The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as
amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), requires a participating
Local Educational Agency (LEA) to provide eligible children attending private
elementary and secondary schools, their teachers, and their families with
services or other benefits that are equitable. Under ESEA Section 1117, the
written Affirmation of Consultation is required. The Affirmation serves dual
purpose in the following ways: 1) as documentation of participating and
non-participating schools and 2) it assures the State Education Agency (SEA)
that the Local Education Agency (LEA) has contacted the private schools in
their attendance area and proves meaningful, timely consultation has taken
place. Therefore, all districts must upload a copy of the Affirmation of
Consultation form into Indistar by May 1, 2021.
Each LEA shall maintain in their records an Affirmation
of Consultation form, signed and dated by the private schools and public school
officials that verifies that the required consultation has occurred. If the
private school officials and the LEA have not completed or finalized their
consultation process by the above date, the district must retain documentation in their onsite
files to show at least
three (3) good faith attempts were made to contact them.
Non-Regulatory Guidance
Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress passed, the
President signed and a resolution of regulations was published on November 29,
2016; however, the updated non-regulatory guidance (October 7, 2019) document
regarding equitable services is now applicable. This updated
non-regulatory guidance (October 7, 2019) supersedes the U.S. Department of
Education’s (Department) guidance entitled: Title I Services to Eligible
Private School Children, Non-Regulatory Guidance (October 17, 2003); Ensuring
Equitable Services to Private School Children: A Title I Resource Tool Kit
(September 2006); and the equitable services guidance contained in
Non-Regulatory Guidance: Fiscal Changes and Equitable Services Requirements
under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as Amended by
the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (November 21, 2016).
This guidance document only addresses Title I equitable
services to eligible private school children, their teachers, and their
families. The ESEA also includes other programs that require State educational
agencies (SEAs) and LEAs to provide for the equitable participation of eligible
private school students and their teachers and other educational personnel,
including those programs governed by the Title VIII, Part F, Uniform
Provisions, which the Department will address in separate updated guidance.
Comments addressed a variety of topics, including the
following key issues: administrative costs, allowable uses of funds,
consultation, obligation of funds, carryover, calculation of poverty data,
proportional share of Title I funds for equitable services, pooling of funds,
parental involvement, third-party contractors, religious organizations as
third-party contractors, and transferability. These items can be found at:
https://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/non-public
-education/files/equitable-services-guidance-100419.pdf
In response to the
comments, the Department added the following new questions in the updated
non-regulatory guidance:
- A-6: Who is responsible for
initiating consultation?
- B-9: May an LEA make a unilateral
decision to pool funds among several private schools to provide equitable
services?
- B-28: How does the 15 percent
carryover limitation in ESEA section 1127(a) apply to equitable services
carryover?
- B-31: May an LEA impose reasonable
deadlines on private school officials to facilitate meeting the obligation
of funds requirement in ESEA section 1117(a)(4)(B)?
- C-2: Are preschool children in a
private school eligible to receive equitable services under Title I?
- C-32: If an LEA
contracts with a third-party provider, must the third-party provider
employ Title I teachers and paraprofessionals who meet the State’s
qualification requirements?
- F-3: If private
school officials or another interested party are dissatisfied with an
SEA’s resolution of a complaint, what recourse is
available?
- F-6: If a SEA determines that it
must provide equitable services in lieu of an LEA in accordance with ESEA
section 1117(b)(6)(C), what funds does it use to provide the services?
- F-9: How do private school
officials request a by - pass?
- C-33: Must a paraprofessional
employed by an LEA to provide equitable services work under the direct
supervision of a public-school teacher?
The following program staff should be contacted regarding
guidance on specific programs:
- State Ombudsman – Bobby Lester, bobby.lester@arkansas.gov
- Title I, Part A -
Jayne Green, jayne.green@arkansas.gov
- Title II, Part A – Carolyn Betts,
carolyn.betts@arkansas.gov
- Title I, Part C -
Damaris Tomlinson, damaris.tomlison@arkansas.gov
- Title III, Part A – Tricia Kerr, tricia.kerr@arkansas.gov
- Title IV, Part A - Otistene Smith, otistene.smith@arkansas.gov
- Title IV-21st CCLC - Wendy
Wilson, wendy.wilson@arkansas.gov
Please upload the Affirmation of Consultation form into
Indistar folder titled, 2021-22 Form Uploads, by May1, 2021.