§6312 Local Educational Agency Plans

Summary

Local school districts must have a state-approved plan on file to get these federal funds. The plan must be made with timely, meaningful input from teachers, principals, school staff, charter leaders (if any), and parents. It should fit with other federal programs like IDEA, the Rehabilitation Act, Perkins Career and Technical Education, WIOA, Head Start, McKinney-Vento, and Adult Education. The state sets the filing schedule and will approve the plan only if it helps students meet the State’s academic standards and follows the law. The first plan was due for the first year after December 10, 2015, and stays in effect while the district uses the funds. Districts must review and update the plan regularly, and getting input cannot delay filing on time. The plan must explain how the district will track and improve student progress. It must cover having well-rounded instruction, finding students at risk, giving extra help, and improving teaching and school conditions. It must address cases where low-income or minority students get ineffective, inexperienced, or out-of-field teachers more often than others. The plan must also say how the district will pick high-poverty attendance areas, describe the main programs it will run (including services for neglected, delinquent, and homeless children tied to McKinney-Vento), describe parent and family engagement, coordinate with early childhood programs and transitions to higher grades and college or careers, reduce removing students from class as discipline, and possibly support career-technical and work-based learning, gifted services, and school libraries. The district must promise to serve migratory children equally, consult and serve eligible private school students, take part in NAEP in reading and math in grades 4 and 8 if selected, coordinate services for English learners and other special groups, work with child welfare to name a point of contact and, by not later than 1 year after December 10, 2015, put in writing how transportation will be arranged and paid so children in foster care can stay in their school of origin, make sure teachers and paraprofessionals meet State certification (including alternative routes), and follow Head Start performance standards if using funds for early childhood services. The Department of Education will work with HHS and share Head Start education standards and guidance. At the start of each school year, districts must tell parents they can request teacher qualification information and must provide it on request. They must also tell each parent, when available, their child’s test achievement and growth and must notify parents promptly if a child has been taught for 4 or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who does not meet State certification for that grade and subject. Districts must inform parents about assessment policies and opt-out rights, and post or otherwise share clear information about each required test (subject, purpose, why it is required, time and schedule, and how results will be shared). For English learners, within 30 days after the school year starts the district must explain why the child was identified, the child’s English level and how it was measured, the instruction methods and alternatives, how the program meets the child’s needs and helps the child learn English and meet standards, exit rules and expected transition/graduation rates, how the program fits an IEP if the child has a disability, and parents’ rights to remove or decline the program or choose another option. If a child is identified as an English learner during the year, parents must be told within the first 2 weeks. Districts must reach out to EL parents, hold regular meetings, and provide all notices in a clear, uniform way and, when possible, in the parents’ language. Students cannot be excluded or placed in programs based on surname or language-minority status.