided in the section FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site:
http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.010, Improving
Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies)
[[Page 40365]]
Dated: June 28, 2004.
Rod Paige,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 04-15121 Filed 7-1-04; 8:45 am]
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