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CALPADS Frequently Asked Questions

List of frequently asked questions for CALPADS.

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Answers to many questions can most likely be answered in relevant California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) documentation, which you'll find on the CALPADS System Documentation web page.

For responses to some frequently asked questions related to the COVID-19 coronavirus and pertaining to CALPADS data collection, visit: FAQs: COVID-19 and CALPADS Data Collection

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General Topics

California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE)

Are LEAs required to change or update any existing student CALPADS data due to the suspension of the CAHSEE requirement?

With the passage of Senate Bill 172, the data in CALPADS will continue to reflect the implementation of graduation requirements at the time the data were reported. Prior year graduate counts will not be recalculated; therefore, LEAs do not need to change or update any CALPADS data as a result of the suspension of the CAHSEE requirement except in two scenarios in compliance with SB 725:

Scenario 1: 2014–15 Graduates

  • LEAs will be required to change data if they have already submitted exit/completion data for 2014–15 graduates.
  • For 2014–15 graduates (students who have met all applicable graduation requirements other than the passage of the CAHSEE), LEAs should make sure that these students are exited with a Student Exit Category Code of E230 (Completer Exit) and a School Completion Status Code of 100 (Graduated, standard HS diploma).
  • Any students reported with a School Completion Status Code of 104 (Completed local and state requirements, failed CAHSEE, and did not receive a high school diploma) will not be counted as graduates and will be counted as dropouts.
  • It is not necessary to change the Enrollment Exit Date in this scenario.

Scenario 2: 2012–13 and 2013–14 “Now” Graduates

  • For students who met all applicable graduation requirements in 2012–13 and 2013–14 except for passage of the CAHSEE, LEAs may enroll these students in CALPADS in the 2014–15 academic year for one day and then exit them the next day with a Student Exit Category of E230 (Completer Exit) and a School Completion Status code of 100 (Graduated, standard HS diploma) if LEAs want these students to be counted as 5th or 6th year graduates.
  • LEAs should enroll and exit the students on any day in the 2014–15 academic year, regardless of the date affixed to the diploma provided to the student (which must be on or after January 1, 2016).
What is the best way to update enrollment exits that used School Completion Status Code 104 for students in graduating class years 2012–13, 2013–14, and 2014–15?

For School Completion Status Code 104 (Completed local and state requirements, failed CAHSEE, and did not receive a high school diploma), refer to the chart below.

Graduating Class Year: Update CALPADS to: To be counted as:
2014 –15 Exit Code E230, Completion Code 100 A 2014–15 graduate
2013–14 A one day enrollment in the 2014–15 academic year with Exit Code E230, Completion Code 100 A 2014 –15 5th year graduate
2012–13 A one day enrollment in the 2014–15 academic year with Exit Code E230, Completion Code 100 A 2014–15 6th year graduate
2011–12 and before No updates No changes
Since students exited with School Completion Status Code 106 (Grad with CAHSEE Waiver) or 108 (Grad, with CAHSEE exempt) already count as graduates, must they be changed to School Completion Status Code 100 (Graduated, standard HS diploma)?

LEAs do not need to change/update the School Completion Status codes for students exited with a School Completion Status code of 106 or 108, because these students are already counted as graduates.

What will happen to School Completion Status Codes 104, 106 and 108?

Since School Completion Status codes 104, 106, and 108 are no longer needed, they will be retired:

  • School Completion Status Code 104 will be retired as of 8/15/2014 (end of the dropout reporting cycle).
  • School Completion Status Codes 106 and 108 will be retired as of 8/15/2015.

CALPADS Data in the California School Dashboard

What are the rules the California School Dashboard uses when placing students into student groups such as English Learners and Students with Disabilities?
All of the business rules for how CALPADS data are used for purposes of student groups in the Dashboard are outlined in the California School Dashboard Technical Guide (PDF).

CALPADS Documentation

What documentation is available for CALPADS?

Most of the system and user documentation for CALPADS can be found on the CALPADS Systems Documentation Web page, including:

  • CALPADS File Specifications (CFS) – The CFS document includes an overview of the CALPADS file formats, an overview of the CALPADS data submission windows, the CALPADS submission calendar, descriptions of the document conventions, and a detailed outline of all CALPADS file formats.
  • CALPADS Code Sets – The CALPADS Code Sets document is in MS Excel format and contains the current code values referenced in the CFS for the coded value data elements. The CALPADS Code Sets document includes the code set name, coded value, name, and description for each code value in the table.
  • CALPADS Valid Code Combinations – This document shows codes that can only be used in specific combinations in CALPADS.
  • CALPADS SSID and Enrollment Procedures – This document contains general procedures and business rules for obtaining and maintaining Statewide Student Identifiers (SSIDs).
  • CALPADS Data Guide – This document provides guidance for LEAS regarding the collection and submission of data for CALPADS.
  • CALPADS Error List – This document contains descriptions for each error generated when submitting data to CALPADS.
  • CALPADS Release Updates – This document contains the latest information on technical fixes that have occurred in CALPADS.
  • CALPADS User Manual – This document contains detailed instructions on “how to use” CALPADS, including “How to log in,” “How to navigate,” “How to enroll a student,” etc.
  • CALPADS Assessment User Manual – This document is an extension of the user manual, and the document includes information relevant only to Assessment functionality.

More documents can be found via the “Help” menu once users log in to CALPADS:

  • LEA Operations Manual – This document contains information for CALPADS LEA administrators regarding “How to assign local user access,” “How to map local codes,” and “How to assign anomaly contacts and certifiers.”
  • CALPADS Quick Start Guides – These guides provide step-by-step instructions for key CALPADS functionality.
  • The CALPADS User Manual and the CALPADS Assessment User Manual are accessible here as well.
Will there be valid codes defined that an LEA can use to indicate that a record should be ignored by CALPADS (for example, to eliminate course records used locally to schedule lunch)?

Currently there is no plan to provide these codes, and if an LEA uses invalid codes, the records will be rejected.

CALPADS Participation

Is participation in CALPADS mandatory?

Yes: Participation in CALPADS is mandatory. In order to comply with federal law as delineated in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), California Education Code Section 60900 requires local educational agencies to use unique pupil identification numbers (Statewide Student Identifiers or SSIDs) for students enrolled in California public K-12 local educational agencies, and retain all data required by ESSA, including, but not limited to, data required to calculate enrollment and dropout and graduation rates.

What do LEAs tell parents who want to inspect their children’s data in CALPADS?

Consistent with California Education Code Section 49069, parents and legal guardians have the right to access any and all pupil records related to their children that are maintained by school districts, including data in CALPADS. A parent or legal guardian desiring to inspect his/her child’s CALPADS data should first contact the LEA or independently-reporting charter school where the student is enrolled to initiate this procedure, and then the LEA will make the data available to the parent or guardian.

CALPADS User Accounts

How can an LEA determine who the CALPADS LEA Administrator account holder is for their LEA?

LEAs may contact the CALPADS Service Desk by submitting a service ticket online via the CALPADS Service Request Form or by sending an e-mail to calpads-support@cde.ca.gov stating their request.

CALPADS Hardware and Software Requirements

What are the hardware and software requirements for using CALPADS?

Any computer which can run one of the supported browsers listed below:

  • Internet Explorer 8.0+ (desktop version)
  • Firefox (latest desktop version)
  • Google Chrome (latest desktop version)
  • Safari (latest desktop version)

CBEDS vs. CALPADS

What is the difference between the California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) and CALPADS data collections?

CBEDS is an annual data collection administered to collect data about schools and districts, as well as some aggregate-level data on students and staff. CALPADS, on the other hand, is an annual data collection administered to collect individual-level data related to students and certificated staff, as well as information on courses and staff assignment. Not only are the elements that are collected through each of these data collections different, but the level of granularity in the data collected are different as well. For more information about each of these data collections, please refer to their respective Web pages, CBEDS and CALPADS.

Charter Schools

Information regarding Charter Schools can be found in the CALPADS Data Guide, which is located on the CALPADS System Documentation Web page.

Code Mapping

Will CALPADS roll over code mapping from year to year?

Yes, local codes that LEAs have mapped to CALPADS codes will be available in the subsequent year and will be defined by academic year; therefore, each year is identifiable. Each academic year, LEAs should review the CALPADS Code Sets and update their code mappings that have been rolled over from the prior year with any necessary changes.

Can code mappings be downloaded?

Currently there is no capability to download code mapping. The capability has been added to the list of possible future enhancements.

(Use of) COE Transfer Data in LCFF

Why are county offices of education (COEs) and charter schools operating county programs (except Juvenile Court Schools) required to report transfer types and district of geographic residence?

To calculate the supplemental and concentration grants for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), it is necessary to determine which students enrolled on Census Day in COE schools and charter schools operating county programs, except Juvenile Court Schools, are to be funded directly through the COE, and which students are to be attributed back to their district of geographic residence or are to remain with the charter school.

The Student School Transfer Code field (Field 1.31) determines whether funding generated for a student remains at the COE, is attributed back to the student’s district of geographic residence, or remains with the charter school. For students who generate funding that will be attributed back to their district of geographic residence, the District of Geographic Residence Code field (Field 1.32) is used to determine to which school district the funding will be attributed. The accuracy of the data reported is essential, since it will affect the supplemental and concentration funding for COEs, school districts, and charter schools operating county programs.

Why are Juvenile Court Schools exempt from reporting transfer types?

All students enrolled in Juvenile Court Schools, whether operated by a county office of education or charter school, generate supplemental and concentration grant funding under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), and all funding remains with the county juvenile court school. Therefore, transfer information is not needed for juvenile court school students because all funding remains at the county juvenile court school and the California Department of Education is able to derive the enrollment of students that attend these schools based on the school ownership code in the online county-district-school (CDS) directory.

Which COE and charter enrollment transfer types are counted at the COE, the Juvenile Court School, the charter school operating county programs, and the district of geographic residence?

The following table provides information about where each type of COE and COE Charter student is counted for LCFF funding purposes:

Type of Enrollment Where Enrollment and ADA Are Counted for Funding Purposes

COE enrolled students with Transfer Code 5, Disciplinary COE School Transfer [EC 2574(c)(4)(A)] (these students were previously referred to as “type C” students)

COE

County Program Charter School enrolled students with a Transfer Code 5 [EC2574(c)(4)(A)]

COE

COE Juvenile Court School enrolled students [EC 2574(c)(4)(B)]

COE Juvenile Court School

COE Charter Juvenile Court School enrolled students [EC 2574(c)(4)(B)]

COE Juvenile Court School

Other COE enrolled students with transfer codes other than 5 (these students were previously referred to as “non-type C” students)

District of Geographic Residence

Other county program charter school enrolled students with transfer codes other than 5

Charter School
If the Student School Transfer Code and District of Geographic Residence Code is the mechanism used to assign students to the appropriate county office of education, school district, or charter school to calculate LCFF supplemental and concentration grant funding pursuant to Education Code 2576, how will the average daily attendance be adjusted so the LCFF base grant is also calculated appropriately?

The average daily attendance (ADA) is collected through the Principal Apportionment Data Collection Software, which will allow the CDE to make the appropriate adjustments. For additional frequently asked questions related to funding, refer to the frequently asked questions on the Local Control Funding Formula For County Programs web page.

Distance Learning

For the 2020–21 academic year, for LEAs who are conducting their instruction via distance learning, if a LEA chooses to enroll all of their distance learning students into one location, should the LEA request a school code from the CDE?
The only instance in which a LEA should request a school code for a set of students who are receiving instruction via distance learning is when the LEA's intent is to permanently establish a distance learning school. If the LEA's intent is to temporarily establish the distance learning school for the 2020–21 and then in the subsequent academic year re-enroll the students in their home school, then a new school code will not be issued by the CDE. Additionally, the CDE recommends that LEAs leave students receiving instruction via distance learning enrolled in their home schools rather than grouping them together for the 2020–21 academic year, if possible, for purposes of attributing accountability at the school level.

English Learners (General)

Does the Enrolled in US School less than Three Cumulative Years Indicator (2.46) include years at pre-school, private school, or home school?

Yes. For Title III Immigrant reporting purposes, the years a student was enrolled in a public or private pre-kindergarten program or homeschool in the United States count toward the three (3) cumulative years.

If a student was reclassified fluent English proficient (RFEPed) at a prior school and that school did not report this information to CALPADS, how should the current LEA report the student’s English language acquisition status (ELAS)?

Because of current system constraints, if the student’s reclassification date (ELAS Start Date) falls outside of the student’s enrollment period within the current LEA, the prior LEA must upload the RFEP record. However, if the current LEA is unable to get the prior LEA to report this record, the workaround is for the current LEA to report it. The LEA should submit a Student English Language Acquisition (SELA) record with an ELAS of “RFEP” and an ELAS Start Date of the first day of enrollment at the current school.

If a student was reclassified as fluent-English proficient (i.e., RFEPd) at a prior school, and that school was either out of state or was a private school in California, how should the current district report the student’s English language acquisition status (ELAS)?

Per the California Code of Regulations, a student must always be tested when enrolling in a California public school for the first time. Therefore, the current district would establish a student's first English language acquisition status documented in CALPADS. Based on responses from the home language survey and any additional information gathered locally, the current district should make a determination regarding whether a student should be assessed with the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC), and the district should designate the student’s status accordingly.

How should an LEA report English Learner (EL) students who receive English learner services via pull-out or push-in instruction?

In order to properly account for the services being provided to English learner (EL) students by pull-out or push-in teachers, it is necessary to do the following:

  • Submit a Course Section Record indicating a State Course Code of 3020 (Consultation/Instructional Support).
  • Indicate the EL services being received in that course section (usually representative of the EL services the teacher is authorized to provide).
  • Submit Student Course Section records for all of the EL students receiving that instruction.

Normally, student course section records for the 3020 State Course Codes are not required, but if ELs are receiving services in this format, the LEA must report the student course section records.

How is the English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) reported for Pre-kindergarten or Adult Education students who have a primary language other than English?

Beginning with Academic Year 2016–2017, LEAs are no longer permitted to submit Student English Language Acquisition (SELA) records for Pre-kindergarten or Adult students (Grade levels PS [Pre-kindergarten], IN [Infant], TD [Toddler], and AD [Adult]), even if the students are receiving services. Only students in grades levels K–12, UE [Ungraded Elementary], and US [Ungraded Secondary] can be tested with the ELPAC; therefore, an ELAS of EO, EL, IFEP, or RFEP for students in grade levels PS, IN, or TD is inaccurate.  For students in grade level AD, if the status is based on testing when they were in K–12, the status can be inherited; however, the student's first ELAS in CALPADS cannot be created with a grade level of AD.

Errors

Where can LEAs get more detail on what the submission errors in CALPADS mean?

A list of errors and descriptions can be found in the CALPADS Error List document, which is located within the CALPADS System Documentation. Additionally, within the CALPADS system, under the “Help” menu, LEAs can utilize the Quick Start Guides for more information regarding these errors.

In a team teaching scenario, are both teachers teaching the course required to be appropriately authorized?

No. If both teachers are in the same classroom at the same time, only one teacher must be appropriately authorized; however, if the course is being taught in a job sharing scenario where the teachers are teaching on alternate days and times, then both of the teachers must be appropriately authorized.

Foreign Exchange Students

Should SSIDs be obtained for foreign exchange students?

Yes. SSIDs should be obtained for foreign exchange students. Foreign exchange students are to be treated as any other student enrolled in a California public school in terms of CALPADS reporting. The only difference is that if the student does not intend to obtain a high school diploma after completing the 12th grade, the student would be exited with a T240 (TransOutUS).

Can foreign exchange students who have been enrolled in a California public school for less than 3 years qualify for Title III Eligible Immigrants?

As long as the student is foreign-born (born outside of the United States and Puerto Rico), is enrolled in K–12 and has been enrolled in the US for three (3) full schools years or less, they will be considered an eligible immigrant.

This Title III Eligible Immigrants Subgroup includes students who meet all of these criteria:

  1. are aged three (3) through twenty-one (21)
  2. are enrolled in any public or private elementary or secondary school in kindergarten through grade twelve
  3. were not born in any of the 50 United States, District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico
  4. have not been attending any one or more schools in the United States for more than three (3) full school years cumulative

To be reported as an Eligible Immigrant in CALPADS, a student must meet the following criteria:

  1. Enrolled in US School Less Than Three Cumulative Years Indicator = Y
  2. Student Birth Country Code not = US (United States)
  3. Enrollment Status Code = 10 (Primary)
  4. Student Age = 3–21 (inclusive)
  5. Grade Level Code not = AD (Adult)
Do foreign exchange students take the ELPAC?

Yes. The law does not specify that any student(s) may be exempt.

Are Foreign Exchange Students FRPM eligible?

FRPM would be based on the household eligibility, as a foreign exchange student is considered to be a member of the household in which he or she resides.

Inter- and Intra-District Transfers

What types of inter- and intra-district transfers are reported to CALPADS?

LEAs report inter- and intra-district transfers by populating the Student School Transfer Code field (Field 1.31) on the Student Enrollment (SENR) file. Below are the codes that are available to be used in that field:

  • Code 1: Formal Interdistrict Transfer Agreement – This is a formal inter-district transfer per Education Code Section 46600.
  • Code 2: ESSA School Choice – Program Improvement – This is a transfer due to the student’s enrollment in Program Improvement. This may be an intra- or inter-district transfer.
  • Code 3: ESSA School Choice – Persistently Dangerous – This is a transfer due to the student’s enrollment in a Persistently Dangerous School. This may be an intra- or inter-district transfer.
  • Code 4: District of Choice Transfer – This is a transfer where the student transferred into the district pursuant to the district having deemed itself a District of Choice per Education Code Section 48313.
  • Code 5: Disciplinary COE School Transfer – This is a transfer to a county office of education (COE) school that is not a juvenile court school, including charter schools operating county programs, when the student was transferred due to a probation referral, is on probation or parole, or is expelled for any reasons specified in subdivision (a) or (c) of Education Code Section 48915.
  • Code 6: Other Transfer – This is a transfer for any other reason not included in Code numbers 1 – 5 above. Other reasons may include:
    • Students voluntarily choosing to transfer to a COE school, who were not transferred due to any of the reasons specified for a “Disciplinary COE School Transfer”
    • Students who have established residency because their parent or guardian works in the district per Education Code Section 48204(b)
    • Special education students transferring to another school because it is written into their Individualized Education Plan (IEP)
    • Students transferring to a charter school that is authorized by a district that is outside their district of residence

Refer to the CALPADS Code Sets for the full definition of each code. The CALPADS Code Sets document is located within the CALPADS System Documentation

For information regarding which transfer types that LEAs are required to report and why, refer to these FAQs within this topic:

  • “What transfer data are local educational agencies (LEAs) required to report and why?”
  • “How are the transfer data used?”
What transfer data are local educational agencies (LEAs) required to report, and why?

County Offices of Education (COEs) and Charter Schools Operating County Programs (except Juvenile Court Schools)

All COEs and charter schools operating county programs (Special Education, County Community, and Opportunity schools), that are not Juvenile Court schools, are required to report the type of transfer for all students that enroll. Generally COEs will use Code 5 – Disciplinary COE School Transfer, and Code 6 – Other Transfer. (Refer to “What Types of Inter- and Intra-district Transfers are reported to CALPADS?” in this FAQ topic for the definitions of these codes.) There is a validation in CALPADS requiring COEs and charter schools operating county programs to populate the Student School Transfer Code and District of Geographic Residence fields for enrollments in their schools (except juvenile court schools). These codes are used to determine allocation of funding under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Refer to questions and answers under the topic heading “(Use of) County Office of Education Transfer Data in LCFF” for more information.

School Districts and Charter Schools Operating Non-County Programs

School districts and charter schools operating non-county programs who report independently or through their district, are expected to report the type of transfer for any student that transfers into the district or school for reasons included in Student School Transfer codes 1, 2, 3, and 4. (Refer to, “What Types of Inter- and Intra-district Transfers are reported to CALPADS?” for the definition of these codes.) These codes are used to meet state and federal reporting requirements—refer to “How are the transfer data used?”; however, there are no validations in CALPADS requiring the population of the Student School Transfer Code field for non-COE LEAs. Please note: Transfer Code 5 does not apply to school districts and charter schools operating non-county programs. For Transfer Code 6, school districts and charter schools operating non-county programs may report this transfer type, but are not required to do so.

How are the transfer data used?
LCFF Funding Determinations

Student School Transfer Code data along with District of Geographic Residence data are collected from County Offices of Education (COEs) and charter schools operating county programs in order to calculate the Unduplicated Pupil Percentage (UPP) used to determine the supplemental and concentration grants for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The data are used to determine:

  • Which students attending COEs to attribute back to their district of geographic residence; and
  • Which students attending charters operating county programs to attribute back to the COE.

Refer to questions and answers under the FAQ topic/heading “Use of County Office of Education Transfer Data in LCFF” for more information.

State and Federal Reporting

The Student School Transfer data are also collected annually to meet the following state and federal reporting requirements:

  • For state reporting requirements:
    • Counts of formal inter-district transfer agreements. This is captured by Student School Transfer Code 1 – Formal Inter-district Transfer Agreement.
    • Counts of students who transfer to districts who have deemed themselves a District of Choice. This is captured by Student School Transfer Code 4.
  • For the federal Consolidated State Performance Report (CSPR):
    • Counts of students who transfer because they were enrolled in a school identified for program improvement and are exercising their right under federal law to enroll in a different school. This is captured by Student School Transfer Code 2 – ESSA School Choice – Program Improvement.
    • Counts of students who transfer because they were enrolled in a school identified as persistently dangerous and are exercising their right under federal law to enroll in a different school. This is captured by Student School Transfer Code 3 – ESSA School Choice – Persistently Dangerous.
Are charter schools required to report transfer data to CALPADS?

Refer to the FAQ “What transfer data are local educational agencies (LEAs) required to report, and why?”

Are LEAs required to populate the District of Geographic Residence (Field 1.32) for all transfer types?

Yes. If an LEA populates the Student School Transfer Code field (Field 1.31) to report an inter- or intra-district transfer type, the District of Geographic Residence Code field (Field 1.32) must be populated.

What is the District of Geographic Residence?

The District of Geographic Residence is defined as a unique identifier (county-district code) for the district where the student’s parents or guardians reside within the district’s attendance boundaries. Note that the District of Geographic Residence is not necessarily the district where the student was last enrolled.

How does an LEA identify the district of geographic residence if the student attending the school is a homeless child as defined in Education Code 1981.2, or if the student is a foster student living in a licensed children’s institution?

For homeless students enrolled in a county office of education school, the district of geographic residence is the school district that last provided educational services to the homeless child or, if it is not possible to determine that school district, the nonbasic aid school district with the largest average daily attendance (ADA) in the county that serves the grade level in which the homeless child would be enrolled. (Reference: Education Code (EC) 2576) To determine the nonbasic aid district with the largest ADA, contact your county internal business office.

For foster students living in a licensed children’s institution (LCI), the district of geographic residence is the school district in which the LCI is located.

Non-Public Schools (NPS)

What is an NPS?

Pursuant to California Education Code Section 56034:

“Nonpublic, nonsectarian school” means a private, nonsectarian school that enrolls individuals with exceptional needs pursuant to an individualized education program and is certified by the department. It does not include an organization or agency that operates as a public agency or offers public service, including, but not limited to, a state or local agency, an affiliate of a state or local agency, including a private, nonprofit corporation established or operated by a state or local agency, or a public university or college. A nonpublic, nonsectarian school also shall meet standards as prescribed by the Superintendent and board.

Do NPS schools have to submit data to CALPADS?

NPS schools do not submit data directly to CALPADS. The LEA that is responsible for the student (district of special education accountability, also referred to as the district of residence) is required to submit data to CALPADS for the Fall 1 Submission, which includes the SSID Enrollment, Student Information, and Student Program records. The LEA should not submit staff or course enrollment/completion data for NPS students.

Parent/Guardian Information

Are LEAs required to report a student’s parent or guardian information in CALPADS?

The parent/guardian fields are not required to be populated. This information is collected to assist in student identification for the purposes of assigning SSIDs. LEAs may choose not to send any parent/guardian information if the information is not known or for some reason is not appropriate. For example, if the student is in an institution such as juvenile hall, or is in foster care after being removed from a home for safety reasons, it may be inappropriate to provide the parent/guardian information.

How should the Parent Guardian Highest Education Level Code be reported for students who are age 18 or older?

Parent Guardian Highest Education Level Code should be self-identified at the time of enrollment by the applicant. The Education Code (California Education Code Section 56028) does not define an order of Parent Guardian but instead the definition. The Education Code states:

(a) ‘Parent’ means any of the following:
(1) A biological or adoptive parent of a child.
(2) A foster parent if the authority of the biological oradoptive parents to make educational decisions on the child's behalf specifically has been limited by court order in accordance with Section 300.30(b)(1) or (2) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(3) A guardian generally authorized to act as the child's parent, or authorized to make educational decisions for the child, including a responsible adult appointed for the child in accordance with Sections 361 and 726 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(4) An individual acting in the place of a biological or adoptive parent, including a grandparent, stepparent, or other relative, with whom the child lives, or an individual who is legally responsible for the child's welfare.
(5) A surrogate parent who has been appointed pursuant to Section 7579.5 or 7579.6 of the Government Code, and in accordance with Section 300.519 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations and Section 1439(a)(5) of Title 20 of the United States Code.

Pupil Promotion/Grade Placement

Are high school students promoted based on the number of credits earned, or are high school students socially promoted (i.e., promoted based on age)? I do understand that districts are no longer funded for fifth year seniors and this may drive the social promotion.

Pupil promotion/grade placement is a local decision based on local policies. The Education Code does not define how or when a school district promotes students. The Education Code states:

The governing board of each school district and each county superintendent shall adopt policies regarding pupil promotion and retention. – Education Code 48070

Here is some guidance in this regard: Local school districts should consider a variety of things when making such a decision, including students’ participation in statewide assessments and participation in programs that have grade restrictions. These should be policies that are applied to all students equitably, and such policies should not merely address this issue on a case-by-case basis. For further information, refer to the California Department of Education's Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Pupil Promotion and Retention.

Race/Ethnicity (General)

Where can LEAs find more information about race and ethnicity data collection in CALPADS?

Please refer to the California Department of Education's Race and Ethnicity FAQs.

What should an LEA do if the parent of a student of Middle Eastern descent objects to the student being categorized with a Race Category of “White”?

The federal definition of the Race Category “White” is:  “A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.”  Therefore, students of Middle Eastern descent are placed in the “White” category. If a parent objects, an LEA can remove the Race Category of “White” and may indicate that the Race Category is missing. This will ultimately result in the student being aggregated into a category for federal reporting called “Two or More Races.”

Security

What should an LEA do if the e-mail with the CALPADS-generated user account password goes to the wrong user?

If an LEA suspects that the e-mail containing the CALPADS user account password has been sent to the wrong user, the LEA should submit a service ticket via e-mail to the CALPADS Service Desk at calpads-support@cde.ca.gov.

Why can't I access CALPADS from outside of the United States?

Access to CALPADS is restricted to the United States. Due to the sensitive nature of the student-level data collected in CALPADS, restricting access to CALPADS to the United States will add to the security of the system. Furthermore, there is no business need to require access to CALPADS from outside the United States.

Special Education

When an LEA adopts a student's existing IEP upon transferring into a new LEA, and the student's annual or triennial record reflects a Meeting Delay Code because their prior meeting was held late, should the new LEA remove the Meeting Delay Code?
No, the Meeting Delay Code should not be removed because the new LEA is merely "adopting" the prior record from the prior LEA. However, if upon entering the new LEA, the student's scheduled annual or triennial meeting is already past due, once the meeting is held, the new LEA should submit a transaction to CALPADS with the "Transfer" Delay Code. The LEA should hold a timely IEP within 30 days and upload that record to CALPADS.
Which LEA is the District of Special Education Accountability for a charter school?
Per our definition of District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA)External link opens in new window or tab. - For charter schools: the DSEA is the county/district code of the charter authorizer, or the school code of the charter school if the charter is acting as an LEA for special education purposes (individual member of a SELPA).
Which Special Education (SPED) records should be sent up to CALPADS when a student has an initial evaluation for special education, the parent declines the Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), but then later decides to accept the offer of FAPE?

In order to maintain a history of the original offer of FAPE, the LEA should send the following to CALPADS:

  1. A SPED record with the original initial evaluation date, Meeting Type of 10 (Initial Evaluation), and a Special Education Plan Type of 800 – Eligible, Parent Declined FAPE.
  2. A SPED record with a subsequent date that represents the date the parent elected to accept the offer of FAPE, and, at the LEA's discretion, a Meeting Type of 10 (Initial Evaluation) or 20 (Plan Review), and a Special Education Plan Type of 100 (IEP) or 150 (IFSP).
Can LEAs claim average daily attendance (ADA) for students with disabilities who earn the New Pathway Diploma and then return the following academic year for transition services until they age out of special education?

School districts may report average daily attendance (ADA) for these students as long as the student was offered the required number of annual days and minutes per statute, scheduled for at least the minimum day and in attendance under the immediate supervision and control of a certificated employee of the district and engaged in educational activities required of them for some part of that day. The minimum instructional day for students in grades 4-12 with an IEP is the lesser of 240 minutes or the number of minutes prescribed in the student’s IEP.

Statewide Student Identifiers (SSIDs)

How do I enter a student’s name when the student has legal documentation for a one word legal name or last name of Family Name Unknown (FNU)? For example, the student is named “Sting” with no last name.

Both the first name (Field 2.11) and last name (Field 2.13) should be populated with the one word legal name.

Summer School

Are LEAs required to report summer school enrollments?

No, LEAs are not required to submit summer school enrollments. The CDE recommends that summer school enrollments are not reported, as it is likely that the summer school enrollment record will cause a concurrent enrollment to be created. Per the CALPADS SSID and Enrollment Procedures, LEAs are not required to obtain or maintain SSIDs for summer school students.

Title III Immigrant Data (General)

Is the Student Nation of Origin (SNOR) data collection collected independent of CALPADS?

No. The data previously collected in the Student Nation of Origin (SNOR) data collection are now collected solely through CALPADS, and the SNOR data collection has been retired. These data are collected annually in CALPADS in the Fall 1 data submission. In the Fall 1 data submission, LEAs can view their Title III Eligible Immigrant counts in the following reports:

  • 2.1 – Title III Eligible Immigrants – Count
  • 2.2 – Title III Eligible Immigrants – Count by Birth County
  • 2.8 – English Language Acquisition Status – Count by Primary Language
  • 2.9 – English Language Acquisition Status – Census Comparison

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Anomalies Topics

Anomalies

Information regarding anomalies can be found in the CALPADS SSID and Enrollment Procedures document, which is located within the CALPADS System Documentation.

Anomaly Contacts

How do local educational agencies (LEAs) find out who the anomaly contact is in another LEA if they have an anomaly that they need to resolve?

If the anomaly contact is not listed on the anomaly report screen in CALPADS, you should contact the CALPADS Service Desk either by submitting a service ticket online or by calling 916-325-9210.

How do LEAs add or change an anomaly contact?

Only the CALPADS LEA Administrator can update the anomaly contact.
To remove the role:

  1. Log in to CALPADS with the California Department of Education (CDE) CALPADS LEA Administrator account, and find the user who currently has the role.
  2. Click on Edit.
  3. Find the Anomaly Contact Role in the assigned roles column (right side of the page); then remove it.
  4. Save.

To add the role:

  1. Find the user to whom you wish to add/assign the role.
  2. Click on Edit.
  3. Find the role on the left side in the "Available Roles" box.
  4. Click on appropriate role, and "add".
  5. Save.
Can an anomaly contact be at the school-level, or does the anomaly contact have to be a district-level contact?

Yes, anomaly contacts can be at both the school and district levels.

What happens if an LEA fails to provide an anomaly contact in CALPADS?

Currently, the system will assign the CALPADS LEA Administrator contact as the default for the anomaly contact if the LEA has failed to provide one.

If there is more than one anomaly contact in an LEA, which contact will be notified of an anomaly, and which contact will be displayed on the anomaly screen?

CALPADS does not send anomaly notifications, however, if there is more than one anomaly contact for an LEA, both will show on the screen (if the user clicks on "School Contact" from the anomaly screens).

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Fall 1 Topics

Information regarding CTE data, Charter Schools, and Non-Public Schools (NPS) can be found in the CALPADS Data Guide, which is located on the CALPADS System Documentation Web page.

English Learners (Fall 1)

What if, upon subsequent enrollment in a new district, a parent changes the language reported on the home language survey (HLS), creating a disruption in the English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) status history?

The home language survey (HLS) should be administered to a student only once, upon the student’s initial enrollment in a California public school. Districts in which the student subsequently enrolls should use information (when available) from the initial HLS rather than re-soliciting the information, and the districts should make efforts to determine whether the student has been given the initial administration of the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) prior to testing the student again. The Primary Language Code in CALPADS represents the language that was used to determine whether the student should be assessed with the ELPAC; therefore, even if a parent changes this language on a subsequent version of the HLS, it would not change the primary language determination that triggered the initial administration of the ELPAC. If information from the initial HLS is not available, and the information in the HLS conflicts with information stored in CALPADS, then the LEA should research the student’s prior status, including whether the student has been tested on the ELPAC.

What English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) Start Date should be used for the Adult English Learner (ADEL) English Acquisition Status Code?

If a student is older than or equal to 22 years old before 7/1/2020, then the ELAS Start Date would be the first date the student was expected to attend within the academic year.

If the student turned 22 years on or after 7/1/2020 and:

  • the student was enrolled at the LEA on his or her 22nd birthday, then the ELAS Start Date would be the date the student turned 22 years old; or
  • the student enrolled in the LEA after his or her 22nd birthday, then the ELAS Start Date would be the first date the student was expected to attend within the academic year.

English Learners - Language Instruction Program (LIP)

Are LEAs only required to report Language Instruction Programs (LIP) for English learners?

No, LEAs should submit LIPs for all students participating in these programs, including students whose English Language Acquisition Statuses are English only (EO), Initial Fluent English Proficient (IFEP), Reclassified Fluent English Proficient (RFEP), and To Be Determined (TBD).

How do LEAs determine the Education Program Membership Start Date for a student in a Language Instruction Program?

For students who have been participating in years prior to 2019–20, LEAs may either identify the actual date the student became eligible for and began participating in the program, or if that is not known, then use the first day of school in the 2019–20 academic year.

For students who are newly identified as English learners in the 2019–20 academic year, use their English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) Start Date.

For non-English learners who began participating in these programs in the current year, use their enrollment start date for the 2019–20 academic year.

Can an LEA submit more than one Language Instruction Program (LIP) for a student?

Yes. A student may be eligible for and participating in more than one LIP.

Errors

Where can LEAs get more detail on what the submission errors in CALPADS mean?

A list of errors and descriptions can be found in the CALPADS Error List document located on the CALPADS System Documentation Web page. Additionally, within the CALPADS application, under the “Help” menu, LEAs can utilize the Quick Start Guides for more information on these errors.

Exiting Students

If a parent who has elected to homeschool has not yet filed the Private School Affidavit (PSA) with the California Department of Education (CDE), can a LEA exit a student with an Exit Reason Code of T180 (Transfer to a private school)?
Yes, upon parent notification to withdraw a student with the intent to homeschool, LEAs shall exit the student with a T180 exit reason code. LEAs must verify that a parent intending to homeschool their child has filed a PSA with the CDE in order to validate the student's exemption from compulsory education. However, since the filing of the PSA for the school year does not begin until October 1 and parents have until October 15 to file, LEAs will need to wait until mid-October in order to verify the filing of the PSA.
Which Student Exit Category should be used for a student who leaves a California public school to enroll in an online (virtual) school that is not affiliated with a California public school?

When a student leaves a California public school to enroll in a private online school, the student should be exited with a Student Exit Category of T180 (TransPrivate), which is a transfer to a private school.

If a student enrollment ends with exit code T165 and the student never arrives at the expected school/institution, how long after the non-arrival should the LEA wait to change the T165 exit to an E300 exit?   

The LEA should not change the T165 to an E300. Although the student was referred to another California public school and failed to show up, it is not necessary to change this as the outcome is the same (both are dropouts). The LEA can choose to change the T165 to an E300 (ExpellNoKnownEnroll).  However, in either scenario, it is the district’s responsibility to try to determine what happened to the student.  LEAs should not use E300 to exit a student from their SIS without first trying to determine the student’s whereabouts.

How should a no-show student, new to my LEA, with a previous E230/480 (Matriculating) exit code be handled in CALPADS?

Students matriculating to a new LEA/school (e.g., grade 8 completers moving into high school) who are pre-enrolled and no-show should be exited using the N470-NoShow exit code.

How should pre-enrolled students who no-show be exited?

There are several different no-show scenarios, each with its own guidance. Review the 4 scenarios listed below.

No Shows who:

  1. Were exited in the prior year as E155, and pre-enrolled anticipating their return, and cannot be located should be exited as E140-NoKnownEnrollTruant. The student can be exited within the first few days of school to minimize the impact to scheduling.
  2. Were exited in the prior year as E155, and pre-enrolled anticipating their return, and are found to be enrolled in another California public school should have their pre-enrollment deleted from the system and the prior year exit code changed from E155 to T160-TransCASchlRegular.
  3. Were exited in the prior year as E155, and pre-enrolled anticipating their return, and are found to be enrolled elsewhere (private school, out of state, out of the country, etc.) should have their pre-enrollment deleted from the system and the prior year exit code changed from E155 to the appropriate exit code supported by the available documentation.
  4. Were pre-enrolled and were matriculating into the school for the first time, should be exited with an N470 – NoShow.

*Note* Assembly Bill 2815 specifies that it is the duty of the attendance supervisor to promote a culture of attendance and to establish a system that accurately tracks pupil attendance in order to ensure that pupils with attendance problems are identified as early as possible to provide applicable support services and interventions. Currently, students who are expected to return to the same school the next school year, but who do not show up, may not receive support services and interventions if they are not identified.

If they have not done so already, LEAs should put in place processes to follow up on “no shows” at the beginning of the school year to determine what has happened to those students—whether they transferred to another LEA, moved out of the state or country, or appear to have dropped out. Similarly, unified school districts and high school districts in collaboration with their feeder elementary districts should seek to identify missing matriculated students that are expected to show up but do not.

After I exit all of my returning students at the end of the year with the E155 exit code, will they be automatically re-enrolled in CALPADS the following year?

No, the students will not be automatically re-enrolled into CALPADS the following year.  You need to create new enrollments for the students in the next school year that reflect an Enrollment Start Date of the first day of school, and the appropriate grade level for the student.

What exit category should be used for seniors who will not graduate until summer or fall or later?

It depends on when the student is expected to graduate:

  •  If the student will need an extended period to complete the work required to graduate (past August 15) and you believe that the student will be returning to complete the work at your school, exit the student using the E155 exit code and re-enroll the student the following year into Grade 12.
  • If the student completes the school year with you and has not completed the graduation requirements but is expected to complete the missing requirement(s) on or before August 15 of that year, then exit the student with the appropriate exit and completion code when they actually complete (as long as it’s before August 15).
  • If the student completes the school year with you, has not completed the graduation requirements, and is not expected to return to complete his/her missing requirements, then use the E230/360 exit/completion codes.
Is there a restriction on when LEAs can update CALPADS with enrollments for the next school year?

No, however, CALPADS does not accept future enrollments beyond 90 days. When LEAs choose to do this process is up to the LEA's local practices and Student Information System processing.

Can an elementary school (KN-06) use the E450 (Prek-6Exit) exit code to exit all of its students at the end of a school year instead of the E155 (YearEndEnrlmntExitSameSchl) exit code?

Yes, but the disadvantage of using E450 after July 28, 2014 is CALPADS will end date (auto-close) all of the student program participation records upon posting the E450 exit code. The school would then have to resubmit the program records the following academic year when the student re-enrolls at the same school. The E155 exit code will only auto-close open free or reduced-price meal program records but will keep open all of the other existing student program records.

How should an LEA exit a student who finishes a school year, but did not complete the grade level (i.e., will not advance to the next grade level) and the student is expected to return to the same school the following school year?

Exit the student using the E155 (Year EndGradeLevelExit) exit code.  When the student returns the following year, enroll the student into the correct Grade Level.  If the student completes the work required to advance to the next grade during the school year and will be staying at the same school, change the grade level by submitting an SENR record using the E150 (MidYearEnrollmentUpdate) exit code and submit another enrollment record to enroll the student into the next grade level using the next calendar day as the School Start Date so there is no break between the enrollments (e.g., School Exit Date = 2/13/20xx School Start Date = 2/14/20xx).

When do I use exit code E155 instead of T160?

E155 should be used when a student finishes the school year at your school and is expected to return the following school year to the same school.  The T160 is used when a student is transferring to another California public school either during the school year or at the end of the school year.

completes the highest grade offered by my school, should I exit them using E155?

No, if the student has completed the highest grade level offered at your school and will not be returning to the same school the following year, use the E230/480 exit/completion code combination to show that the student has matriculated out of your school.

What is the difference between T165 and T167?

The T165 exit code is specifically used for a discipline-related exit under one (or more) of the specific student offenses detailed in the CALPADS Code Sets document under Student Exit Category = T165.  The T167 exit code is used to transfer a student to an alternative education school or independent study program based on a voluntary request from the student or a referral from the student’s school.  This referral may be discipline-related, but is not required to be.  The T165 exit code requires the SENR field 1.29, Expected Receiver School of Attendance, be populated.

Why must I populate the SENR field 1.29, Expected Receiver School of Attendance, for my Alternative School when I used exit code T160?

When a student exits an alternative school, the expectation is that they will return to either their school of residence or another California public school. Field 1.29 gives the CDE an indication of where the student was supposed to have shown up. Currently the CDE is discussing how to leverage this information to help schools and districts in their dropout retention efforts.

Are students with exit dates included in the monthly Direct Certification matching pull?

The monthly Direct Certification data pull includes students who have open enrollments and students with exit code E155.

When should I use exit code E140?

There are two scenarios where the E140-NoKnownEnrollTruant is appropriate to use:

  1. When a student attends and subsequently becomes habitually truant*, and
  2. When a student is expected to return, but never shows up.

1. When a student attends and subsequently becomes habitually truant:
LEAs are responsible for determining what happened to the student.

  • If the student’s whereabouts are KNOWN:
    • The student should be exited on the date they are referred to the SARB with an E140–NoKnownEnrollTruant.
  • If the student’s whereabouts cannot be determined after investigation:
    • The student should be exited on the date the investigation was completed with an E140–NoKnownEnrollTruant.
  • If the student is 18 or over and NOT on an IEP, use E400–NoKnownEnroll.
    • NOTE: This is the ONLY appropriate use of E400, since students 18 and over are no longer subject to compulsory education laws.

2. When a student is expected to return, but never shows up:

  • Students who were exited with an E155 who do not show up on the first day of school and cannot be located should be exited with an E140–NoKnownEnrollTruant. The student can be exited within the first few days of school so that those student enrollments do not impact class scheduling.
  • Students who were exited with an E155 who do not show up on the first day of school and are found to be enrolled elsewhere should have their Exit Code from the prior year changed to the appropriate code. If the student is enrolled in a CA public school, you may leave the E155.

*Truant – three (3) unexcused absences
Habitually truant – truant at least three (3) times.

My year-round school does not end before the end of the academic year.  How should I exit my students to meet the requirement of closing out all student enrollments?

The E155 exit code can be used between May 15and August 15 to accommodate the end of a term or session for year-round schools.

Where can I get more details on all exit codes?

See the CALPADS Data Guide, Appendix C (entitled Student Exit Reason Code and Student School Completion Status Descriptions). The CALPADS Data Guide is located on the CALPADS System Documentation Web page.

Immigrant Students

Can LEAs ask for a student or parent or guardian’s citizenship status on an enrollment form to help make a determination regarding whether the student is eligible for Title III Immigrant services?

No. School officials are not allowed to require children or their parents to prove that they are in this country legally, through evidence such as green cards, citizenship papers, or social security numbers, as a result of a United States Supreme Court ruling in Plyler v. Doe, 1982External link opens in new window or tab.. This ruling gives undocumented students the right to attend public schools and to participate in all school activities.

Migrant Students

Where can I obtain the Migrant Student ID (Field 3.20) for a student?

Migrant Regions should provide each LEA with a list of the eligible migrant students from the Migrant Student Information Network (MSIN). The Migrant, Indian, and International Education Office at the California Department of Education (CDE) has arranged with TROMIK Technology to develop a special report for this purpose. The report will be generated on the Migrant Student Information Network’s Student Locator at WestEd. The list will contain the given and surname of each student along with several corresponding data elements such as Migrant Student Identifiers (IDs) and the migrant program start date. These data will be disaggregated by each LEA served in the region. These reports can be given to districts to use to update their data systems with migrant student information. Please be aware that when LEAs enter data into CALPADS for migrant students, particular care should be taken in populating the following data elements, which will be submitted to CALPADS in the Student Program File:

  • Field 3.13 Education Program Code: If the Migrant Student ID is populated, then the Education Program Code (Field 3.13) must be Code135 (Migrant)
  • Field 3.14 Education Program Membership Code: 1 (Eligible)
  • Field 3.15 Education Program Membership Start Date: Enter the (QAD) in this field
  • Field 3.16 Education Program Membership End Date: Enter End of Eligibility (EOE) date in this field (required only if the student is no longer in the program)
  • Field 3.20 Migrant Student ID: Enter the Migrant Student Directory (MSD) number
Which Migrant student identifier should an LEA populate in the Migrant Student ID (Field 3.20)?

LEAs should use only the state Migrant Student Directory (MSD) number (numeric only) as assigned in the Migrant Student Information Network (MSIN). LEAs should NOT use the identifier assigned by the COEstar Information System which may contain alphanumeric characters.

If a Migrant Education student leaves the country and returns after a year, should the count of three years start again?

If a Migrant Education student makes a "qualifying" move, which can range from moving across school district boundaries or from one state to another, the move must be for the purpose of finding temporary or seasonal employment as a migratory worker in the agricultural, dairy, lumber, or fishing industries. The Migrant Education eligibility period is three years from the date of the last move. Eligibility is established through an interview conducted by a Migrant Education recruiter who visits both home and employment locations where migrant workers are employed. For additional information for rules on eligibility, please refer to the CDE Overview of Migrant Education in California or telephone the CDE Migrant Education Office at 916-319-0851.

How should a Migrant Education program record be submitted in CALPADS for a student that is eligible beyond three years?

A student’s Migrant Education program record should be end-dated after three years of eligibility, and a new Migrant Education program record with a new start date should be submitted if eligibility continues.

Program Data

Are students with an Education Program Code of 193 – Tribal Foster Youth categorically eligible for free meals?

Yes, students can be locally directly certified through "other categorical eligibility" as long as the local Foster Youth Liaison has confirmed that the student meets the following criteria for Tribal Foster Youth:

"A dependent child of the court of an Indian tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization who is the subject of a petition filed in the tribal court pursuant to the tribal court's jurisdiction in accordance with the tribe's law, provided that the child would also meet one of the descriptions in Section 300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code describing when a child may be adjudged a dependent of the juvenile court."

In addition, CALPADS reports will be adjusted, as appropriate, to include Tribal Foster Youth program records. Specifically:

  • Certification Report 1.17 – FRPM/English Learner/Foster Youth – Count, and C/A 1.17 – C/A FRPM EL Foster Youth – Count will be modified to include tribal foster youth program records that are open on Census Day. The tribal foster youth counts will be displayed in its own column.
  • Other reports that include a "foster student group" filter will include tribal foster youth within the current foster filter, because they are part of the foster student group for accountability purposes.
  • Reports 5.6 – Foster Youth Enrolled – Count, 5.7 – Foster Youth Enrolled – Student List, and corresponding county authorizing reports, will not include tribal foster youth and will continue to include only those youth identified as foster by the California Department of Social Services.
For programs collected in CALPADS, are LEAs reporting eligibility or participation?

For the following programs, the CDE asks that LEAs report program ELIGIBILITY (i.e., the student has met the criteria to receive services), whether or not that eligibility was initially determined at your school:

  • Special Education
  • Migrant Program
  • Free or Reduced Price Meal Program (NSLP) – must be renewed annually
  • Gifted and Talented Education Program
  • Armed Forces Family Member
  • Homeless

For all other programs, LEAs should report program PARTICIPATION (i.e., receiving services). Participation should only be reported if the student actually received the services through your LEA.

What if an LEA cannot determine a student’s actual eligibility start date because the determination was not made at that LEA?

The CDE recognizes that this information may not always be available. If an LEA is not able to obtain this information from the other LEA, the LEA should use the date that the determination was made by its LEA.

Will CALPADS retain Special Program eligibility/participation history?

Yes, CALPADS will retain program eligibility and participation history.

How do LEAs report students participating in Title I, Part A if the school is operating a school-wide program?

LEAs should not submit Student Program records for students receiving services through the Title I, Part A school-wide program (SWP). CALPADS will only collect student-level program participation in Title I, Part A if the student is receiving targeted services. The California Department of Education (CDE) collects, at the state-level, which schools are receiving funding for ESSA Title I, Part A school-wide (SWP) and targeted (TAS) services; therefore, the CDE can derive counts of students receiving ESSA Title I, Part A school-wide services based upon the school’s participation and the cumulative count of students enrolled in that school.

Students who were found to be eligible for the free or reduced-price meals (FRPM) in a previous year are sometimes allowed to continue receiving free meals at the beginning of the school year for a 30 day grace period while meal applications are being processed. How does this 30-day period affect the reporting of the FRPM records to CALPADS?

This 30-day grace period is used at the local level to allow the provision of meals while FRPM applications are processed; it should NOT be considered part of the eligibility period for the prior or current academic years. The start date of a student’s eligibility for FRPM should be determined annually. Once this determination is made in the current year, the Education Program Membership Start Date should reflect the first day the student started school for the current academic year (this date must be on or after July 1 of the current academic year). Additionally, the student’s FRPM record for the prior year should have an Education Program Membership End Date which reflects the last day of school, but no later than June 30 of the prior academic year.

Can students enrolled before Census Day be included in the free lunch counts if the application is processed after Census Day?

Schools must collect or receive National School Lunch Program (NSLP) applications by October 31. Schools may process those applications after October 31, and if students are found to be eligible for free or reduced-price meals (FRPMs), those schools may update FRPM program records for eligible students with a start date up to October 31. In order to be included in the Fall 1 certified data used as the basis for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) Unduplicated Pupil Count, LEAs would need to update these data in CALPADS and certify Fall 1 data by the close of the Fall 1 Amendment Window. CALPADS will only include students enrolled on Fall 1 Census Day in the FRPM counts.

If a student’s eligibility for the Free/Reduced-Price Meal (FRPM) Program changed after Census Day, should the FRPM (181/182) status be retroactively retracted?

If an LEA submits a National School Lunch Program (NSLP) program record for a student found to be Free/Reduced-Price Meal (FRPM)-eligible based on approval of the student's NSLP application, but later that application is found to be invalid during the verification process, the student’s FRPM program record in CALPADS should be updated (deleted) for the school year, as that student was never eligible in the new school year.

If an LEA submits an NSLP program record for a student based on the student’s prior year FRPM eligibility, since that eligibility lasts for a specified number of days into the new school year, and the student’s NSLP application for the new school year is not approved, the student’s FRPM program record in CALPADS for the new school year should be deleted, since that student was not found to be eligible in the new school year.

How are students who are eligible for the Title I Part C Migrant Program (135) for more than three years to be reported?

Students are not automatically extended in the Title I Part C Migrant program; rather, their eligibility needs to be re-determined every three years. If that three-year eligibility has expired, and it is determined that the student is still eligible, the school should submit a new program eligibility record.

LEAs have two options:

  1. Do nothing and just keep the original Title I Part C Migrant program record open.
    or:
  2. Add a new Title I Part C Migrant program record with the new eligibility date. If the student’s eligibility is being reported at the same school, the prior program record must be closed when using this option. If the eligibility is being reported by a different school, then the prior program record does not have to be closed.

CALPADS is not used to track the need for eligibility redetermination for the Migrant Program, so either of these options are acceptable.

Which National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Student Program (SPRG) records count towards a local educational agency’s (LEA) unduplicated pupil percentage (UPP) for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF)?

In order for an NSLP program record (181 – Free or 182 – Reduced) to count towards an LEA’s UPP for LCFF, the record must have an Education Program Membership Start Date on or before October 31st. This allowance was made to accommodate applications that are received through October 31st and subsequently approved but may not have been processed by October 31st.

How should an LEA determine the Education Program Membership Start Date for an NSLP record?

How should an LEA determine the Education Program Membership Start Date for an NSLP record?

The program start date for the NSLP record varies depending on the eligibility determination method:

  • Approved NSLP applications – LEAs can elect to use flexibility when determining the start date for approved applications. LEAs can choose one of the following to represent the program start date:
    1. The eligibility determination date (approval date);
      or:
    2. The application received date (such as a date stamp)*
  • Automated data match to directly certify students (local or state level) – When processing automated matches for direct certification, LEAs can choose one of the following to represent the program start date:
    1. The date the LEA accesses or imports the data file;
      or:
    2. The date of the automated data matching file, which means:
      • The certification date within each student’s record in the file which represents the effective date of the matched student’s eligibility for free or reduced-price school meals*
      • *LEAs must submit form SNP-48 to the School Nutrition Program Unit if the LEA chooses this option. To learn more about this flexibility, visit the School Nutrition Eligibility Effective Date for Directly Certified management bulletin.
  • Data match through lists to directly certify students (homeless, foster, migrant, runaway, FDPIR) – LEAs may choose one of the following to represent the program start date:
    1. The date a school official approves the documentation;
      or:
    2. The date the household or appropriate state or local agency submitted the list, or other form of documentation to the LEA*

Race/Ethnicity (Fall 1)

Where can LEAs find more information about race and ethnicity data collection in CALPADS?

Please refer to the California Department of Education Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Race and Ethnicity Collection and Reporting.

What should an LEA do if the parent of a student of Middle Eastern descent objects to the student being categorized with a Race Category of “White”?

The federal definition of the Race Category “White” is:  “A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.”  Therefore, students of Middle Eastern descent are placed in the “White” category. If a parent objects, an LEA can remove the Race Category of “White” and indicate that the Race Category is missing. This will ultimately result in the student being aggregated into a category for federal reporting called “Two or More Races.”

Special Education (Fall 1)

What information is submitted in the Students with Disabilities Status (SWDS) File?

The Students with Disabilities Status (SWDS) File captures a chronological history of the state of a student’s eligibility for and participation in special education, and if the student is not eligible and participating, the reason why they are not participating (Non-participation Reason Codes). At any given point in time, a student can have one of the following statuses and each of these statuses must be collected with an associated Status Start Date:

  1. - Eligible and Participating - A student has been found eligible for special education services and will be participating in the program.
  2. - Eligible and Not Participating - A student has been found eligible for special education services but will not be participating in the program or the student is determined to be eligible after initial evaluation but waiting for parental acceptance of the offer of FAPE.
  3. - Eligible and Not Enrolled - A student has been found eligible for special education services but is not enrolled and not expected to reenroll in a CA public or private school. This code is only to be used for when the student exits school due to transfers out of state or out of the country, high school completion, dropping out, or dying. 
  4. - Not Eligible - Not eligible for special education or related services.
What information is submitted in the Special Education Meetings (MEET) File?

The Special Education Meetings (MEET) File captures information on the following:

  • Dates of meetings that are statutorily required for students with disabilities (SWD). Local educational agencies should submit the date of the initiation of one of the following meetings, even if subsequent meetings are held to finalize the student’s special education plan:
    • Initial evaluations for Part C and Part B
    • Plan Reviews
    • Eligibility Re-evaluations
  • Initial evaluations that are pending and are not overdue.
  • Initial Evaluations, Plan reviews and Eligibility re-evaluations that are pending and are now overdue along with an associated Meeting Delay Code.
What information is submitted in the Special Education Plans (PLAN) File?

The Special Education Plans (PLAN) File captures information on a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP), Individualized Service Plan (ISP), or Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) such as program setting, general education participation percentage, parental involvement, and information about transition goals. This file also captures the date that a specific iteration of a student’s plan became effective.

When does CALPADS expect a status of 1 – Eligible and Participating?

CALPADS expects a status of 1 – Eligible and Participating in any of the following scenarios:

  • Student is initially evaluated for Part C or B, is found eligible, the parent has accepted the offer of FAPE, and the student will start services.
  • Parent revoked consent for special education and services but changed their mind.
  • The student was subsequently initially evaluated, for Part C or B, is found eligible, the parent has accepted the offer of FAPE, and the student will start services.
  • Student left the school due to dropping out, high school completion (other than a standard high school diploma), or transferring out of the state or country, but then returns to a California public school. (Note:  Status of 1 – Eligible and Participating is only needed if the student’s status at the time of reenrollment is anything OTHER than 1 – Eligible and Participating).
When does CALPADS expect a status of 2 – Eligible and Not Participating?

CALPADS expects a status of 2 – Eligible and Not Participating in any of the following scenarios:

  • Parent declines Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) after initial evaluation.
  • Student has been determined to be eligible after initial evaluation, but the parent has not yet agreed to the student’s plan.
  • Student has been determined to be eligible after initial evaluation, but the student’s services will not begin until school starts in the Fall.
  • Parent/Guardian or Student (if at least 18 years of age) has declined special education and services without providing written revocation of consent for special education and services after previously receiving services.
When does CALPADS expect a status of 3 – Eligible, Not Enrolled?

CALPADS expects a status of 3 – Eligible, Not Enrolled when a student has exited the LEA for any of the following reasons and they are not expected to return. It is imperative that special education data coordinators work with their student information system (SIS) staff to determine if any of the following exits were populated in the SIS:

  • Transferred out of the state (enrollment Exit Reason Code T200)
  • Transferred out of the country (enrollment Exit Reason Code T240)
  • Dropped out and attendance staff have conducted a comprehensive investigation as to the whereabouts of the student:
    • No known enrollment, truant (enrollment Exit Reason Code E140)
    • Expelled with no known enrollment (enrollment Exit Reason Code E300)
    • Other or unknown reason (enrollment Exit Reason Code E400)
    • Transferred to an adult education program (enrollment Exit Reason Code T260)
    • Transferred to college (enrollment Exit Reason Code T280)
    • Transferred to a program that is not primarily academic (e.g. military, job corps, justice system) (enrollment Exit Reason Codes T370 or T380)
  • Died (enrollment Exit Reason Code E130)
  • Completed high school with anything but a standard high school diploma:
  • Alternate Pathway Diploma (School Completion Status Code 102)
  • Certificate of Completion (School Completion Status Code 120)
  • High school equivalency certificate (School Completion Status Code 320)
  • California High School Proficiency Exam (School Completion Status Code 330)
When does CALPADS expect a status of 4 – Not Eligible?

CALPADS expects a status of 4 – Not Eligible when a student is determined to be ineligible after:

  • Initial evaluation; or
  • Re-evaluation
  • No Parental Consent Received to transition student from Part C (Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)) to Part B (Individualized Education Plan (IEP))
  • Student Exited Special Education due to reaching the maximum age for receipt of special education services.
  • Student left California and Exited the Special Education Program out of State and then returned to California.
When does CALPADS require that services be submitted for a specific special education plan?

If a student is enrolled with a LEA and the student has a Special Education Status of  “Eligible and Participating”, CALPADS requires that the LEA submit a Special Education Plan (PLAN) and associated Student Services (SERV) records. The Student’s enrollment start and end dates must overlap the PLAN and SERV Effective Start Dates. There is an exception for PLAN and SERV records with Effective Dates that that fall between June 1 and August 31 annually to account for students whose enrollments are not open during the summer.

If a statutory meeting (initial evaluation, plan review, or eligibility reevaluation) is pending for a student, does the LEA have to submit a MEET record indicating the meeting is pending?

Sending MEET records for pending meetings is not required, However, for initial evaluations for Part C or Part B, it is best practice to submit a MEET record with the Pending as of Date populated once the LEA has received parental consent for evaluation. This allows SELPA staff and the Focused Monitoring and Technical Assistance (FMTA) teams to track when an initial evaluation is overdue (more than 60 days past the date of parental consent for evaluation).  Once the pending meeting becomes overdue, then the MEET record should updated to include the Meeting Delay Reason Code.

For plan reviews and eligibility reevaluations, although pending MEET records are not required, it is recommended to submit MEET records with a Pending as of Date and Meeting Delay Reason Code populated if the meetings are overdue. This is a proactive approach to inform the FMTA teams when the LEA has a valid reason for the meeting delay.

Which School Completion Status Code should be used for students with disabilities that are graduating with the Alternative Diploma Pathway outlined in California Education Code (EC) Section 51225.31?

School Completion Status Code 102 – Pathway Diploma for Students with Disabilities can be used for students, provided the students meet the following criteria:

  • The student entered ninth grade in the 2022–23 school year or later; and
  • The student has been deemed eligible to take the alternate assessments by the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team; and
  • The student must meet the state minimum graduation requirements specified in EC 51225.31 (LEA must exempt the student from all other local graduation requirements)
Is a student who receives a high school diploma through the Alternative Diploma Pathway eligible to reenroll and continue to receive special education and related services?

Yes. The award of the diploma of graduation via the alternative pathway under EC 51225.31 does not change or terminate an LEA’s obligation to provide a FAPE to an eligible special education student. This is consistent with Section 7801(23)(A)(ii)(I)(bb) of Title 20 of the United States Code and Section 300.102(a)(3) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

LEAs should reenroll these students annually and then exit them annually with an E125 – Prior Special Education Completer Student Exit Reason Code until they exit special education or reach the maximum age (22).

Which students with disabilities need an SSID?

LEAs are required to obtain SSIDs for all Pre-K–12 individuals who have been referred to a district or county office of education (COE) for initial evaluation and for whom parental consent has been obtained to conduct the initial evaluation, even if the individual is found to be ineligible for services. The creation of the SSID results in the creation of a Student Enrollment (SENR) record in CALPADS.  This includes:

  • Infants and toddlers referred to COEs and districts.
  • Preschool-age students referred to COEs or districts or attending private schools in a preschool program that additionally serves grades TK and above.
  • School-age students referred that are attending K–12 public schools.
  • School-age students referred that are attending private schools and are receiving services from a COE or district.
Does a LEA have to create a Student Enrollment (SENR) record for a child (infant or preschool age) who will not actually attend school?

Yes, SSIDs and Student Enrollment (SENR) records for infant or preschool-age students are required once parental consent for evaluation is obtained. These enrollments represent the LEA’s responsibility for evaluating, and if eligible, for providing special education instruction and related services

What is the appropriate Enrollment Status and Enrollment Start Date to use when creating SSIDs and enrollments for students who are being newly evaluated for special education?

The following table clarifies the correct Enrollment Status, Enrollment Start Date, and School of Enrollment that should be used when creating SSIDs and enrollments for students who are being newly evaluated for special education:


Age Enrollment Status Enrollment Start Date Grade Level School of Enrollment
Zero to 35 months 50 – Non- ADA Enrollment Date of parental consent for Part C initial evaluation IN - Infant District-level enrollment
3 to 5 years, preschool (private schools additionally serving grades TK and above– student served on ISP) 50 – Non- ADA Enrollment Student’s third birthday or Date of parental consent for evaluation, whichever comes later PS - Preschool School 0000002 – Private School Group
3 to 5 years, preschool (public, served on IEP) 10 - Primary Student’s third birthday or date of parental consent for evaluation, whichever comes later PS - Preschool

Private preschool or no specific preschool CDS Code - District-level enrollment

Preschool with specific CDS code – Enroll at preschool

5-21, Transitional Kindergarten through 12 (public) 10 - Primary First day of enrollment TK-12 – Transitional Kindergarten through 12 School of enrollment
5-21, Transitional Kindergarten through 12 (private) 50 – Non- ADA Enrollment Date of parental consent for Part B initial evaluation

TK-12 – Transitional Kindergarten through 12

School 0000002 – Private School Group

Additionally,CALPADS Update Flash #161 provides a summary regarding enrolling and exiting these students for special education reporting

Can LEAs use Enrollment Status 50 – Non-ADA for early Transitional Kindergarten (TK) students (TK students who are not yet five years old)?

No. Students who are greater than or equal to four with a grade level of transitional kindergarten (TK) or kindergarten (KN) who are attending a TK or KN program should always have an Enrollment Status of 10 – Primary. The following federal programs include students ages three-21 and the relevant CALPADS reports will not display these students unless they have an Enrollment Status of 10 – Primary:

  • Title I Part C Migrant
  • Title III Immigrants
  • Free and Reduced Price Meal Program (direct certification)
  • Title X McKinney-Vento Homeless
Which students should have an enrollment with an Enrollment Status of 50 – Non-ADA Enrollment?

Enrollment Status 50 – Non-ADA Enrollment should only be used in the following scenarios:

  • Infants (zero-35 months) referred to or served by a COE or LEA on the Part C Program
  • Students in private preschool programs served on ISPs (only if the private school additionally serves grades TK and higher)(new guidance as of March 2024)
  • Students parentally placed in private schools ages five to 21 inclusive (in grades TK-12)
How and when should enrollments for students with disabilities be exited?

If a student is evaluated for special education services, is determined to be eligible, and the parent accepts the LEA’s offer of a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), then the student enrollment record should be maintained just as any other enrollment record. This includes exiting those enrollments at the end of year; however, the exit code LEAs choose is dependent on the Enrollment Status of the student:

  • Enrollment Status 10 – Primary or 30 – Short-term
    • Use the appropriate exit code
  • Enrollment Status 50 – Non-ADA
    • Use E170 – Secondary or Non-ADA Enrollment Exit

If a student is evaluated for special education services, is determined to be ineligible, or the parent declines the LEA’s offer of a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), then the student enrollment record should be exited with an Exit date equal to the date the parent declined if the student is not currently enrolled and attending a school within the LEA. The exit code LEAs choose is dependent on the Enrollment Status of the student:

  • Enrollment Status 10 – Primary or 30 – Short-term
    • If the student is currently enrolled and attending school at the LEA and is newly being evaluated for special education services, but is determined to be ineligible or the parent declines, submit a SWDS record with a Special Education Status of 4 – Not Eligible and a Special Education Non-Participation reason code: 21 - Not Eligible.
    • If the student is not currently attending school at the LEA and is being evaluated for special education services (e.g. preschool age student) but is determined to be ineligible or the parent declines, then exit the student’s enrollment with E450 – PreK-6Exit or N470 – NoShow
  • Enrollment Status 50 – Non-ADA
    • Use T170 – Secondary or Non-ADA Enrollment Exit
Are students with disabilities that complete high school allowed to re-enroll with the LEA?

If a student with disabilities has not earned a standard high school diploma and has not yet reached the maximum age (22), but has earned some other type of high school completion, then the student may re-enroll with the LEA. Specifically, a SWD completing high school with any of the following may re-enroll:

  • Certificate of Completion (School Completion Status Code 120)
  • High School Equivalency Certificate, (TASC or GED) (School Completion Status Code 320)
  • California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE) (School Completion Status Code 330)
  • Pathway Diploma for Students with Disabilities (School Completion Status Code 102)
How should LEAs exit adult-age students with disabilities that are enrolled solely for transition services?

If a student with disabilities is between the ages of 18 and 21 (inclusive), is no longer taking any coursework leading to a high school diploma, and is enrolled at the LEA solely for postsecondary transition services, even if they have received a certificate of completion, LEAs should ensure that these students reflect the following in CALPADS:

  • Enrollment Status of 10 – Primary
  • Grade Level – 12
  • Postsecondary Transition Status Indicator – Y (only after initial cohort graduation year)

LEAs should defer to their special education data coordinators to confirm who these students are.

How should LEAs enroll adult-age students with disabilities that are enrolled solely for transition services?

Once a student reaches the end of their initial cohort year, the LEA has three options when exiting these students at the end of the academic year:

  1. Exit the student with an E230 – Completer Exit Reason Code and a School Completion Status Code of 120 – Special Education Certificate of Completion; or
  2. Exit the student with an E230 – Completer Exit Reason Code and a School Completion Status Code of 360 – Completed grade 12 without completing graduation requirements, not grad
  3. Exit the student with an E156 – Grade 12 Continuing Education

Once the student returns the following academic year, the student would be re-enrolled. When the student finally exits the special education program or reaches maximum age, LEAs have two options:

  1. Exit the student with an E230 – Completer Exit Reason Code and a School Completion Status Code of 125 – Prior special education; or
  2. Exit the student with an E230 – Completer Exit Reason Code and a School Completion Status Code of 120 – Special Education Certificate of Completion (if the student has not already been exited with a 120 in the initial cohort year).
Because LEAs can submit PLAN and SERV records on an ongoing basis, which plans are being certified or counted for the Fall 1 Census and EOY?

Fall 1 Census Day – first Wednesday in October annually

Students enrolled in the LEA (Enrollment Status Codes Primary [10], Short-term [30], or Non-ADA [50]) on Census Day who have Special Education Statuses of 1 – Eligible and Participating and the following plan types are counted for purposes of Fall 1 certification:

  • Individualized Education Program (IEP)
  • Individualized Service Plan (ISP)
  • Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)

EOY 3 – July 1 – June 30 (Incidents for Students with Disabilities)

Students enrolled in the LEA (Enrollment Status Codes Primary [10] or Short-term [30]) between July 1 and June 30 who have Special Education Statuses of 1 – Eligible and Participating and Plan Type 100 - IEP are counted for purposes of End-of-Year 3 certification if any of the following occurred:

  • Student was involved in an incident that involved one of the offenses outlined in Education Code Sections 48900 and 48915, even if the incident did not result in suspension or expulsion.
  • Student was involved in an incident in which the student was physically or mechanically restrained or secluded, even if that incident did not involve a violation of Education Code Sections 48900 and 48915

EOY 4 – July 1 – June 30

The following students enrolled in the LEA (Enrollment Status Codes Primary [10] Short-term [30], or Non-ADA [50]) between July 1 and June 30 are counted for purposes of End-of-Year 4 certification:

  • All students who have been referred and have received parental consent for initial evaluation anytime between July 1 and June 30.
  • All students on active Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), Individualized Service Plans, and Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP) between July 1 and June 30.
  • All students who exited special education anytime between July 1 and June 30
  • Postsecondary statuses for all students with disabilities who exited secondary education in the prior year (e.g., in EOY 4 2024, LEAs will report postsecondary outcomes for SWD exiting secondary education in 2022–2023).
Is the District of Special Education Accountability field in CALPADS used to determine where students with disabilities are counted in the California School Dashboard for charter schools?

No. Students enrolled in charter schools will be counted for accountability purposes at the charter school in the California School Dashboard and NOT the District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA). However, for charter schools, the DSEA is still responsible for the implementation of a student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) for purposes of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

What are the required data elements to obtain SSIDs (and create enrollments) for infants on Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP), and private school students on Individualized Service Plans (ISP), and preschool age students on Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)?

If all demographic data are not immediately available, the following data elements represent the minimum data required to obtain an SSID and create an enrollment record in CALPADS:

  • Reporting LEA
  • School of Attendance
  • Academic Year
  • Local Student ID (the locally assigned district identifier)
  • Student Legal First Name
  • Student Legal Last Name
  • Student Birth Date
  • Gender Code
  • Enrollment Status Code
  • Enrollment Start Date
  • Grade Level
Birth Country and Parent Highest Education Level are NOT required to obtain SSIDs for students with Enrollment Status Code 50 (infants and students enrolled in private schools).

It should be noted however that students with an incomplete demographic profile in CALPADS will not be included on any certification reports until the missing demographic data are posted to CALPADS

How is student age calculated for all the new special education file validations (SWDS, MEET, PLAN, SERV)?

For most of the new special education file (SWDS, MEET, PLAN, SERV) validations, the student's age is being calculated by comparing the student's birth date populated on the Student Information Form (SINF) record that overlaps the relevant date in the specific file type.  For example, for the following validation:

  • PLAN0362F1 - Student age must be less than 3 years for this special education setting code.

The student’s birth date in the SINF is being compared to the Plan Effective Start Date. If the student was not less than three on the Plan Effective Start Date, PLAN0362F1 will trigger.

Do CALPADS LEA administrators need access to the special education certification and supporting reports (16.xx), or should access only be given to the special education data staff?

This is a local decision. Your data team should be aware of all local data, but the person who reviews and approves reports displaying special education data is determined locally. The person reviewing the data locally for submission and approval should be the locally authorized individual(s) who are the most knowledgeable about the data from the local special education data system to ensure the best possible data quality.

How are SELPA-level accounts created in CALPADS?

For SELPA-level staff who are responsible for reviewing and certifying data for all of the SELPA’s member LEAs, the SELPA must submit a service ticket to calpads-support@cde.ca.gov requesting a SELPA Administrator Application. The SELPA director must complete and sign the application and the CDE will issue an account to the individual on the application.

How can an LEA determine who the SELPA contact is?

CSIS External link opens in new window or tab. has added SELPA contacts to the list on its Find CALPADS LEA Contacts External link opens in new window or tab. tool on their website. This tool can be used if you know the name of your LEA's SELPA(s). If you do not know the name of your SELPA(s), contact your authorizing agency's special education coordinator (for charters) and your LEA's special education coordinator for non-charter LEAs.

Which person(s) at the LEA are responsible for the submission of the SWDS, PLAN, MEET and SERV files?

The data needed to compile these files are maintained in the special education data system (SEDS) within the LEA.Therefore, only the most knowledgeable person(s) who are authorized to access, edit, maintain, and submit data within the SEDS should be responsible for the submission of these files to CALPADS.

How do special education data coordinators get notified when the files they submit have generated input errors and certification data discrepancies?

Currently, when users receive input validation errors, these errors are automatically transferred through the application program interface (API) back into the special education data systems (SEDS) so that users can fix the errors directly in the source system. Unfortunately, at this time however, the certification data discrepancies are not automatically transferred back to the special education data coordinators through the API. Therefore, they must log into CALPADS and view the Certification Status page to view their fatal certification data discrepancies.

Who is responsible for creating LEA-level accounts for the special education data coordinator?

The CALPADS LEA Administrator is responsible for creating all LEA-level accounts for the special education staff in the district assuming these individuals receive any student data privacy training provided to local users.

What CALPADS roles are necessary to submit the four special education file types (SWDS, MEET, PLAN, SERV)?

Users with the SPED Edit role have the ability to submit the SWDS, MEET, PLAN, and SERV files.

Now that there are many people reviewing data for Fall 1, who is responsible for approving the data at the LEA-level?

This is a local decision. However, there is only one “LEA approval” button. Once the LEA and all the stakeholders involved have verified the accuracy of all the data in the certification reports, then one individual (who is identified by the LEA) would be responsible for pressing the “LEA approval” button.

If an LEA amends Fall 1 data during the amendment window, would the SELPA need to re-approve the data once again once the LEA re-approves?

Yes. If the LEA generates a new revision and approves it at the LEA-level, the SELPA must then approve the new revision for the LEA to be considered certified for Fall 1.

When will an LEA see data for students in the Special Education and Special Education Services containers?

Once an LEA has successfully posted any SPED or SSRV records to the ODS, the data will be visible in the Special Education and Special Education Services containers. The API functionality automatically posts passed records.

Now that there are many people reviewing data for Fall 1, who is responsible for approving the data at the LEA-level?

This is a local decision. However, there is only one “LEA approval” button. Once the LEA and all the stakeholders involved have verified the accuracy of all of the data in the certification reports, then one individual would be responsible for pressing the “LEA approval” button.

If an LEA amends Fall 1 data during the amendment window, would the SELPA need to re-approve the data once again once the LEA re-approves?

Yes. If the LEA generates a new revision and approves it at the LEA-level, the SELPA must then approve the new revision in order for the LEA to be considered certified for Fall 1.

Can LEA-level users view the SELPA Reports?

No. Only SELPA-level users may view SELPA-level reports. SELPA-level reports contain data for all members of the SELPA.

Are annual offers of Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for parentally placed private school students initially evaluated for the Part B Program and whose parents decline the offer required to be submitted to CALPADS?

Once a MEET record is submitted to CALPADS for the original initial evaluation, then the subsequent offers of FAPE that are made by the LEA on an annual basis are not required to be reported to CALPADS unless the student’s parents either decide to accept the offer of FAPE or agree to let the student be served on an Individualized Service Plan (ISP).

However, it is necessary to include these students who are parentally placed in private schools in the annual proportionate share calculation. Therefore, LEAs must track the annual offers of FAPE in the local special education data system and include these students parentally placed in private schools if they fall into the following categories:

  • Receiving services through an ISP; or
  • Eligible, but no services received (parent declined or other reasons)
For students with disabilities who transfer into a new local educational agency (LEA) less than 30 days prior to Census Day who may be on interim placements, which special education plan would be reflected in any special education certification reports?

Education Code Section 56325(a)(1) states

“... In the case of an individual with exceptional needs who has an individualized education program and transfers into a district from a district not operating programs under the same local plan in which he or she was last enrolled in a special education program within the same academic year, the local educational agency shall provide the pupil with a free appropriate public education, including services comparable to those described in the previously approved individualized education program, in consultation with the parents, for a period not to exceed 30 days, by which time the local educational agency shall adopt the previously approved individualized education program or shall develop, adopt, and implement a new individualized education program that is consistent with federal and state law.”

Therefore, when a student enrolls in a new LEA, assuming that the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team has not held a meeting or come to an agreement with the parent on placement prior to enrolling, the LEA should:

  • Adopt the plan that was in stay-put from the prior LEA with a Plan Effective Start Date of the first day of enrollment in the new LEA.
  • If there is an interim placement, submit a subsequent PLAN Record with a new Plan Effective Start date (Reason for Plan Code – 2 – Amendment) representing the interim placement.
  • Once a meeting is held or agreement is reached on a new IEP, submit another PLAN record with the new Plan Effective Start Date if any components of the plan changed.
The plan that would get reported for purposes of Census Day reporting is the plan that was effective on or before Census Day.
Where can I find a list of which new special education file types are expected based on specific scenarios?

The Special Education File Submission Scenarios document contains specific special education data scenarios and information about which of the special education files (SWDS, MEET, PLAN, SERV) would be required in each of these scenarios.

When an LEA adopts the plan in place after transferring into a new LEA, does CALPADS require that the adopted record match the prior plan record for the student in CALPADS?

No. CALPADS will no longer validate that the adopted plan is an exact match for the student’s prior plan. This means that Special Education Program Setting changes that occur by default because of the TYPE of school the student is transferring to can be made when adopting the student’s plan in stay-put.

When a student transfers into an LEA and the LEA has evidence that the student was exited from special education by the previous LEA prior to enrolling in the new LEA, which LEA is responsible for reporting the exit Student with Disabilities Status (SWDS) record to CALPADS?

It is preferable that the SWDS record be submitted by the LEA that exited the student from special education, however, in circumstances where the LEA has not submitted the SWDS record, the current LEA may submit a SWDS record with a status start date prior to the student’s enrollment in the LEA so long as the status they are submitting is one of the following:

  • 2 – Eligible, Not Participating
  • 3 – Eligible, Not Enrolled
  • 4 – Not Eligible
Can LEAs submit MEET records if the meeting was not conducted by that LEA?

Yes, if an LEA has evidence that an initial evaluation, an annual plan review or reevaluation was conducted by a different LEA and those records are not reflected in CALPADS, MEET records may be submitted with meeting dates that are outside of the student’s enrollment period at that LEA, and even if the LEA was not the entity that conducted the meeting. The MEET records in CALPADS are specifically used to monitor whether timely meetings are being held for students with disabilities, and the LEA where the student is currently enrolled will be held accountable; therefore, getting the records submitted is paramount to the LEA that submits the MEET record.

When a District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA) has an agreement with another LEA and the other LEA provides the majority of special education instruction and related services for a student with disabilities, which LEA would 1) be responsible for reporting the primary enrollment in CALPADS; and 2) claim average daily attendance (ADA)?

Local agreements between LEAs usually specify which LEA will claim average daily attendance for students with disabilities being served by an LEA other than the District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA), however, primary enrollments in CALPADS for students with disabilities should always be submitted by the LEA that provides the majority of special education and related services. Furthermore, enrollment data in CALPADS are collected independently from data for ADA which is collected through the Principal Apportionment Data System (PADC) and the data are not compared at the state level.

Which LEA is responsible for submitting Special Education data for a student with disabilities?

The LEA that provides the majority of special education instruction and related services is responsible for submitting all data to CALPADS including special education data. This is almost always where the student attends school, if the student is enrolled and attending.
Students not subject to compulsory education law and not attending school, then the reporting LEA generally provides Special Education services.

For more detailed information on determining the reporting LEA, please visit our Reporting Scenarios for Students with Disabilities web page.

How does a school district report a student in CALPADS when the parent agrees that the student is eligible for special education and Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) offered but does not enroll the student in the district or does not make the student available to receive special education services?

In this situation, for purposes of CALPADS, the student should continue to be reported as an eligible and participating student unless a written revocation from the parents or a court order is received.

For purposes of CALPADS reporting, when a student with disabilities transfers into a California public school from another state with a primary disability of “Developmental Delay”, which Disability Category should be used when submitting their baseline IEP record in lieu of “Developmental Delay” which is not an eligibility category in California?

For purposes of uploading a baseline record in CALPADS, for students who are between the ages of three and five (inclusive) who transfer from another state with a primary disability of “Developmental Delay”, LEAs may use Disability Category 281 – Established Medical Disability as their primary disability when creating the baseline record. For students who are greater than age five, LEAs may use Disability Category 280 – Other Health Impairment. Once the baseline record has been submitted the student’s primary disability can be amended, as appropriate.

Which CALPADS completion status codes should be used for students with disabilities?

When students complete their initial graduation cohort year (first year of 12th grade), there are several options for LEA when exiting the student at the end of the academic year:

When students with disabilities exit the academic year and have... Then the student should be exited with... Notes
met all state and local graduation requirements... Exit Category Code E230 – Completer Exit
AND
School Completion Status Code 100 – Standard High School Diploma
Students graduating with a standard high school diploma may not re-enroll for special education services.
(for eligible students who entered ninth grade in 2022-23 or after only)
Met the state minimum graduation requirements through an alternative diploma pathway for students with disabilities
Exit Category Code E230 – Completer Exit
AND
School Completion Status Code 102 – Pathway Diploma for Students with Disabilities
Students graduating with the Pathway Diploma for Students with Disabilities are eligible to reenroll to receive transition services prescribed in their IEPs until they age out of the special education program.
The first four-year cohort for the alternate diploma pathway is expected to graduate in the 2026-27 academic year, although the School Completion Status Code is available for use earlier in case any of these students are early graduates.
not met all state and local graduation requirements but will return the following academic year to continue their pursuit of a standard high school diploma... Exit Category Code E156 – Grade 12 Continued Education The student should continue to be exited with E156 annually until they either earn a standard high school diploma (E230/100) or age out of the program (E230/120 - Special Education Certificate of Completion)
not met all state and local graduation requirements and have no plans to return the following academic year to continue their pursuit of a standard high school diploma or receive special education services... Exit Category Code E230 – Completer Exit
AND
School Completion Status Code 360 – Completed grade 12 without completing graduation requirements, not grad
Students may reenroll at anytime to continue pursuit of their high school diploma and receive services prescribed in their IEPs.
have not met all state and local graduation requirements because the student is not on a diploma track but will remain enrolled until they age out to receive transition services prescribed in their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) Option 1:
Exit Category Code E230 – Completer Exit
AND
School Completion Status Code 120 – Special Education Certificate of Completion

Option 2:
Exit Category Code E156 – Grade 12 Continued Education
Students may reenroll until they age out of the special education program.

Option 1: When student ages out, they should be exited with a Exit Category Code of E125 – Prior Special Education Completer

Option 2: When the student finally ages out they can be exited with E230/120 - Special Education Certificate of Completion

 

Student Addresses

Can an LEA report a P.O. Box in element 2.36 (Residential Address Line 1)?

CALPADS allows a P.O. Box addresses to be populated for the Residential Address in the Student Information file.

What address should LEAs use for incarcerated or homeless students?

Students with a primary residence category code (Field 2.33) of "homeless" are not required to have an address in CALPADS. The address for incarcerated students should reflect what is reported in the Department of Social Services database, which includes CalWORKS (California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids), SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program also known as CalFresh), and TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) information, and may be either the address of the institution in which they are incarcerated or the parent/guardian address.

If a physical address cannot be recognized by the U.S. Postal Service, will CALPADS be able to accept the record?

Yes. The address will be accepted. CALPADS does not perform validation against the U.S. Postal Service address directory.

What address should be submitted to CALPADS: The student’s residential address, or the mailing address?

LEAs should submit the student’s mailing address, and if the student does not have a separate mailing address, the LEA should submit the student’s residential address. The mailing address is recommended because the mailing address is needed for LEAs opting to have student addresses printed on Smarter Balanced Individual Student Reports (ISRs), and for the direct certification process, which matches on either the mailing address or the residential address. NOTE: This guidance has been updated since CALPADS FLASH Update #101 (dated February 6, 2015); the CDE has confirmed that the Direct Certification matching process conducted by the California Department of Health Care Services matches against both the mailing and residential address.

Student Demographics

Is a student’s “legal name” required in CALPADS?

Yes. According to the California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 432 (Varieties of Pupil Records), the principal of each school shall keep on file a record of enrollment for each pupil currently enrolled in the school. "Mandatory Permanent Pupil Records" are those records which schools are directed to compile by California statute authorization or authorized administrative directive including the legal name of the pupil.

What is the definition of a student’s “legal name?”

There is no definition of a student’s legal name defined in statute. Best practices suggest that local educational agencies adopt practices or develop a standard, such as requiring the parent or guardian to provide a government issued document with the child’s name. Examples of such documents include: state identification card, passport, driver’s license, birth certificate or other birth naming document, court order, etc.

The definition provided in the CALPADS File Specification document is: “The Student Legal First Name of the student. The Student Legal First Name is the first name of the person which is given to a person after birth (e.g., birth, baptism, or other naming ceremony certificate; or birth verification document) or through legal action (e.g., marriage, divorce, adoption, or name change).”

How do I enter a student’s name when the student has a one word legal name? For example, the student is named “Sting” with no last name.

Both the first name (Field 2.11) and last name (Field 2.13) should be populated with the one word name.

Summer School Data

Are LEAs required to report summer school enrollments?

No, LEAs are not required to submit summer school enrollments. The CDE recommends that summer school enrollments not be reported as it is likely the summer school enrollment record will cause a concurrent enrollment to be created. Per the CALPADS SSID and Enrollment Procedures, LEAs are not required to obtain or maintain SSIDs for summer school students.

Title III Immigrant Data (Fall 1)

Is the Student Nation of Origin (SNOR) data collection collected independent of CALPADS?

No. The data previously collected in the Student Nation of Origin (SNOR) data collection are now collected solely through CALPADS, and the SNOR data collection has been retired. These data are collected annually in CALPADS in the Fall 1 data submission. In the Fall 1 data submission, LEAs can view their Title III Eligible Immigrant counts in the following reports:

  • 2.1 – Title III Eligible Immigrants – Count
  • 2.2 – Title III Eligible Immigrant\s – Count by Birth County
  • 2.8 – English Language Acquisition Status – Count by Primary Language
  • 2.9 – English Language Acquisition Status – Census Comparison

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Fall 2 Topics

General (Fall 2)

Are Carl Perkins data required to be submitted in CALPADS?

Yes. If you receive funding for the Carl Perkins Program, you are required to submit career technical education (CTE) data for K–12 students to CALPADS. CALPADS will be the primary collection for data previously collected in the E-1 and E-2 Data Collections for students enrolled in grades seven through 12. Data for students with an adult (AD) grade level will not be collected through CALPADS.

Are LEAs required to submit data for Regional Occupational Centers and Programs (ROC/Ps)?

Regional Occupational Centers and Programs (ROC/Ps) cannot submit data directly to CALPADS. ROC/Ps must submit their data, generally course enrollment and completion data, through the LEAs in which the students are primarily enrolled. Thus, it is incumbent upon LEAs to obtain these data from the ROC/Ps. Course sections administered by ROC/Ps should be reported by the LEAs for both course enrollment and course completion. If an LEA does not have information on teachers instructing ROC/P courses, a “9999999999” may be used instead of the Statewide Educator Identifier (SEID) in the course section file; however the use of a SEID of all nines may result in a potential misassignment/exception in the California State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS).

Can ROC/Ps obtain CALPADS LEA Administrator accounts for CALPADS?

No. ROC/Ps cannot obtain CALPADS LEA Administrator accounts, and they cannot submit data directly to CALPADS. ROC/P courses that students are enrolled in and/or complete must be submitted through the LEA where the student is primarily enrolled.

Assignment Monitoring

If an LEA uses a Non-Classroom-Based, or Support, Assignment Code that contains "Admin" in the code name for a staff member, is the staff member expected to have an Administrative Services credential for purposes of assignment monitoring in the California State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS)?

LEAs should only use the Administrator Job Classification (10) and associated administrator non-classroom-based or support assignment codes if the person's duties (as described in their job description) require an administrative services credential. These duties are outlined in the Commission on Teacher Credentialing's (CTC) Administrator's Assignment Resources External link opens in new window or tab.. To view the Non-Classroom Based or Support Assignment Codes that are valid with the Administrator Job Classification in CALPADS, go to the CALPADS Valid Code Combinations document, NonClassSuppAsgn – JobClass tab. Select the appropriate non-classroom-based or support assignment code if the individual does not perform duties requiring an administrative services credential.

Users may review the following CTC assignment resources web pages for additional information.
To view this information, users will need to log in:
Username: cig2011
Password: ctcguide

How do LEAs find information on what credential and authorizations are required for a specific Non-Classroom-Based or Support Assignment Code?

The Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) is responsible for identifying the specific credential and authorization that is appropriate for a specific Non-Classroom-Based or Support Assignment Code. There is currently no specific resource or document that specifies which credential and authorizations are appropriate for each Non-Classroom-Based or Support Assignment Code. However, in general there is guidance in the Commission on Teacher Credentialing's (CTC) Administrator's Assignment Resources External link opens in new window or tab.that identifies which credentials and authorizations are appropriate for specific content areas and assignments.

Users may review the CTC Online and Software Based CoursesExternal link opens in new window or tab. resource for additional information.
To view this information, users will need to log in:
Username: cig2011
Password: ctcguide

How do LEAs report Non-Classroom-Based or Support Assignments for staff that are licensed but do not have the appropriate Pupil and Personnel Services credentials?

In order to report any staff serving in positions requiring certification in CALPADS, in particular, those staff serving in non-instructional assignments, the staff member must have a SEID. For staff who are permitted to serve in a position requiring certification that are permitted to do so because they hold the appropriate license, but not a credential, these individuals may, but are not required to, obtain a Certificate of Clearance through the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) so that they can be issued a SEID and reported to CALPADS. Staff without SEIDS cannot be reported.

What CALPADS data might be causing an English Learner exception in CalSAAS?

This exception gets generated when an LEA has populated field 9.20 – Education Service Code on the teacher's Course Section record with one of the following codes but the teacher does not hold the appropriate EL authorization to provide these services:

  1. Primary Language Instruction and Designated and Integrated English Language Development (ELD) Instruction
  2. Designated ELD Instruction Only
  3. Integrated ELD Instruction Only
  4. Designated and Integrated ELD Instruction But Not Primary Language Instruction
  5. Other English Learner Service

Historically in CALPADS, LEAs were told to report the EL services that the teacher was authorized to teach on the course section, however, there has been a shift to collect the services the teacher is actually providing to any ELs enrolled in the class. LEAs must work with administrators, teachers, and EL coordinators to determine which EL services are being provided in each course section.

Users may review the following CTC EL resources web pages for additional information.

To view this information, users will need to log in:
Username: cig2011
Password: ctcguide

What CALPADS data might be causing a Special Education exception in CalSAAS?

This exception gets generated when LEAs have either:

  1. Incorrectly identified a general education course with an Instructional Strategy Code of 700 – Special Education (should only be used for course sections where the majority of students enrolled are students with disabilities); or
  2. Failed to identify a special day class or Resource Specialist assignment (9231) with an Instructional Strategy Code of 700 – Special Education; or
  3. The educator does not have the appropriate credential and authorizations to provide instruction to students in the course section based on their primary disabilities. To determine the primary disabilities of students enrolled in a course section, view Report 3.8 – Course Section Enrollment Student List.
What CALPADS data might be causing a CALPADS Code exception in CalSAAS?

This exception gets generated when, based on the State Course Code that the teacher is assigned to and that was certified in the Fall 2 submission, the educator does not hold the appropriate credentials and authorizations to teach that course. This could be due to reasons including, but not limited to the following:

  • LEA failed to report the teacher's Local Assignment Option in CALPADS
  • LEA failed to identify departmentalized courses for a middle school teacher with a Middle School Core Setting Indicator of "Y" in CALPADS
  • Educator's credential and authorization documents were not effective on Census Day
  • Educator does not have the appropriate credential and authorizations (misassignment)
  • Educator holds a "Standard" or "General" credential (authorization structure of these older documents do not align neatly with CalSAAS exception logic)
If an exception is generated in the CalSAAS system for an assignment due to a CALPADS data error, does the LEA have to correct the data in CALPADS in order to clear the exception?

Exceptions must be justified in CalSAAS; there is nothing that can be changed in CALPADS to clear the exception because the data that are generating the exception have already been certified in CALPADS. However, if the teacher is in the same assignment for the following academic year, this should be corrected in the student information system for the new academic year and reported to CALPADS.

For those exceptions that were generated solely due to a data error in CALPADS and not because the educator is actually misassigned, the Monitoring Authority can make a determination of "CALPADS Error" in CalSAAS and this educator's assignment will not count as a misassignment.

Can an LEA receive a preliminary exception report through CalSAAS prior to certifying their Fall 2 data in CALPADS?

Unfortunately, no. The data loaded into CalSAAS reflect data that the LEA has certified in CALPADS as of the Fall 2 reporting deadline.

If a staff member's credential and authorizations were not in place as of Census Day, but were in place shortly after Census Day, can the monitoring authority determine that the assignment was appropriate?

No. Credentials and authorizations, including any local assignment options should be in place as of Census Day in order to make a determination of "Appropriate Assignment." If they were not in place as of Census Day, but were in place shortly after Census Day, the determination should be "Corrected Misassignment."

How are the misassignment data used?

Beginning in 2020–21, once misassignments have been determined and certified in California State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS) by monitoring authorities, the data will be:

  1. Publicly posted on the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) web site and reported to the Legislature as outlined in Education Code Section 44258.9(k);
  2. Sent to the CDE for use in federal reporting on "Ineffective" and "Out-of-Field" teachers
  3. Used to pre-populate the School Accountability Report Card template for teacher misassignments

These data are not currently used for the California School Dashboard.

Which agency is responsible for monitoring charter schools in the California State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS)?

For charter schools authorized by a school district or county office of education, the monitoring authority is the authorizing LEA (usually the district or county credential analyst).

For charter schools authorized by the State Board of Education, the monitoring authority is the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

If a charter school teacher does not have a credential to teach the course they are teaching and does not have a Statewide Education Identifier, how should they be reported in CALPADS?

Beginning July 1, 2019, per AB 1505, all charter school teachers are required to obtain a Certificate of Clearance through the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, at which time they will be issued a SEID.

Teachers that were employed prior to July 1, 2019 that are teaching non-core, non-college preparatory courses have been granted until July 1, 2025 to obtain the appropriate credentials and authorizations, however they must have a SEID and must be reported in CALPADS. These teachers will be counted as misassigned for every year until they have obtained the appropriate credentials and authorizations.

Career Technical Education Courses (Fall 2)

Can an LEA use a Career Technical Education (CTE) State Course Code (7000–8999 series) for a course if the school does not run a CTE Program? If so, then what should an LEA select for the CTE Course Provider Code field?

Yes. If the content of the course matches the description of one of the CTE State Course Codes and the course is delivering CTE pathway standards, then it can be used even if the school does not run a formal CTE program. Because the CTE Course Provider Code field is required when using one of the CTE State Course Codes, LEAs should select the “District” option.

Should another element be used to indicate that Agriculture or any other Career-Technical Education class is being provided by ROC/P?

All Career Technical Education Classes, including Agriculture, that are being provided by ROC/P must be identified using element 9.27 CTE Course Section Provider Code. LEAs should enter the code value for “Regional Occupational Centers and Programs.” In addition, since course section records require SEIDs, and the LEAs may not maintain the SEIDs for teachers employed by ROC/Ps, LEAs may use a “9999999999” for the SEIDs of these teachers in order to enable the submission of course section records.

Do LEAs need to report ROP time in a teacher’s FTE? In CBEDS LEAs did not report it.

Report the FTE percentage for the courses a teacher teaches at that school.  If the teacher teaches the courses at a Regional Occupational Center, then the FTE percentage for that assignment would NOT be included for the school.

Course Enrollment/Completion (Fall 2)

Which course codes should be used for middle school science courses?

For middle schools implementing integrated science (curriculum with integration of all science areas covered in each course) in middle school:

Use course codes 9327 – Integrated Science I, 9328 – Integrated Science II, and 9329 – Integrated Science III. In addition, these courses should be populated with a Departmentalized Standards Grade Level Range Code of MID – Middle Grades 5-8. This helps distinguish the courses from high school integrated science.

For middle schools implementing traditional subject-specific science courses (curriculum with one specific broad science area in each course), choose one of the following course codes for each of subject-specific courses:

  • 9321 – Earth and Space Sciences
  • 9322 – Life Sciences
  • 9323 – Physical Sciences

In addition, these courses should be populated with a Departmentalized Standards Grade Level Range Code of MID – Middle Grades 5-8.

When is it appropriate to use a generic SEID of 9999999999 on a course section?

CALPADS currently allows LEAs to use a generic SEID on the Course Section Enrollment (CRSE) and Course Section Completion (CRSC) files in the following scenarios:

  1. College courses taken by high school students that are taught by college professors who do not possess California K-12 credentials.
  2. Courses taught by teachers who have SEIDs but who are not paid by the LEA reporting the CRSE or CRSC record, including Career Technical Education courses taken at Regional Occupational Center or Program and courses taught by contracted teachers from another LEA or outside agency.

It should be noted that beginning July 1, 2019, all charter school teachers are required to obtain a Certificate of Clearance through the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, at which time the educator will be issued a SEID. Therefore, a SEID of 9999999999 should not be reported for any charter school teachers.

LEAs should be aware that using a generic SEID of 9999999999 (with the exception of those courses additionally identified as college courses in CALPADS) will result in an exception in CalSAAS that will have to be justified by providing the evidence of the appropriate credential documents to the Monitoring Authority. Therefore, CDE encourages LEAs to use the actual SEID of the educator where possible, keeping in mind that in the case of using a SEID for a teacher not employed by the reporting agency will require that the reporting agency also submit a Staff Demographic (SDEM) and Staff Assignment record for that SEID.

For purposes of Assignment Monitoring, what considerations should be made when LEAs populate field 9.20 – Education Service Code on the Course Section Enrollment file?

Field 9.20 – Education Service Code is intended to capture which services a teacher is providing to any English learners enrolled in the course. When selecting an English learner service, LEAs should consider 1) what services are actually being provided; and 2) what the teacher assigned to that course is actually authorized to provide. In the Commission on Teacher Credentialing's (CTC) Administrator's Assignment Resources External link opens in new window or tab. there is a table titled Common English Learner Authorizations and the Services They Authorize. This table outlines which credential and authorizations can provide specific English learner services. If the teacher is providing no English learner services, the LEA should select Education Service Code English Learners – 5 – No English Learner Services.

How should LEAs report courses taught remotely as an online course in CALPADS?

If a course is being delivered online (full time or part time), the LEA should:

  1. Populate Field 9.24 – Distance Learning Indicator with a "Y"
    1. Instructor-led – the teacher of record is providing the majority of the course content and issues grades.
    2. Instructor facilitated – the computer software is providing the majority of course content and may issue grades, however a staff member is assigned to the course to provide subject matter expertise or clarification.
    3. Learner-led – course uses a software-based program where each student sets their own pace and course of study, and there are no student records/attendance associated with the course.
  2. Populate Field 9.33 – Online Course Instruction Type with the appropriate value based on who is providing the primary content of the course
  3. If the course is being delivered through an independent study program, then populate Field 9.23 – Independent Study Indicator with a "Y"

Users may review the CTC Online and Software Based Courses External link opens in new window or tab. resource for additional information.
To view this information, users will need to log in:
Username: cig2011
Password: ctcguid

If an online course is provided in a synchronous (teacher and student have live interaction) AND asynchronous (no live interaction) manner, which Online Instruction Type should be chosen for the course?

The Online Instruction Type is determined based on who is providing the content of the course, taking attendance, and issuing grades. If there is a teacher providing the content of the course, taking attendance, and issuing grades, whether the content is provided in a synchronous or asynchronous manner, the Online Instruction Type would be Instructor-led (see "How should LEAs report online courses in CALPADS?").

When is it appropriate to select a Career Technical Education (CTE) State Course Code (7000-8999) for a course?

When considering whether or not to select a CTE State Course Code or an academic State Course Code, LEAs should consider the following:

  • Which set of standards was used to develop the content of the course?
    • If the course was developed with more than 50% CTE standards, then use a CTE State Course Code.
    • If the course was developed with less than 50% CTE standards, choose the academic State Course Code.
    • If the course is 50% CTE Standards and 50% academic standards, then the LEA has the discretion to choose between the CTE State Course Code and the academic State Course Code.
  • LEAs should NOT select the State Course Code based on:
    • What the teacher is authorized to teach.
    • Whether or not the course is funded with CTE program funding.
    • The subject the student gets credit in (e.g., a Marching Band course for which the students receive P.E. credit).
    • Whether or not the course is an elective or not.
How should LEAs report Career Exploration courses at the middle school level and do those courses require a teacher with a CTE Designated Subjects Credential?

If a career exploration course at the elementary or middle school level is no more than 50% CTE standards, and integrates academic content as well, then LEAs should select State Course Code 9236 – Elementary or Middle School Career Pathway Preparation. If this course code is selected, a CTE Designated Subjects Credential is not required, however, this course code will always trigger an exception in CalSAAS because the Monitoring Authority must verify the content of the course and verify the educator holds the appropriate authorization to teach it.

If the course covers over 50% CTE anchor standards, then LEAs should use State Course Code 7000 – Exploratory Career Technical Education. This course must be taught by a teacher with any CTE Designated Subjects Credential.

Are LEAs required to populate field 9.20 – Education Service Code with an English Learner service if there are no English learners enrolled in the course section?

No. LEAs are not required to populate an English learner service code on the course section record unless there are English learners enrolled in the course section.

When should an LEA use a State Course Code of 1000 – Self-Contained instead of one of the departmentalized State Course Codes?

A self-contained course is when multiple subjects are taught by one or more teachers to one group of students throughout the day. Self-contained courses can be taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. LEAs should use State Course Code 1000 – Self-contained in these scenarios, even if grades are issued in a departmentalized manner.

A departmentalized course is when one subject is taught by one or more teachers to multiple groups of students throughout the day. Departmentalized courses can be taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. LEAs should select the appropriate State Course Code that represents the departmentalized content being provided in the course.

What State Course Code should be used for adult-age students with disabilities in transition programs?

As part of the Fall 2 submission, all students that are primarily enrolled must have at least one course section record reported. Adult-age students with disabilities in transition programs are required to have primary enrollments and will require the submission of a course section record. LEAs have a couple of options:

  1. State Course Code 9220 – Life Skills should be used if the student is enrolled solely for transition services and is no longer taking any coursework towards a high school diploma; or
  2. State Course 1000 – Self-Contained should be used if the student is enrolled for transition services and is additionally taking coursework in any of the core academic content areas.

These course sections should also be coded with an Instructional Strategy Code of 700 – Special Education because they are provided to solely students with disabilities.

If an LEA has a course that is not standards aligned or has no applicable standards, which Content Standards Alignment Code should be chosen?

If a course is not standards aligned or if a course has no applicable standards, then LEA’s should choose “Not Standards Aligned or Not Applicable” for the Content Standards Alignment Code.

How should LEAs report elementary teachers who are teaching one subject all day long to different groups of students (e.g., music, art, physical education)?

Elementary teachers who are teaching one subject to multiple groups of students throughout the day are teaching in a departmentalized setting, even if that setting is pull-out, push-in, or itinerant. Departmentalized assignments should be reported as course sections and the specific course code representing the content (music, art, physical education) should be chosen.  The following codes were created specifically for this purpose:

  • 9100   English (Departmentalized K–8)
  • 9170   History-Social Science (Departmentalized K–6)
  • 9240   Math (Departmentalized K–8)
  • 9290   Music General/Classroom/Exploratory (Departmentalized K–8)
  • 9310   Physical Education (Departmentalized K–5)
  • 9311   Physical Education (Departmentalized 6–8)
  • 9320   Science (Departmentalized K–6)
  • 9380   Media Arts (Departmentalized K–8)
What is a Local Assignment Option?

A local assignment option (LAO) is a waiver based on certain Education Code sections that can be obtained at the local level to make a teacher appropriately assigned to teach a particular subject.

What is a Middle School Core Setting?

A middle school core setting occurs when a teacher is assigned on the basis of a credential that authorizes service in a self-contained classroom (Multiple Subject or Standard Elementary Teaching Credentials) and:

  • The teacher teaches two or more subjects to the same group of students in the same day.
  • The student population for the class(es) remains substantially the same.

Core assignments also allow for educators to be assigned a hanging period which allows an educator to teach one of the subjects already being taught in their core assignment. In order for a hanging period to be part of a correct core assignment:

  • The extra period(s) must be in one of the exact same subjects already being taught in one of the core assignments.
  • The extra period(s) must be at the same grade level as the core assignment.
  • The extra period(s) cannot constitute more than half of the teacher's total assignment.

The intent of the core setting is that the student group is the same and remains together for all portions of the core assignment, which maintains the basis of the self-contained classroom. The instruction, however, is segmented into independent periods of instruction to mirror a departmentalized setting. Hence, classes should be departmentalized courses and Not Self-contained 1000.

Core settings allow an educator holding a credential authorizing service in a self-contained classroom to provide instruction in a partially departmentalized setting. This educator may teach two or more departmentalized subjects to the same group of students in the same day, and provide instruction in hanging fifth period(s). This setting is only permitted for use in grades 5-8.

For example:

Core Setting 1:

  • Period 1: English to Class A
  • Period 2: History/Social Science to Class A
  • Period 3: English to Class B
  • Period 4: History/Social Science to Class B
  • Period 5: English to Class C

Core Setting 2:

  • Period 1: English to Class A
  • Period 2: History/Social Science to Class A
  • Period 3: Science to Class A
  • Period 4: English to Class B
  • Period 5: History/Social Science to Class B
  • Period 6: Science to Class B
Is the Course Content Area Subcategory field required for all courses?

No, this field is only required for certain courses.  Refer to the validation column in the CFS for field 9.28 for a list of the courses that require this field.

In a K–8 school, UC/CSU-approved courses (approved for another LEA) are offered and the credits are accepted by the other LEA. Do we submit them as UC/CSU-approved?

No. In order to submit the courses to CALPADS as UC/CSU-approved, they must be approved by UC/CSU for your LEA.

In a school with an A/B schedule, both do not occur on Census Day. How should this type of course schedule be reported?

LEAs should report course enrollment for the courses occurring during the term in which Census Day falls, even if the specific class does not meet on Census Day. In this specific scenario, you would report both the A and B schedules.

If a school is not in regular session on Census Day, or if one attendance track of the school is not in regular session, how is school enrollment to be reported?

The CALPADS Census Day enrollment count is based upon all students who have an open enrollment record in CALPADS, even if their attendance track is off on Census Day/Information Day. To ensure that these students are counted LEAs need to make sure that the student has an open enrollment that starts from the beginning of the year, but no later than Census Day.

If a school, or a track within the school, is not in regular session on Census Day, and if some students have course enrollments that differ before and after Information Day, which course enrollments should LEAs report?

LEAs must submit/report courses for students that have open enrollments as of Fall Census Day, the first Wednesday in October. If Census Day occurs when some enrolled students are off track, the Fall 2 submission should include the course sections and the students with open enrollments on Census Day in those course sections scheduled on the first day that the tracks are in session after Census Day.

Should LEAs report students in study hall with State Course Code 6002 (Home room, study hall)?

That is a local decision. As per the CALPADS Data Guide, Section 2.3.5 Course Enrollment and Completion:

LEAs are not required to submit course enrollment data for the following activities:

Lunch, free period, student aide, homeroom, and study hall (9217-homeroom, study hall).

Note that submission is optional for homeroom and study hall.

Where is there documentation that shows the state course codes grouped by subject area, similar to how they were grouped in the CBEDS Administrative Manual?

The CALPADS Valid Code Combinations document (“Course Group Master Combos” worksheet) shows the state course codes by subject/content area. This document can be found within the CALPADS System Documentation.

What course data will be required of educational options schools (juvenile court, community day, county community, continuation, alternative schools of choice)?

Educational options schools are required to submit course enrollment data but are currently not required to submit course completion data. For more information, see the “Course Data Overview” section in the CALPADS Data Guide or Figure 2-1: “Expected School Types by Data Submission” in the most recent version of the CALPADS File Specifications. Both of these documents are located within the CALPADS System Documentation.

How should LEAs report a course that has multiple Instructional Strategies within the same course section?

LEAs may only select one instructional strategy for each course section. If a course section uses more than one instructional strategy, then use the following hierarchy to determine which one to choose:

  1. Special Education
  2. Home and Hospital
How do LEAs report a course section if the teacher teaching it does not have a SEID, or if the reporting LEA is not the employing agency?

LEAs are responsible for ensuring that all individuals serving in positions requiring certification are appropriately authorized. Additionally, beginning in 2019–20 all charter school teachers serving in these positions are required, at a minimum to have a Certificate of Clearance through the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC). Any individual who has any sort of document with the CTC, including a Certificate of Clearance, has been issued a Statewide Educator Identifier (SEID). In some cases, described below, a “generic” SEID of “9999999999” (that's 10 "nines") can be used on a teacher’s course section record; however LEAs should use discretion as nearly all these scenarios will generate potential misassignments in the California State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS):

  • Courses taught by individuals who do NOT possess a SEID, for example:
    • Course sections taken for high school and/or college credit at a community college or other postsecondary institution taught by college professors.
    • Course sections that are taught by privately contracted teachers who do NOT possess a SEID. If the teacher has a SEID, the LEA should report it on the course section record.
  • Courses taught by individuals who DO possess a SEID, but are employed by another LEA:
    • Course sections taken at a Regional Occupational Center (ROC) and taught by ROC/P teachers not under the direct administration of the LEA.
    • Course sections that are taught by teachers who are employed and paid directly through another school or another district.

NOTE: “9999999999” will NOT be accepted in the Staff Demographic and Staff Assignment Files, so LEAs cannot submit these records in these files for these teachers.

Has the California Department of Education (CDE) designated a CALPADS State Course Code (formerly CBEDS) that is never used for CALPADS reporting, but which districts could use to filter student lunch or other scheduled activity that doesn’t need to be included in the fall submission?

No. LEAs can only submit valid State Course Code assignments found in the CALPADS Code Sets to CALPADS. The CALPADS Code Sets document is located on the CALPADS System Documentation web Page under the CALPADS File Specifications (CFS) heading.

How should LEAs report enrollment in distance learning classes?

For all classes that are being taught via distance learning (also referred to as “online learning”), the class will be identified using Field 9.24 (Distance Learning Indicator). Additionally, LEAs should also populate field 9.33 (Online Course Instruction Type Code) and choose which type of online instruction occurring:  instructor led, facilitated, or learner led.

How should LEAs report enrollment in block scheduled classes for the Fall 2 data submission?

Schools with a block (alternate day) schedule should report all the classes that comprise teacher assignments and student enrollments that are being offered in the academic term that is in session on Census Day. For example, if classes 1, 2, and 3 meet on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and classes 4 and 5 meet on Tuesday and Thursday, all of those classes should be reported for both the teachers and students because all of these course take place in the academic term that is in session on Census Day.

Middle schools sometimes have a class called an “exploratory wheel,” in which groups of students are exposed to several different subjects on a rotating basis, spending several weeks studying one subject and then moving on to another. How should LEAs report these classes in the Fall 2 data submission?

If each content area covered in the exploratory wheel comprises less than 50 percent of the content (e.g., 25% music, 25% art, 25% health, 25% physical education), then LEAs should choose State Course Code 9228 – Non Core-Academic Elective. Additionally, Title 5 §80005(b) authorizes an educator holding a credential based on a bachelor’s degree and student teaching to teach an elective in a Departmentalized setting in grades K–12. Therefore, any fully credentialed teacher may be appropriately assigned for courses identified with this course code in combination with provisions outlined in the Local Assignment Option under Title 5 §80005(b), provided that the majority of the content of the course does not fall in one or more of the content areas.

How should LEAs report elementary students’ course enrollment in pull-out (support) classes?

For support teaching assignments, a given teacher should be given an educational service job classification of “27 - itinerant or pull-out/push-in.” Additionally, these individuals MUST have a course section record. The course section record should reflect the content area of the support instruction. The following State Course Codes were created specifically for support assignments:

  • 9103   English Support
  • 9230   Response to Intervention (RTI)/Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
  • 9231   Special Education Support-Resource Specialist Program (RSP)
  • 9245   Foundational Math Support
  • 9246   Higher Math Support

The above information is required to report teaching assignments. Student course enrollment records are NOT required for itinerant or pull-out/push-in teaching assignments.

If a junior high student is taking a class at a high school, what information is the high school required to send for this student?

The high school must have the student enrolled with a Secondary Enrollment Status (20). They must include the student in Student Course Record submission showing the student as enrolled in the class.

What is the code set for the UC/CSU admission requirement in the student course section file?

The code set can be found in the CALPADS Code Set document and the code set is titled “College Admission Requirement.”

How do we know which courses meet UC/CSU requirements?

LEAs should first refer to its approved UC/CSU-approved course list to determine if that specific course has been approved by UC or CSU for the LEA. Additionally for courses approved by the UC system, LEAs can use the following website to determine which courses are UC-approved: A-G Course List, University of California External link opens in new window or tab.. The Valid Code Combinations document on the CALPADS Web page contains a tab entitled “Course Group Master Combos.” This spreadsheet indicates which state course codes are most likely to meet UC/CSU requirements, however this determination is ultimately made by the postsecondary institution.

Are LEAs only required to submit course sections for primary enrollments? What about short-term or secondary?

Course sections should be submitted for primary, secondary, and short term enrollment statuses. For secondary enrollments, courses should be reported by the K–12 LEA where the student is taking the courses. If the student is taking the course at a non-K–12 entity (e.g., a community college) and is receiving high school credit for the course, then the K–12 LEA should report the course, using a generic SEID of "9999999999" if the college professor does not have a SEID.

Course sections should NOT be submitted for students with an Enrollment Status of 50 (Non-ADA Enrollment).

Which State Course Code should an LEA use for an elective course?

State Course Codes should be chosen based on the content of the course. If an elective course falls within any of the core content areas (English, mathematics, history-social science, science, the arts, world language, physical education, career technical education), LEAs should choose the appropriate code within that content area, even if it is an elective course. If a course does not fall with one of the core content areas, LEAs should explore courses in the Interdisciplinary Content area which range from 9210 – 9233 in the State Course Codes to see if the course aligns to any of those course codes.

Are charter schools required to identify their courses as “non-core non-college prep” courses in CALPADS?

AB 1505 now requires that all charter school teachers be appropriately authorized to teach the courses they are teaching. In prior years, charter schools were provided credentialing flexibility in assigning teachers to “non-core non-college prep” courses. Therefore, field 9.31 - Charter Non-Core, Non-College Prep Course Indicator becomes irrelevant for 2019–20. Although charter schools are required to populate this data element, it will not be used for assignment monitoring. This data element will be retired in the 2020–21 academic year.

Are LEAs required to populate Field 9.29 – CRS – Departmentalized Course Standards Grade Level Range Code for self-contained courses?

Yes, this data element is required to be populated for self-contained courses.  If a self-contained course covers multiple standards ranges (e.g., a self-contained course teaching fourth and fifth grade students and standards), select one range.  There is no need to create multiple courses for the self-contained class to represent the different standards grade level ranges (e.g., ELE (K–4), MID (5–8), SEC (9–12)).

Are LEAs required to populate Field 9.29 – CRS – Departmentalized Course Standards Grade Level Range Code for departmentalized courses?

Yes, LEAs must specify the grade level standards range being covered in a departmentalized course, particularly if the standards range is MID (5–8). When selecting a standards grade level range of MID (5–8), you must also indicate in CALPADS whether or not the course is being taught as part of a Middle School Core Setting (Yes or No).  A Middle School Core Setting is a setting in which a teacher teaching any grades five through eight teaches two or more subject areas to the same students in the same day.  For example:

Core Setting 1:

Period 1:  English to Class A
Period 2:  History/Social Science to Class A
Period 3:  English to Class B
Period 4:  History/Social Science to Class B
Period 5:  English to Class C

Core Setting 2:

Period 1:  English to Class A
Period 2:  History/Social Science to Class A
Period 3:  Science to Class A
Period 4:  English to Class B
Period 5:  History/Social Science to Class B
Period 6:  Science to Class B

Teachers in a Middle School Core Setting may teach in these settings with either a multiple subject credential or single subject authorizations.

What course code should I use for elementary or middle school world language courses?

Course code 9155 – Elementary or Middle School World Language can be used for World Languages courses at the elementary or middle school level. If a course at the middle school level earns the student high school credit towards graduation, do not use 9155, use 9130 – World Languages I.

When should local educational agencies (LEAs) report courses that earn college credit in the Course Section?

Fall 2 Courses should be reported for all active LEA courses (Course Section [CRSE] and Student Course Section Enrollment [SCSE] files) as of Census Day. End-of-Year (EOY) 1 (Course Section Enrollment [CRSC] and Student Course Section Completion [SCSC] files) certified courses are used within the College/Career Indicator measures on the California School Dashboard.

Which college courses count toward the College/Career Indicator (CCI)?

Refer to the CDE 2023 Dashboard Technical Guide: In the Dashboard State Indicators topic (Under the Guide Topics heading), locate the Career/College document. Refer to Appendix A in the Career/College document.

Credentialing

Where can LEAs find more information on credentialing requirements and authorizations?

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing has compiled a Credential Information Guide (CIG) External link opens in new window or tab. that contains many different resources on credentialing and authorization requirements.

Username: cig2011
Password: ctcguide

English Learners (Fall 2)

Are LEAs required to identify English learner services (primary language instruction, English language development, or specially designed academic instruction in English) on courses that do not fall in the core academic subject areas (e.g., English, mathematics, history/social science, science)?

All LEAs with students identified as English learners are required by federal law to provide services to help the students attain English proficiency, develop high levels of academic attainment in English, and meet the same challenging state academic standards as all other students. LEAs are required to provide supplementary services as part of the language instruction program including, but not limited to:

  • English language development instruction
  • Enhanced instruction in the core academic subjects
  • High-quality professional development for teachers and other staff

It is recommended that teachers instructing English learners in non-core academic subjects be authorized to provide services to these students.

Independent Study

How do LEAs report on self-contained classes by grade, special education, support or itinerant teacher assignments, and independent study if there are no specific course codes for them?

The CALPADS State Course Codes do not contain codes that are specific to the following:

  • Self-contained classes by grade or combinations of grades
  • Special education
  • Support teaching assignments
  • Itinerant teaching assignments
  • Independent study

Follow the guidance below on how to appropriately code your course sections:

Self-contained classes by grade or combinations of grades

In the Course Section File, CRS-State Course Code (Field 9.07), use the Course Group State code for “Self-contained” (Code 1000) for each course section record.

The grade level of the students in the class will be determined from the Student Information File; therefore, it is not necessary to have individual course codes for self-contained classes by each grade.

Self-contained Special Day Classes (Special Education)

In the Course Section File, CRS-State Course Code (Field 9.07), use the Course Group State “Self-contained” code (Code 1000). Then use “Special Education” (Code 700) in the Instructional Strategy Code (Field 9.22).

Departmentalized special day classes (subject area specific Special Education)

In the Course Section File, CRS-State Course Code (Field 9.07, use the Course Group State code that represents the specific content area being taught and then use the “Special Education” (Code 700) in the Instructional Strategy Code (Field 9.22).

Support Teaching Assignments

In the Staff Assignment File, use an Educational Service Job Classification Code of “Itinerant or Pull-out/Push-In” (Code 27) in the Staff Job Classification Code (Field 8.13) for the teacher.

In the Course Section Record, use one of the following codes in the CRS-State Course Code (Field 9.07):

  • 9103   English Support
  • 9230   Response to Intervention (RTI)/Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
  • 9231   Special Education Support-Resource Specialist Program (RSP)
  • 9245   Foundational Math Support
  • 9246   Higher Math Support

If this assignment is specific to students in special education, then in the Course Section File, use the “Special Education” (Code 700) in the Instructional Strategy Code (Field 9.22).

NOTE: Student course enrollment records are NOT required for Itinerant or Pull-out/Push-In teaching assignments.

Itinerant Teaching Assignments

If the teacher is an itinerant teacher providing departmentalized instruction (e.g., band) and NOT pull-out/push-in instruction:

  1. In the Staff Assignment File, use an Educational Service Job Classification Code of “Itinerant or Pull-out/Push-In” (Code 27) in the Staff Job Classification Code (Field 8.13) for the teacher.
  2. Create a course section record for the specific content area they are teaching (e.g., band).

If the teacher is an itinerant teacher providing pull-out/push-in support instruction:

  1. Select an Educational Service Job Classification of “Itinerant or Pull-out/Push-In” (code 27) for the teacher.
  2. In the Course Section Record, use one of the following codes in the CRS-State Course Code (Field 9.07):
  • 9103   English Support
  • 9230   Response to Intervention (RTI)/Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
  • 9231   Special Education Support-Resource Specialist Program (RSP)
  • 9245   Foundational Math Support
  • 9246   Higher Math Support.
  1. If this assignment is specific to students in special education, then in the Course Section File, use the “Special Education” (Code 700) in the Instructional Strategy Code (Field 9.22).

NOTE: Student course enrollment records are NOT required for Itinerant or Pull-out/Push-In teaching assignments.

How do LEAs report independent study (sometimes referred to as “home-schooling”) courses in CALPADS?

While we recognize that independent study courses are not usually put into a master schedule, it is necessary to capture course enrollment information for the purposes of determining whether or not the teacher is appropriately authorized. Additionally, the student course enrollment data will be used to determine what services are being provided to students who are English learners.

Reporting Elementary-level Independent Study Courses

Classroom-based independent study

Independent study courses for elementary or middle grades should be reported to CALPADS as course sections in the Course Section File. For each self-contained class:

Use the “Self-contained” (Code 1000) in CRS-State Course Code (Field 9.07).

The Independent Study Indicator (Field 9.23) should be set to “Y.”

Virtual independent study

Independent study courses for elementary or middle grades should be reported to CALPADS as course sections in the Course Section File. For each distinct grade level:

Use the “Self-contained” (Code 1000) in CRS-State Course Code (Field 9.07).

The Independent Study Indicator (Field 9.23) should be set to “Y.”

Reporting Secondary-level Independent Study Courses

For purposes of Fall 2 reporting, LEAs have a couple of options when reporting Independent study courses for secondary grades:

Option 1: Each area of content the teacher is teaching should be reported to CALPADS as course sections in the Course Section File. The course sections should reflect specific content the teachers are teaching.

Use the appropriate CRS-State Course Code (Field 9.07) representing the content being taught.

The Independent Study Indicator (Field 9.23) should be set to “Y.”

For example, if Teacher A teaches math, English, and science, you would create three course sections for Teacher A.

Option 2: Report one self-contained course section record (State Course Code 1000) to reflect that the independent study teacher teaches multiple subjects to many students.  The Independent Study Indicator (Field 9.23) should be set to “Y.”

Although this approach may be acceptable for purposes of assignment monitoring and Fall 2 reporting, this become problematic for purposes of reporting course completion data for End-of-Year 1.  For purposes of reporting course completion, LEAs should report the departmentalized course for which a student received credit.

Staff Data and SEIDs

Which staff should be reported in CALPADS for purposes of the Fall 2 data submission?

All staff members serving in positions requiring certification (certification meaning administrative services, pupil and personnel services, or teaching credentials) on Census Day (first Wednesday in October annually) should be reported in CALPADS.

Should preschool and adult education staff and courses be reported in CALPADS?

No. Only staff providing instruction and services to K-12 (including Transitional Kindergarten) students should be reported to CALPADS since the submission of enrollments for preschool and adult schools is optional in CALPADS. As part of Assignment Monitoring in CalSAAS, Monitoring Authorities may report preschool and adult education teachers that are misassigned, however their assignment data are not collected in CALPADS.

Are LEAs required to report Staff Demographic and Staff Assignment records for college professors providing college courses to K-12 students?

No. LEAs are not required to report Staff Demographic and Staff Assignment records for college professors providing college courses to K-12 students.

How should we report assignments for staff serving students with disabilities in Special Education?

Special day classes where the majority of students enrolled in the class are students with disabilities should be reported in one of two ways:

  1. If the teacher is providing instruction in ALL subjects to a group of students in the class all day, then the State Course Code should be 1000 – Self-contained and the Instructional Strategy Code should be populated with 700 – Special Education;
  2. If the teacher is providing the student's primary instruction in ONE subject to multiple groups of students with disabilities throughout the day (departmentalized), then LEAs should select the appropriate State Course Code that aligns with the content that the teacher is teaching. Additionally, the Instructional Strategy Code should be populated with 700 – Special Education;

Special Education Support - Resource Specialist Programs assignments:

  1. If the teacher is providing SUPPORT instruction (supplementary to their primary instruction) in any subject to students with disabilities (pull-out or push-in), the teacher should be reported with State Course Code 9231 – Special Education Support-Resource Specialist Program (RSP) and the Instructional Strategy Code should be populated with 700 – Special Education. LEAs may, but are not required to submit Student Course Section Enrollment records for students that are receiving the support instruction from this teacher, as long as the Staff Job Classification Code for the teacher is 27 – Pull-Out/Push-In/Itinerant. RSP Teachers should NOT be reported as "co-teachers" when they are providing pull-out or push-in support for students with disabilities who have been mainstreamed into general education classes.

Staff providing special education services such as occupational and physical therapy or speech and language pathology:

  1. Staff providing special education services (not instruction) should be reported in the Staff Assignment (SASS) File with a Job Classification Code of 11 – Pupil Services and the appropriate Non-Classroom-Based or Support Assignment Code. Course sections should not be reported for these staff.
Are LEAs required to report itinerant teachers as well as pull-out and push-in teachers? If so, how does an LEA report these assignments since they have no official class roster?

Yes. LEAs are required to report all staff serving in positions requiring certification, including teaching assignments that are itinerant, pull-out, or push-in. All instructional assignments should be reported in the Course Section Enrollment (CRSE) file. Assignments for these teachers should be reported as follows:

  1. In the Staff Assignment File (SASS) the teacher should be identified with a Job Classification Code of 27 – Itinerant/Pull-Out/Push-In Teacher.
  2. A Course Section Enrollment (CRSE) record must be submitted for the teacher's assignment.
  3. It is not necessary to report the Student Course Enrollment (SCSE) file for these Course Section records since the teacher was identified with a Job Classification Code of 27 – Itinerant/Pull-Out/Push-In.
If contracted staff (COE staff, staff from other LEAs, ROC/P staff, and outside agencies) are providing instruction and services to an LEA's students and that staff person does not hold the appropriate credential and authorizations to provide the instruction or services, which agency is the misassignment attributed to – the reporting LEA, or the contracted LEA or agency?

Local educational agencies are responsible for ensuring all staff serving the LEA's students have the appropriate credentials to do so, including contracted staff. If the staff member providing instruction and/or services to students does not hold the appropriate credentials and authorizations, then the misassignment will be attributed to the reporting LEA.

For online courses through contracted online providers, who is considered the "teacher of record?"

The "teacher of record" is the individual providing the primary instruction in the course. If an online course has instructor delivering the content of the course, taking attendance, and issuing grades to students, then that individual is considered the "teacher of record." All "teachers of record" are required to hold the appropriate California credential and authorizations. If the online contracted teacher of record is credentialed in another state or does not hold the appropriate California credential and authorizations, this will result in a misassignment. LEAs should consider, when selecting an online content provider, whether or not the teachers have the appropriate credentials and authorizations.

How should LEAs report librarian assignments in CALPADS?

There are three ways to report librarians in CALPADS:

  1. Teacher Librarians who provide Information and Digital Literacy and Digital Citizenship instruction to students in a pull-out setting in the library. These teachers are authorized to teach in this pull-out setting with a Teacher Librarian Credential.
    1. Job Classification Code of 27 – Itinerant/Pull-Out/Push-In Teacher
    2. Course Section Enrollment (CRSE) record with State Course Code 9214 – Information and Digital Literacy and Digital Citizenship
    3. Student Course Section Enrollment (SCSE) records are not required for these pull-out assignments
  2. Teacher librarians who provide Information and Digital Literacy and Digital Citizenship to students in a departmentalized class setting. These teachers are authorized to teach in this setting with a Teacher Librarian Credential and a Special Class Authorization.
    1. Job Classification Code of 12 – Teacher
    2. Course Section Enrollment (CRSE) record with State Course Code 9214 – Information and Digital Literacy and Digital Citizenship
    3. Student Course Section Enrollment (SCSE) records are required
  3. Teacher librarians in non-instructional assignments. These teachers are authorized to teach in this pull-out setting with a Teacher Librarian Credential.
    1. Job Classification Code of 12 – Teacher
    2. Non Classroom Based or Support Assignment Code of 6027 – Non-Instructional Teacher Librarian
    3. No Course Section or Student Course Section records are required for these assignments

LEAs are legally authorized to have a librarian. Monitoring Authorities (MA) can report LEAs without a librarian within CalSAAS using the MA-reported Misassignment feature.

What SEID should be used for a teaching assignment and course section that is currently vacant?

LEAs should use the SEID of the short- or long-term substitute on courses where there is no "teacher of record". LEAs should NOT use a generic SEID of 9999999999 to represent courses that are vacant.

If an LEA uses a generic Statewide Educator Identifier (SEID) of all 9999999999s in a course section with a career technical education (CTE) course code because the teacher teaching the course is employed by a Regional Occupational Center (ROC), is it appropriate to report a High Quality CTE Course Indicator (Field 9.36) of “Y” (yes)?

If the ROC teacher has the appropriate CTE Designated Subjects Credential to teach the course, then yes, the High Quality CTE Course Section Indicator (Field 9.36) should be reported with a “Y” (yes).

How should LEAs report Non-Classroom-Based or Support Assignment Positions (e.g., principals, superintendents, counselors, school psychologists) that are currently vacant to CALPADS?

There is currently no way to report vacancies in CALPADS for Non-Classroom-Based or Support Assignment positions. However, these vacancies can be reported during the Assignment Monitoring reporting cycle in the California State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS).

Which teacher should be reported on the course section record for purposes of Fall 2 reporting if the teacher of record is on leave or there is no teacher of record on Census Day?

The teacher that should be reported in the Course Section (CRSE) record should always be the teacher of record. If the teacher of record is on statutory leave, no matter the duration, that teacher should be reported on the CRSE record. A Staff Demographics (SDEM) and Staff Assignment (SASS) record should be reported for these teachers as well.  If there is no teacher of record (no permanent hire for a course), then LEAs should report the SEID of the substitute teacher on the CRSE record. A Staff Demographics (SDEM) and Staff Assignment (SASS) record should be reported for these teachers as well.

A SEID is required for all certificated staff records (including substitute teachers) submitted to CALPADS in the Staff Assignment and Staff Demographic Files. If your substitute teacher does not have a SEID, they can obtain one by applying for a Certificate of Clearance from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC). SEID-related inquiries can be directed to the CTC at SEID@ctc.ca.gov.

How does an LEA report the FTE for a staff member that works at multiple sites? If the staff assignment file is collecting the FTE per job classification and not by specific assignments, how would an LEA report a teacher that teaches 50 percent at school A and 50 percent at School B?

The LEA should create separate staff assignment records for each job classification at each school the staff member is assigned. The LEA should include the FTE spent at each school for that job classification.

Who should LEAs contact to obtain the Statewide Educator Identifier (SEID) for a staff member?

For questions related to obtaining a SEID for an educator, or for SEID-related questions, LEAs should contact the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) at SEID@ctc.ca.gov.

Are SEID numbers required for all LEA staff?

LEAs are required to report data in CALPADS for staff serving in teaching, administrative, and pupil personnel services positions requiring certification. In order to report any Staff Demographic or Staff Assignment records in CALPADS, the staff member MUST have a SEID. SEIDs are issued to any individual possessing any documents issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), including a Certificate of Clearance. All charter school teachers must obtain a Certificate of Clearance no later than July 1, 2020.

In some unique cases, there are administrators and pupil personnel services staff who may not have a SEID. If these individuals do not have a SEID, the LEA is encouraged, but not required to obtain a Certificate of Clearance for these staff.

What academic year should be used when submitting Staff Demographic (SDEM) records?

The academic year must align with the SDEM Effective Start Date. If the Academic Year and the Effective Start Date are not a valid combination, Input Validation Rule (IVR) 0064 will trigger.

What Staff Job Classification Code do LEAs use for intern teachers?

The Staff Job Classification Code (Field 8.13) for an intern teacher is 12 (Teacher).

How will the FTE percentage be determined in CALPADS?

The FTE percentage will be determined through Field 8.14 (Job Classification FTE Percentage) in the Staff Assignment record. For each staff member reported, LEAs must report the percentage of full-time equivalency spent in each job classification. The value in Field 8.14 is a percentage value; therefore, if a staff member is 50% teacher and 50% administrator, the value of each of the two records submitted should be "50" and not “.5.”

Note: This represents a reporting change. Previously, LEAs reported FTE percentage by job assignment.  See the CALPADS Data Guide, Section 2.2.2 – Job Classification and Non-Classroom Based Staff Assignment, for more information.

Should adult education teacher or preschool teacher assignments be reported?

No. Adult education or preschool staff and course data are not to be included at this time.

What staff positions require certification?

In general, any personnel falling into one of the following classifications would be required to be certificated when employed by a public school district:

  • Teacher (providing any instruction to students, including pull-out, push-in, and itinerant instruction)
  • Pupil Personnel Services  (counselors, librarians)
  • Health Services (school nurse, psychologist)
  • Administration and supervision

For specific information on each of these classifications, refer to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing's Administrator’s Assignment Resources External link opens in new window or tab.

Will the number "9999999999" be accepted in the Staff Demographic and Staff Assignment records if a staff person does not have a SEID?

No. In order to submit a Staff Demographic and Staff Assignment record for a staff member, they must have a valid SEID. Non-certificated staff serving in positions requiring certification can obtain a SEID by obtaining a Certificate of Clearance from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing but it is NOT mandatory that they do so. If a SEID is not obtained for these individuals, then they cannot be reported in CALPADS.

Will the number "9999999999" be accepted in the Course Section record for a teacher with a lifetime credential who has not yet been assigned a SEID by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC)?

No. The Commission on Teacher Credentialing's (CTC’s) conversion project was completed in 2010, and all lifetime credential holders should now have Statewide Educator Identifiers (SEIDs). If there are specific teachers in your LEA with lifetime credentials who still do not have assigned SEIDs, please contact the CTC at SEID@ctc.ca.gov.

Are all administrators required to have a SEID, such as a non-certificated Assistant Superintendent?

All staff in positions that require an administrative services credential such as an Assistant Superintendent should be assigned a Statewide Educator Identifier (SEID) by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC). According to the CTC’s Administrator’s Assignment Resources:  “When determining if an assignment requires an individual to hold an administrative services credential, it is not the title of the position that is the determining factor but the duties the individual will be performing." Employing agencies should review the job duties for the assignment using the Title 5 regulations noted above (§80054.5).

Should managers be reported as Non-Certificated Administrators (25)?

If the manager is performing duties in a position that requires an administrative services credential, then yes. According to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing's (CTC’s) Administrator’s Assignment Resources: “Administrative services credentials may allow the holder to serve in a number of positions, including superintendent, associate superintendent, deputy superintendent, principal, assistant principal, dean, supervisor, consultant, coordinator, or in equivalent or intermediate level administrative positions. Supervision is a term used on General and Standard Services Credentials. Supervision credentials usually allow service as a supervisor, consultant, coordinator, or in an equivalent or intermediate level administrative position.”

Employing agencies should review the job duties for the assignment using the Title 5 regulations (§80054.5).

If a classified manager has a SEID but it is not required for the job, do we report that person in CALPADS?

Classified staff are not reported in CALPADS, even if they have a Statewide Educator Identifier (SEID). Only staff in positions that require certification are included.

Will the FTE percentage for an individual staff person be evaluated across LEAs or just within the LEA? In other words, does the 200 percent limit include assignments in one or multiple LEAs?

The FTE percentage for an individual staff person is evaluated within the LEA, not across LEAs.

Can Staff Assignments be deleted?

Yes. However, LEAs should use caution when deleting a Staff Assignment, particularly if Course Section records are associated with that Staff Assignment. This may cause issues when it comes time for the LEA to certify data.

How does an LEA report a staff member who is on leave?

To report a staff member on leave, the LEA should submit a staff assignment record with the Non-Classroom Based Job Assignment Code 1 field set to 6018 (Employee on Leave) and should ensure that all other Non-Classroom Based Job Assignment Code field 2–7 are blank. If this staff member is the teacher of record for a particular course section, they may also be reported on the CRSE record.

Does a sabbatical (leave of absence) get counted toward the Staff Service Years LEA (Element 7.30)?

One year of service counts for the staff member if the staff member is employed in a certificated position at any part of the year. If the leave of absence prevents the staff member from service for the entire year, the period of leave should be omitted from the years of service total.

How are "Staff Service Years LEA" and "Staff Service Years Total" counted?

"Staff Service Years LEA" is a count of the years that a staff member has worked at a specific LEA in a certificated position.

"Staff Service Years Total" is the total count of the years that a staff member has worked at any public or private educational institution in a certificated position, including the time worked at your LEA, other districts, other states, and countries. Therefore, this number should always be equal to or greater than "Staff Service Years LEA."

For both fields, count any partial year as one year. Do not count years during which the teacher did not work (e.g., was on sabbatical the entire year). Substitute teaching should be counted if the teacher was certificated.

What does an LEA do if a teacher is on a local assignment option but that local assignment option is not available in the CALPADS Local Assignment Option code set?

The Commission on Teacher Credentialing provided the California Department of Education (CDE) with the most frequently used local assignment options and those are the codes represented in the code set. If a local assignment option does not appear in the code set, leave the field blank. The district credential analyst would then be able to provide evidence of the local assignment option in the California State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS).

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End-of-Year Topics

General (EOY)

What is Assembly Bill (AB) 1012?

Assembly Bill 1012 (Chapter 703, Statutes of 2015) added sections 51228.1-51228.3 to the Education Code. Local educational agencies (LEAs) should refer to these code sections for details on the new law. The new law prohibits the assignment of a pupil enrolled in any grades 9 to 12, to any course period “without educational content” for more than one week in any semester unless the student’s parent or guardian has consented, a school official has determined that the student will benefit from the course period, and the principal or assistant principal affirms in writing that these conditions have been met.

How is a course “without educational content” defined by AB 1012?

Education Code section 51228.1(c) defines a “course period without education content” as one course period during which any of the following occurs:

  • The pupil is sent home or released from campus before the conclusion of the designated school day;
  • The pupil is assigned to a service, instructional work experience, or to an otherwise named course in which the pupil is assigned to assist a certificated employee, but not expected to complete curricular assignments, in a course the certificated employee is teaching during that period and where the ratio of certificated employees to pupils assigned to the course for curricular purposes is less than one to one;
  • The pupil is not assigned to any course for the relevant course period.

LEAs may but are not required to report such courses to CALPADS using the following two course codes to capture course periods “without educational content”:

  • 9215 – Teacher Preparation/Student Assistant– A period where a student serves as an assistant to a teacher (either during a course where the teacher is providing instruction to other students or during a teacher preparation period) and is not receiving educational content for which they receive credit toward graduation.
  • 9216 – Free period or No Educational Content – A period where a student is not receiving any educational instruction or content and may even be allowed to leave the school campus.

LEAs should refer to EC Section 51228.1 (c)(2) for the full statutory definition of a course period “without educational content” to determine if a specific course does or does not fall under AB 1012. Students who leave the school campus to take courses at another school or community college should NOT be reported using either of these new course codes because they are receiving educational instruction during the period they leave the school campus.

What SEID should be reported for courses with no educational content?

If a student is assisting a teacher, the Statewide Educator Identifier (SEID) of the teacher the student is assisting should be reported.

If a student is assisting non-credentialed staff, then the SEID "9999999999" should be used.

Career Technical Education (EOY)

If a student is primarily enrolled at District A but enrolls in a Regional Occupational Program through District B to take a career technical education (CTE) capstone course, which LEA should report the student's course completion and CTE completer records?

The LEA where the student takes the capstone course should report both the course completion and completer record in the Student Career Technical Education (SCTE) file. This is necessary because much of the course section information needed to report the course is in the student information system of the LEA where the student takes the course. Additionally, in order to report a SCTE completer record for a student, the student must have taken the capstone course at the same LEA in the same academic year. The intent of Snapshot reports 3.14 – CTE Concentrators and Completers – Count by Pathway and 3.15 – CTE Concentrators and Completers – Student List in CALPADS is to verify the counts of completers at the reporting LEA.

For purposes of calculating CTE completers for purposes of the Perkins V Program and the California School Dashboard, the student will ultimately get counted as a completer at the LEA from which they graduate, regardless of which LEA reported the student as a completer.

How do LEAs report students that are taking courses in more than one CTE Pathway in different schools in the same year? And... How do LEAs report students that are taking courses in more than one CTE Pathway in the same school, in the same year?

For students enrolled in CTE Pathways in two different schools: LEAs should report each CTE Pathway according to each school that is administering the Pathway. The School of Attendance field in the SCTE record should reflect the school code of the administering school.

For students enrolled in two or more CTE Pathways in the same school: LEAs should report two SCTE records for the students—at the same school, with the different pathways.

How will CALPADS calculate counts of CTE participants and completers?

CTE Non-Concentrator Participants are calculated by counting all students who have completed one or more CTE courses, but have not been identified in the Student Career Technical Education (SCTE) File as a CTE Concentrator or Completer. These CTE courses can be found in the 7000–8999 series of codes of the Course Group State code set in the CALPADS Code Sets document.

CTE Completers are calculated by counting all students who have a CTE Pathway Completion Academic Year (Field 11.14) in the SCTE File. For purposes of federal reporting, only “completers” are reported as CTE concentrators.

If a student completes a pathway by taking the capstone course at an LEA other than where the student is primarily enrolled, which LEA should report the student as a completer?

In order to report a student as a completer in CALPADS, the student must have completed and passed the capstone course with a C- or better at the same LEA in which they took the course.  For purposes of attributing completers for purposes of Perkins V, the completer gets counted at the LEA where they are primarily enrolled.  For purposes of the California School Dashboard, the completer gets counted at the school and district from which the student graduates, regardless of which LEA reported the student as a completer.

Course Completion (EOY)

Are course completion and CTE records required for K–8 schools?

No, K–8 schools are not required to submit course completion records. However, if students are taking any CTE courses at the school in a departmentalized setting, even if the school does not run a “formal” CTE program, those records should be reported to CALPADS for reporting to the U.S. Education Department for the Carl Perkins Program.

Where do I go to obtain a list of state equivalent course marks?

CALPADS does not have a standardized code set for course marks, because there is so much variance at the local level. The only restriction, as noted in the CALPADS File Specifications (this document is located within the CALPADS System Documentation), is the maximum field length. Any alpha or numeric character is acceptable, as long as the field length does not exceed three characters.

If an LEA has students taking courses in the 7000–8999 ranges of the state course codes (CTE courses), but the LEA has no CTE concentrators or completers to report, should the LEA still send up the Student Career Technical Education (SCTE) file?

Students not in a CTE Pathway but taking CTE courses are still considered CTE Non-Concentrator participants. It is correct that the Student Career Technical Education (SCTE) file would not be submitted for these students; however, the Student Course Completion (SCSC) file should be submitted, to show enrollment (participation) in these CTE courses.

Are LEAs required to submit course completion records for self-contained courses in grades 7 and 8?

No. The EOY 1 Submission does not require the course completion data to be reported for 7th and 8th grade self-contained courses, as the completion of a self-contained course in these grades has little or no meaning, in terms of course completion. Reporting these 7th and 8th grade courses by breaking them out into their specific content areas, much like the way grades are given for each content area, makes more sense to report; however, it is not required.

Are schools that are entirely independent study required to submit course completion records? If so, how should these courses be reported: As self-contained, or as departmentalized?

Currently, charter schools that are entirely independent study are not required to submit course completion records. If a charter school chooses to submit course completion records, departmentalized course sections would be preferred, because the completion of a self-contained course has little or no meaning and provides no value to the consumers of the data.

If a teacher has had a long-term substitute teacher for his/her class, how does the LEA determine whether to report the teacher—or the long-term substitute— for Course Completion?

The SEID of the teacher of record should always be reported on the course completion record.

Does a student who completes a course with an "F" grade get reported in the End of Year 1 – Course Completion?

Yes. Even if a student receives a failing grade in a course, it is considered a completion, and it is to be reported. Refer to the CALPADS Data Guide for additional requirements for reporting Course Completion. The CALPADS Data Guide is located among the CDE CALPADS System Documentation.

How should LEAs report students who earn college credit in the course completion submission?

LEAs should ensure that the Course Section Completion (CRSC) record associated with a Student Course Completion (SCSC) record is submitted with either:

One of the following academic college credit course codes:

  • 9020 - College Credit Course - Visual Arts
  • 9082 - College Credit Course - Dance
  • 9096 - College Credit Course - Theatre
  • 9120 - College Credit Course - English
  • 9154 - College Credit Course - World Languages
  • 9200 - College Credit Course - History/Social Science
  • 9227 - College Credit Course - Other
  • 9273 - College Credit Course - Mathematics
  • 9303 - College Credit Course - Music
  • 9358 - College Credit Course - Science
Or if the course is a CTE course that earns the student college credit, use the appropriate CTE course code (7000-8999).

Then, after selecting the appropriate state course code LEAs should populate field 9.19 Course Section Instructional Level Code with one of the following:

  • 23 - College credit only – the student received only college credit for the course
  • 24 - Dual credit – the student received both high school and college credit for the course
Will an LEA get an error if a course reported in Fall 2 was not reported in the EOY 1 submission?

No. There is currently no validation between the Fall 2 Course Enrollment and EOY 1 Course Completion submissions.

English Learners (EOY)

What English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) Start Date should be used for the Adult English Learner (ADEL) English Acquisition Status Code?

If a student is older than or equal to 22 years old before 7/1/2020, then the ELAS Start Date would be the first date the student was expected to attend within the academic year.

If the student turned 22 years on or after 7/1/2020 and:

  • the student was enrolled at the LEA on his or her 22nd birthday, then the ELAS Start Date would be the date the student turned 22 years old; or
  • the student enrolled in the LEA after his or her 22nd birthday, then the ELAS Start Date would be the first date the student was expected to attend within the academic year.

Homelessness

How is a student counted in Report 5.4 – Homeless Students Enrolled – Unduplicated Count by School, when a student transfers within an LEA and between LEAs?

A student can only be reported as homeless once per LEA. Within the same LEA, if a student is homeless in school "A," then transfers to school "B" and is still homeless, then the student is attributed to the school with the most recent enrollment that has a Student Program (SPRG) record indicating the student was homeless within the enrollment period. The snapshot reports are displayed by school, but only for ease of use.

If a student transfers from one LEA to another, and the student still has a status of homeless, then the student would be counted once in each LEA.

If a family is doubled-up for reasons not related to loss of housing, economic hardship or other similar circumstances, and the family does not consider themselves as homeless, does an LEA have the authority to identify the family’s residency category as Permanent Housing (Code 200) in CALPADS?

Yes. LEAs do have the discretion of identifying students in families who do not meet the definition of “Temporarily Doubled-Up” (Code 120: Defined as "A temporary residence where a homeless family is sharing the housing of other persons due to the loss of housing, economic hardship, or other similar reasons") with a primary residency category of Permanent Housing (Code 200: Defined as "A type of fixed and regular residence that is owned, rented, or sublet").

At which school will a student with multiple enrollments within the same LEA (e.g., Primary Enrollment – Enrollment Status Code 10, Secondary Enrollment – Enrollment Status Code 20, etc.) be reported, in Report 5.5 – Homeless Student List?

For a student with multiple enrollments within the same LEA within the academic year, Report 5.5 – Homeless Student List should list the student at the school with the most recent enrollment date (regardless of the enrollment status).

Incidents and Discipline

How should LEAs calculate the duration of a suspension for a student?

The suspension duration should represent the actual count of days that the student missed instruction due to suspension, including any days the student was suspended pending expulsion. See the following scenarios:


Scenario 1: Student is involved in a fight on a Friday and is suspended for five days. The student is not allowed to come to school for Monday – Friday of the following week, but returns the following week.

Incident Result Duration
Suspension Five Days

Scenario 2: Student is involved in a fight and is suspended for five days pending an expulsion hearing. The expulsion hearing is held 17 school days after the date of the initial suspension and the student is expelled. The student then enrolls in another school three days after the student was expelled.

Incident Result Suspension
Suspension 17 Days
Expulsion Three Days
If a student is involved in an incident and has multiple results for an incident, which result gets reported?

LEAs should report all results for a specific student within an incident. For example, if a student is involved in a fight, receives in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, and is ultimately expelled, the LEA should report three results for that student for that incident: 110 – In-school Suspension, 100 – Out-of-School Suspension, and 200 – Expulsion.

How has the End of Year (EOY)3 Student Discipline File submission changed?

Beginning with the 2019–20 school year, in addition to reporting all incidents involving violations of Education Code Sections 48900 and 48915, LEAs will report the use of behavioral restraints or seclusion for pupils in the End of Year 3 (EOY3) collection CALPADS. CALPADS will make architectural changes to the End of Year 3 to accommodate for this data.

The Student Discipline File has been split into three distinct files:

  • Student Incident
  • Student Incident Result
  • Student Offense

This split was necessary to accommodate the collection of incidents that resulted in restraint or seclusion but are not associated with a violation of Education Code sections 48900 and 48915.

LEAs are now expected to report:

  • All incidents involving a violation of Education Code sections 48900 and 48915, regardless whether the student was suspended or expelled.
  • All incidents resulting in restraint or seclusion during school hours whether or not the incident involved a violation of Education Code sections 48900 and 48915.
  • All law enforcement referrals and school-based arrests associated with Ed Code section 48900 and 48915 violations.
What constitutes an “incident’?

An incident is defined as an event involving one or more students, committing one or more violations of Education Code sections 48900 or 48915, or resulting in a restraint or seclusion during school hours as defined in Education Code Section 49005.1.

Must LEAs report restraint or seclusion occurring outside of school hours?

LEAs need not report restraint or seclusion occurring outside of school hours.

Must LEAs report suspension or expulsion based on incidents that occur outside of school hours?

All incidents resulting in suspensions and expulsions from the student’s regular educational setting must be reported. Education Code Section 48900(s) describes instances in which a student may be suspended or expelled for incidents occurring outside of school hours, but in relation to a school activity or school attendance.

Must LEAs report incidents for students attending out-of-state residential placements?

Yes. California laws apply to a California student placed by an LEA in an out-of-state residential placement. The LEA must report all incidents at nonpublic schools (NPS) involving a violation of Education Code sections 48900 and 48915, regardless whether the student was suspended or expelled; all incidents resulting in restraint or seclusion during school hours, whether or not the incident involved a violation of Education Code sections 48900 and 48915; all law enforcement referrals, and all school-based arrests.  An out-of-state nonpublic school (NPS) must also follow any applicable reporting requirements of the state in which it is located.

Must LEAs report law enforcement referrals or school-based arrests resulting from a search by a dog that is trained to search for contraband?

Yes, LEAs must report all law enforcement referrals and school-based arrests.

How will LEAs collect data on incidents from the nonpublic schools (NPS) with which they contract?

LEAs are expected to work with their NPS sites to obtain the data required for the EOY 3 submission.  A training was provided to NPS sites on the data required for EOY 3. A training presentation was provided to NPS sites regarding the data required for EOY 3, entitled Student Discipline for Non-Public Schools (2019–20) External link opens in new window or tab. (Video; 01:13:35; Published 19-Dec-2019).

Are LEAs’ reporting responsibilities for the nonpublic agencies (NPAs) with which they contract the same as LEAs’ reporting responsibilities for the nonpublic schools (NPSs) with which they contract?

Yes. The LEA must report all incidents at NPAs involving a violation of Education Code sections 48900 and 48915, regardless whether the student was suspended or expelled; all incidents resulting in restraint or seclusion during school hours, whether or not the incident involved a violation of Education Code sections 48900 and 48915; all law enforcement referrals, and all school-based arrests.  Because NPAs do not have assigned school codes, any associated student enrollments and incidents should be reported to CALPADS at the district level.

Must LEAs report on restraints and seclusion that occur in the residential portion of a residential placement?

No, LEAs need not report on restraints and seclusions that occur outside of school hours.

What types of restraint must LEAs report?

All behavioral restraints should be reported. California Education Code 49006(a).  This includes both mechanical restraints and physical restraints.  California Education Code 49006(b).  California Education Code 49005.1 includes the following definitions: 

Behavioral restraint means “mechanical restraint” or “physical restraint,” used as an intervention when a pupil presents an immediate danger to self or to others. “Behavioral restraint” does not include postural restraints or devices used to improve a pupil’s mobility and independent functioning rather than to restrict movement.  California Education Code 49005.1(a).

Physical Restraint means a personal restriction that immobilizes or reduces the ability of a pupil to move his or her torso, arms, legs, or head freely. It does not include a physical escort, which means a temporary touching or holding of the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder, or back for the purpose of inducing a pupil who is acting out to walk to a safe location.  California Education Code 49005.1(f)(1).

 “Physical restraint” does not include the use of force by peace officers or security personnel for detention or for public safety purposes. California Education Code 49005.1(f)(2).

Mechanical Restraint means the use of a device or equipment to restrict a pupil’s freedom of movement. California Education Code 49005.1(d)(1).

It does not include the use of devices by peace officers or security personnel for detention or for public safety purposes. California Education Code 49005.1(d)(2)(A).

It does not include the use of devices by trained school personnel, or by a pupil, prescribed by an appropriate medical or related services professional, if the device is used for the specific and approved purpose for which the device or equipment was prescribed, which shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

  1. Adaptive devices or mechanical supports used to achieve proper body position, balance, or alignment to allow greater freedom of mobility than would be possible without the use of such devices or mechanical supports.
  2. Vehicle safety restraints when used as intended during the transport of a pupil in a moving vehicle.
  3. Restraints for medical immobilization.
  4. Orthopedically prescribed devices that permit a pupil to participate in activities without risk of harm. California Education Code 49005.1(d)(2)(B).
Must an LEA report a restraint by probation department personnel in a court school environment to CALPADS?

No. Local educational agencies and educational providers are the subjects of the provisions in California Education Code Section 49005 et seq. regarding the reporting of restraint and seclusion. An educational provider, as defined in Education Code Section 49005.1(b), is a person who provides educational or related services, support or other assistance to a pupil enrolled in an educational program provided by a LEA or NPS.  Probation department personnel would not appear to meet the definition of educational provider.

Must an LEA report as a “restraint” an incident in which a staff member held a student back to prevent the student from hitting another student?

The LEA must determine based on the specific circumstances of the incident whether it met the definition of physical restraint in Education Code 49005.1(f)(1), i.e. a personal restriction that immobilizes or reduces the ability of a pupil to move his or her torso, arms, legs or head freely, and whether the incident fell within one of the exclusions defined in Education Code Section 49005.1(f)(1) or (2), i.e. a temporary touching of the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder or back for the purpose of inducing a pupil who is acting out to walk to a safe location, or use of force by security personnel for public safety purposes.

Must an LEA report as a “restraint” an incident in which a student holds another student back to prevent the student from hitting another student?

No. Local educational agencies and educational providers — not fellow students — are the subjects of the provisions in California Education Code Section 49005 et seq. regarding the reporting of restraint and seclusion.

What types of seclusion must LEAs report?

All seclusions should be reported. California Education Code Section 49006(a). California Education Code Section 49005.1(i) defines a seclusion as:

The involuntary confinement of a pupil alone in a room or area from which the pupil is physically prevented from leaving. “Seclusion” does not include a timeout, which is a behavior management technique that is part of an approved program that involves the monitored separation of the pupil in a non-locked setting, and is implemented for the purpose of calming.

How should an LEA report an incident that involves both restraint and seclusion?

The new End-of-Year 3 file specifications allow the LEA to report multiple outcomes (incident results). In this situation, the LEA should report both outcomes.

Must an LEA report an incident as “seclusion” if an adult staff member is present with the student?

The question does not specify all of the circumstances, including where the adult staff member is in relation to the student.  The LEA must report an incident as seclusion if it meets the definition in California Education Code Section 49005.1(i), i.e., involuntary confinement of a pupil alone in a room or area from which the pupil is physically prevented from leaving, and does not fall within the exclusion in that section, i.e. a timeout that involves the monitored separation of the pupil in a non-locked setting for the purpose of calming.  When seclusion is used, an educational provider must keep constant, direct observation of the pupil, which may be through observation of the pupil through a window, or another barrier, through which the educational provider is able to make direct eye contact with the pupil. Education Code Section 49005.8(b).

Must LEAs report as “seclusion” an incident in which a student is in a “quiet room” but is allowed to walk out?

The LEA must report an incident as seclusion if it meets the definition in California Education Code Section 49005.1(i), i.e., involuntary confinement of a pupil alone in a room or area from which the pupil is physically prevented from leaving, and does not fall within the exclusion in that section; i.e., a time out that involves the monitored separation of the pupil in a non-locked setting for the purpose of calming.

Must LEAs report the length of time for which a student was restrained or secluded?

The law does not require the LEA to report the duration of restraint or seclusion. However, according to California Education Code Section 56521.1(c), no emergency intervention (including restraint or seclusion) can be employed for longer than is necessary to contain the behavior.

Must LEAs report restraint or seclusion if the behavior plan in the student’s agreed-upon IEP indicates that restraint or seclusion may be used in certain situations?

LEAs must report all restraints and seclusions, even if a student’s agreed-upon IEP indicates that such techniques may be used in certain situations.

Can students in grades TK-8 be suspended for disruption/defiance (Student Offense [SOFF] Code 511)?

By law, students in grades TK-8 should not be suspended for defiance or disruption. However, a teacher may suspend any pupil from class, for any of the acts in Education Code (EC) Section 48900, for the day of the suspension and the day following. The teacher shall immediately report the suspension to the principal for appropriate action.

If an LEA expels a student, and the student subsequently enrolls in an Adult Education Program should the student be exited as expelled or as a transfer to an adult education program?

Because the LEA is aware that the student enrolled in Adult Education, the TransInAdult Student Exit Category Code (T260) should be used. Student Exit Category Code E400 (ExpelledNoKnownEnroll) should only be used when the student is expelled and the whereabouts of the student cannot be determined.

How should a district report expulsions where the enforcement of the expulsion has been suspended?

LEAs should initially report the expulsion to CALPADS with the Incident Result Modification Category Code of 100 – “Enforcement Suspended.” If, before the close of the reporting window, the student re-offends, and the expulsion is enforced, then the Expulsion Modification Category Code should be removed from the original offense record.

Is there any guidance for administrators regarding the point at which expulsion of a student should be deemed mandatory?

The California Department of Education (CDE) has created a matrix that should help: The Administrator Recommendation of Expulsion Matrix is designed to help administrators decide when the expulsion of a student should be deemed mandatory, should be expected, or should be at the administrator's discretion.

What weapon type should be reported when the Student Offense category is “Possession of an Imitation Firearm” (Student Offense Code 102)?

None: The weapon category should be blank for that Student Offense.

The CALPADS Code Sets (Microsoft Excel) document lists the various student offenses. Is the numbering/ordering of the codes also an order of the most severe offenses (with the highest-number code being the most severe, for example)?

The Student Offense Codes are not necessarily numbered according to an order of severity. The CALPADS Data Guide provides some guidelines on the hierarchy, but it is not directly correlated to the codes. LEAs may determine which offense committed during a given incident is the most severe, although LEAs are no longer required to report “most severe offense” to CALPADS beginning in the 2019–20 academic year. A general hierarchy of severity is provided in the CALPADS Data Guide. For further details regarding these hierarchical guidelines, refer to the sub-section in the Data Guide entitled Student Discipline. The CALPADS Data Guide is located within the CALPADS System Documentation.

Should a student offense be reported to CALPADS if a given student is going through a "manifestation determination" (a process to determine whether or not a given student offense was caused by a manifestation of the student's disability)?

If a student is removed from their regular instructional setting and has received in-school or out-of-school suspension, or expulsion while going through a manifestation determination, then the removal should be reported to CALPADS.

My high school is right next to my middle school: If a fight breaks out at the middle school, and the fight involves students from both sites, can I report this as a single incident?

No. These would be reported as two separate incidents. The incident's local ID is tied to the academic year and the school of the given student(s)' enrollment. This means that the middle school will create a unique incident to report only the student or students enrolled at the middle school who were involved in the fight, and the high school will also create a unique incident to report only their students.

If I have a student that is suspended or expelled for less than one (1) full day, am I required to report the student?

Yes. Beginning in 2019–20, the guidance changed. Previously LEAs did not report suspensions or expulsions that were less than one full day for general education students. Beginning in 2019–20, LEAs are required to report any increment of a day for all students.

If a student is marked expelled, but the Expulsion Modification Category Code = 100 (Enforcement Suspended), is that expulsion included in the snapshot reports?

Yes. These expulsions are counted in the snapshot reports.

How should the duration be determined for an expulsion? (Given that expulsions do not really have durations like suspensions, which have a specific number of days defined for which the student is not allowed to attend school.)

The duration of an expulsion should be reported as follows:

The count of school days from the time the local governing board voted to expel the student to the date that either:

  • The student enrolled in another school; or
  • The school year ends (if the student did not enroll elsewhere)

For federal reporting purposes, the student gets counted in one of three categories:

  1. .5 – 1.5 cumulative days
  2. 1.6 – 10 cumulative days
  3. Greater than 10 cumulative days
Should student discipline incidents that occurred during summer school be reported?

Yes. Student incidents occurring during summer school enrollment should be reported. However, because CALPADS does not require LEAs to report student enrollment data for summer school, LEAs must enroll the student with a secondary enrollment if the school at which the incident occurred is not the student’s school of primary enrollment for the given academic year.

What constitutes a “Removal to an Interim Alternative Setting”?

A removal to an interim alternative setting is an instance in which school personnel or a hearing officer (not the Individualized Education Program [IEP] team) order the removal of a child with disabilities from his or her current educational placement for drug or weapon offenses, or serious bodily injury, to an appropriate interim alternative education setting for not more than 45 school days.

An interim alternative education setting is an appropriate setting that enables the child to continue to receive educational services and participate in the general education curriculum (although in another setting) and to progress toward meeting the goals set out in the Individualized Education Program (IEP). As appropriate, the setting includes a functional behavioral assessment and behavioral intervention services and modifications to address the behavior violation so that it does not recur. The IEP team is responsible for determining the interim alternative education setting.

Examples of a unilateral interim removal to an alternative setting:

  • A student brings a pocket knife to school and is given in-school suspension for 10 days. The student is placed in a different classroom on the same school site with a certificated staff member and continues to receive instruction during the in-school suspension.
  • A student has a physical altercation with another student. The student is suspended from the school and is sent to a county office of education school for a period of 30 days but will return to the home school after the period of suspension. The student continues to receive instruction by a certificated staff member at the county office of education school.

Examples of removals that are NOT removals to an interim alternative setting:

  • A student brings a gun to school and is expelled. The student is placed in an alternative school after the expulsion. Because the student was permanently expelled, this does not constitute an interim removal.
  • A student brings cigarettes to school and is suspended and sent home for one day, then returns the following day. Because the student was not sent to an “appropriate alternative setting” as determined by the IEP team, this would not constitute an interim removal.
Do incidents that occur in a residential setting outside of school hours need to be reported for students at residential NPS schools?

No. Only incidents occurring during school hours need to be reported.

Military Families

Why are LEAs being asked to collect whether a student is an “armed forces family member”?
As part of the new accountability requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the U.S. Department of Education is requiring LEAs to identify students who are armed forces family members. These students will be part of a new accountability student group.

These data are being collected as an Education Program in CALPADS in the Student Program (SPRG) File with an Education Program Code of 192 – Armed Forces Family Member. The Education Program Membership Start Date can be before or during the student’s enrollment at a school and the program record does not have to be closed out annually; however, LEAs should reaffirm a student’s membership status at the beginning of every school year.

What is the definition of an “armed forces family member”?
A student is considered to be an Armed Forces Family Member if at least one parent is an Armed Forces member, on active duty or serves on full-time National Guard duty. The terms “armed forces”, “active duty” and “full-time National Guard duty” as defined by sections, 101(a)(4), 101(d)(1) and  101(d)(5) of the United States Code are:
  • 101(a) (4) - The term “armed forces” means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard
  • 101(d) (1) - The term “active duty” means full-time duty in the active military service of the United States. Such term includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, and attendance, while in the active military service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary of the military department concerned. Such term does not include full-time National Guard duty.
  • 101 (d) (5) - The term “full-time National Guard duty” means training or other duty, other than inactive duty, performed by a member of the Army National Guard of the United States or the Air National Guard of the United States in the member's status as a member of the National Guard of a State or territory, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia under section 316, 502, 503, 504, or 505 of title 32for which the member is entitled to pay from the United States or for which the member has waived pay from the United States.
Does the school need to verify eligibility with official documents or is it simply self-reported by parent?

No parent/guardian should be asked to verify their military status by showing a military identification or other Department Of Defense documentation; however, verification of military membership may be required if the school has a special program for which armed forces family member eligibility is a requirement, such as state-funded pre-kindergarten.

What constitutes “one parent” in the phrase "if at least one parent is an Armed Forces member?” Does this include step parents, guardians, foster parents, grandparents if they reside in the home? Does this represent the parent/custodial adult living in the home?

The purpose of collecting the Armed Forces Indicator data is to flag student records of those students whose parent/legal guardian has an active military enlistment. If the student's parent or legal guardian is on active duty for any of the U.S. Armed Services or has an activated military reserve enlistment, mark the indicator as 'yes'. If another member of the family or student's household is in the military, but is not the student's parent or legal guardian, leave the indicator blank, or mark it as 'no'. A student is considered to be an Armed Forces Family Member if at least one parent is an Armed Forces member, on active duty or serves on full-time National Guard duty.

What date should be used for the Education Program Membership Start Date when submitting a program record for a student who qualifies as an “armed forces family member” (Education Program Code 192)?

Using the following date criteria:

  • The Education Program Membership Start Date when submitting program records for Armed Forces pupils (Education Program Code 192) should be the date that the pupil became eligible based on the parent’s most recent active military status.
  • If the parent’s most recent active military date falls before the student’s birthdate, then the Education Program Membership Start Date can be either be the student’s birthdate, first day of the school year, or the enrollment start date.
  • If the parent’s active most recent military date falls after the birthdate, but before the enrollment start date, then the Education Program Membership Start Date can be either the parent’s active military date, first day of the school year, or the enrollment start date.
  • If the parent’s most recent active military date falls after the enrollment start date, then the Education Program Membership Start Date should be the parent’s active military date.
  • If the parent’s most recent active military date is unknown, then the then the Education Program Membership Start Date should be the Enrollment Start Date.

Program Participation

How do LEAs determine which students are receiving Targeted Title I Services within their Title I Targeted Schools?

When developing their local Title I plans, LEAs are expected to identify the student groups that will be targeted to receive specific Title I services. For specific information on which students are eligible for Title I services, see the Title I Targeted Assistance School Program web page. Students who meet those criteria identified by the LEA within the academic year should be identified and reported with a Student Program Record (SPRG) of 122 – Title I Targeted.

How is a student counted in Report 3.16 – Education Options Course Completion – Student Count?

A student will be counted only once per each educational options category per school. For example, if a student takes three distance learning courses and one AVID course in school "A," the student will be counted once under Distance Learning and once under AVID.

If a student who participated in Education Program Code 162 – Pregnant or Parenting Programs attended two or more schools in one LEA during the reporting period, which school would count the program on Report 5.3 – Program Participants – Student List?

For Report 5.3 – Program Participants – Student List, the student would be counted in the program at each school.  The intent is to capture the program participation at all of the schools in which the students were enrolled over the year.

If a district is no longer funded for the California School Age Families Education (Cal-SAFE) Program, but still collects data on those students, should the data be reported to CALPADS?

Yes. If the data are available, the data should be reported, because these data are used to identify pregnant or parenting students for Carl Perkins Career Technical Education Program reporting.

What types of schools are considered “alternative” schools in CALPADS?

For CALPADS purposes, the following schools are considered “alternative” schools (also referred to in CALPADS as “Educational Options Schools”):

  • Continuation schools
  • Juvenile Court Schools
  • County Community Schools
  • Community Day Schools
  • Opportunity Schools (county-level)
  • Division of Juvenile Justice Schools
  • Special Education Schools
Do Opportunity schools need to submit an Education Program Code of 108 (Opportunity Program) for the primarily enrolled students?

Yes. In order to accurately reflect these students as participants in an Opportunity Program, a program record should be submitted for all of them, as CALPADS is not looking at the school type to make this determination.

LEAs are not required to submit Student Program records for students in schools operating a Schoolwide Program (SWP) for Title I Part A, so is it necessary for LEAs to submit records for Title I Part D Programs?

No, it is not necessary for LEAs to submit records for Title I Part D Programs. Although Title I Part D Programs were collected through CALPADS in the 2011–2012 academic year, a decision was made to remove them from the CALPADS data collection beginning 2012–2013. These data will continue to be reported, as they historically were on the Consolidated Application Reporting System (CARS).

How should an LEA report multiple Educational Services for a student under Education Program Code 122 –Title I, Part A, Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies, ESSA?

Your student information system (SIS) should extract a student program record (SPRG) for each Education Service. CALPADS will accept multiple SPRG records for the same student, in the same reporting period, with the same Education Program Code, with different Education Services.

Special Education (EOY)

Should LEAs submit Special Education (SPED) records to CALPADS if a parent has not yet signed the special education program or plan?

If the parent has verbally agreed to the special education plan or program and the LEA wishes to submit the transaction to CALPADS prior to receiving a hard signature, this is acceptable. However, there may be implications if a SPED record is submitted to CALPADS prior to receiving the parent's signature and then something in the education program or plan changes once the parent's signature is received. If this happens, and something in the individualized education program (IEP), individualized service plan (ISP), or individualized family service plan (IFSP) has changed since the initial submission to CALPADS, one of the following errors may be generated:

  • Error 438: Education Plan Amendment Date Mismatch (LEA is trying to amend a plan component that is not amendable through an amendment but requires a full meeting).
  • Error 441: Missing Education Plan Amendment Date (LEA is trying to submit a record with a change to a plan component that requires an amendment).

If either of these errors are generated due to the scenario outlined above, the LEA must delete the SPED record in CALPADS and re-upload the corrected transaction.

To avoid this situation entirely, best practice is to send the transaction up once the parent signature has been obtained.

When does CALPADS require that services be submitted for a specific special education plan and meeting?

CALPADS requires that Student Services (SSRV) records be submitted for Special Education Meeting Types of Initial Evaluation for Part B (10) or Part C (15), or Annual (20) meeting for students with a Special Education Plan Type of 100 (IEP), 150 (IFSP), or 200 (ISP), including any amendments to these plans, even if the student services have not changed or that meeting record reflects that the student has exited the Special Education Program.

SSRV records should NOT be submitted for Special Education Meeting Type Triennial (40).

Are LEAs required to create summer enrollment records for students with disabilities (SWD) that continue to remain enrolled in the LEA for extended school year (ESY) services once the regular school year is done?

Student enrollments in CALPADS must be exited at the end of the academic year on or before June 30 as part of the End-of-Year certification process. For students with disabilities (SWD) that will remain enrolled as part of an extended school year (ESY) program, the GERR0005 — SPED (LEA does not have ownership of student enrollment to make update.) error was modified so that a SPED record can be submitted during the ESY without an enrollment in the subsequent academic year (meeting or special education program exit dates in June, July, or August); therefore, an error will not trigger upon input. However, as part of the Fall 1 and EOY 4 certification process, students who have SPED records with meeting dates in the new academic year who do not have a corresponding enrollment record in the same academic year will generate the following certification error:

  • CERT0143 - Missing SENR Record for a student with SPED Record

If a student has no meetings (annual IEP, ISP, IFSP, triennial, or amendment meetings) during the ESY, and no transactions have been generated for the student, it is not necessary to create a summer enrollment record. However, if the student's enrollment record has been exited for the year and a meeting occurs after the exit date, then a corresponding enrollment record must be submitted prior to Fall 1 or EOY certification.

Scenario 1: Continued special education eligibility
Student is enrolled in District A beginning on 7/1/2022 and remains enrolled through the extended school year until 7/15/2023, however the student's enrollment record is ended as of 6/30/2023. The student has an annual IEP meeting on 7/7/2023.

Scenario 2: Exiting special education program
Student is enrolled in District A beginning on 7/1/2022 and remains enrolled through the extended school year until 7/15/2023, however the student's enrollment record is ended as of 6/30/2023. The student has an annual IEP meeting on 7/7/2023 and as part of that meeting, the student is exited from the special education program as of 7/7/2023.

Scenario Number SENR Start Date SENR Exit Date SPED Meeting Date SPED Program Exit Date GERR0005 Triggers? CERT0143 Triggers?
1 7/1/2022 6/30/2023 7/7/2023 NULL NO Yes - Fall 1
2 7/1/2022 6/30/2023 7/7/2023 7/7/2023 NO Yes - EOY 4
What school enrollment and exit date range should be used for students who should be surveyed for purposes of the Postsecondary Status (PSTS) File in EOY 4?

Students with disabilities (SWD) who exited secondary education in the prior academic year and did not re-enroll in the current reporting year should be surveyed for purposes of reporting the PSTS file in EOY 4. Most of these students exit prior to the end of the academic year and do not re-enroll; however, there are instances where students enroll in summer school solely for the purpose of earning credits for obtaining their high school diploma. In these instances, students that exit with a Student Exit Reason of E230 (CompleterExit) and a Student School Completion Status Code of 100 (RegHSDiploma) can have exit dates through 8/15 of the calendar year and still count in the graduation cohort for the year in which their enrollment started. Therefore, even though the student technically exited in the subsequent academic year, the PSTS file should still be collected for these students in the year they exited if that exit occurred between 7/1 and 8/15. See the scenarios below. For purposes of these scenarios Year 1 is the prior year and Year 2 is the subsequent academic year:

Student Year 1 Enrollment Date Year 1 Exit Date Year 1 Exit Reason Year 2 Enrollment Date Year 2 Exit Date Year 2 Exit Reason PSTS Record in Year 2?
A 7/1/2021 6/30/2022 HS Diploma N/A N/A N/A Yes
B 7/1/2021 6/30/2022 Finished 12 grade, did not meet grad requirement 7/1/2022 7/31/2022 HS Diploma Yes
C 7/1/2021 4/30/2022 Certificate of Completion (student aged out at 22) N/A N/A N/A Yes
When a student with disabilities exits the special education program (student is no longer eligible for special education services) and a student has multiple SPED records for an LEA, which of the records needs to be populated with the Special Education Program Exit Date and Reason?

The Special Education Program Exit Date and Reason should be populated on the most recent Plan Review Meeting (20) SPED record for the student within the LEA based on the Meeting Date and Amendment Date fields, whichever date is greater. If a student's annual and triennial meetings are held on the same date and the student is exited, then submit the exit information on the Plan Review Meeting (20) in CALPADS. See the following scenarios for examples:

Scenario 1: An amendment to an annual exists

SSID Meeting Type Plan Type Meeting Date Amendment Date Special Education Exit Date Special Education Reason Code
1234567890 Annual IEP 6/30/2022 7/8/2022 7/8/2022 78
1234567890 Annual IEP 6/30/2022 N/A N/A N/A
1234567890 Annual IEP 6/30/2022 N/A N/A N/A

Scenario 2: An annual and triennial occur on the same day


SSID Meeting Type Plan Type Meeting Date Amendment Date Special Education Exit Date Special Education Reason Code
1234567890 Triennial IEP 8/1/2022 N/A 8/1/2022 N/A
1234567890 Annual IEP 8/1/2022 N/A 8/1/2022 78
1234567890 Part B Initial Evaluation IEP 8/1/2019 N/A N/A N/A

Scenario 3: Multiple meetings dates


SSID Meeting Type Plan Type Meeting Date Amendment Date Special Education Exit Date Special Education Reason Code
1234567890 Triennial IEP 8/1/2022 N/A N/A N/A
1234567890 Annual IEP 6/30/2022 N/A 8/1/2022 78

Scenario 4: Student exits shortly after Part C Initial Evaluation


SSID Meeting Type Plan Type Meeting Date Amendment Date Special Education Exit Date Special Education Reason Code
1234567890 Part C Initial Evaluation IFSP 8/1/2022 N/A 8/1/2022 78
Which Special Education (SPED) and Student Special Education Services (SSRV) are required to be submitted to CALPADS for certification in the EOY 4 Submission?

In the EOY 4 Submission, LEAs are expected to have submitted all meeting transaction records (SPED and SSRV) for any student who was:

  • Referred and received parental consent for evaluation between July 1 and June 30 of the academic year regardless of eligibility determination; or
  • On an active Individualized Education Program (IEP), Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), or Individualized Service Plan (ISP) anytime between July 1 and June 30 of the academic year
The Special Education (SPED) records sent up to CALPADS are supposed to represent transactions occurring for a student with disabilities throughout the year. What does CALPADS consider a “transaction”?

Anytime one of the following events occurs, CALPADS expects LEAs to submit a SPED record to CALPADS:

  • Meetings are held:
    • Initial Evaluations for Part C and B
    • IEP, IFSP, or ISP meetings (annual or more frequent)
    • Triennial evaluations
    • Meetings to amend an IEP
  • Students with disabilities with existing IEPs transfer into a new district (new LEA should submit a record to represent IEP in place upon enrollment)
  • Students exit the Special Education Program (no longer eligible)
  • Corrections (e.g., data entry errors) are made to existing SPED records already in CALPADS
Does CALPADS require that LEAs submit a record with a Meeting Type of “Pending” as soon as parental consent for evaluation is received?

Although it is not required, it is highly recommended that LEAs send “pending” records for students at any time during the year prior to their initial evaluations. This is especially important when a student is pending evaluation on Census Day (for purposes of Fall 1) or on June 30 (for purposes of EOY 4) so that students who have received parental consent for evaluation but have not yet been evaluated will appear in CALPADS reports.

When a student with disabilities (SWD) transfers into a new LEA, when should the LEA submit up a SPED record for the student?

When a SWD transfers into a new LEA, the student generally has an active IEP in place at the time of enrollment. Therefore, the new LEA should submit a SPED record representing the adoption of the student’s current IEP to CALPADS upon enrollment in the LEA. Then, within 30 days of enrollment in the new LEA, the LEA can:

  • Elect to leave the current IEP in place (no meeting or new SPED record necessary)
  • Hold a meeting to amend the current IEP (new SPED record with amendment date)
  • Hold a full IEP meeting (new SPED record with new Meeting Date)
Which students require Postsecondary Status (PSTS) records in the EOY 4 Submission?

Students with disabilities who have exited secondary education in the prior academic year with one of the following and did not re-enroll in the current academic year:

School Completion Status Code

  • Graduated, standard HS diploma (100)
  • Students with Disabilities certification of completion (120)
  • Prior completion of Special Education (125)
  • Adult education high school diploma (250)
  • Received a High School Equivalency Certificate (320)
  • Passed CHSPE (and no standard diploma) (330)
  • Completed grade 12 without completing graduation requirements, not grad (360)

Or alternatively, if a student exits using one of the following exit reasons:

  • No known Enrollment – Truant (E140)
  • Expelled No known Enrollment (E300)
  • Other or Unknown (E400)
  • Medical Reasons (E410)
  • Transferred to College (T280)
Must an LEA submit a PSTS record for students who did not respond to the survey or who refused to answer?

Yes, a PSTS record would be submitted for that student with a value of either:

  • 950     Not able to contact
  • 960     Refused to answer
Which local data system should generate the PSTS file for my students with disabilities for submission to CALPADS?

The local special education data system (SEDS) should generate the PSTS file for students with disabilities for purposes of the EOY 4 submission.

How should LEAs survey students with disabilities who exited in the prior academic year?

The surveys can be conducted in any of the following platforms:

  • Email
  • Phone calls
  • postalmail
  • Social media
When is it appropriate for an LEA to submit a Special Education Program Exit Reason Code and date for a student with disabilities to CALPADS?

LEAs should only populate the Special Education Program Exit Reason Code (Field 14.49) and Special Education Program Exit Date (Field 14.46) if the student is no longer eligible for special education services under any of the following circumstances:

  • Student returned to regular education - 70 - NoLongerElig
  • Student aged out of the special education program (22) - 73 - MaxAge
  • Student was re-evaluated and was determined to be ineligible - 70 - NoLongerElig
  • Parent withdrew the student from the special education program - 78 - Withdrawal
  • Student 18 years of age or older voluntarily withdrew from the special education program - 78 - Withdrawal
  • Parental consent for evaluation was not received from Part C to Part B - 84 - No Parental Consent Received - Part C to B
  • Student is deceased - 77 - Died

LEAs should NOT populate Fields 14.49 and 14.46 in any of the following scenarios but MAY continue to use these codes locally in the special education data system (SEDS):

  • Student earned a high school diploma - 71 - HSCompleter
  • Transfers to another district - 76 - Transferred
  • Student receives a certificate of completion or a high school equivalency certificate (GED, TASC, HiSET, CHSPE) - 71 - HSCompleter
  • Student drops out and has no known enrollment, but is less than 18 years of age - 74 - DropOut
Are LEAs required to report Special Education (SPED) records to CALPADS that represent annual offers of a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for students attending private schools within the district’s boundaries if upon the student’s initial evaluation the student’s parents decline the offer of FAPE?
Once the original initial evaluation is reported to CALPADS during the academic year, then the subsequent offers of FAPE that are made by the LEA on an annual basis are not required to be reported to CALPADS unless the student’s parents either decide to accept the offer of FAPE or agree to let the student be served on an Individualized Service Plan (ISP).

However, it is necessary to include these students who are parentally placed in private schools in the annual proportionate share calculation. Therefore, LEAs must track the annual offers of FAPE in the local special education data system and include these students parentally placed in private schools if they fall into the following categories:

  1. Receiving services through an ISP; or
  2. Eligible, but no services received (parent declined or other reasons)
When creating enrollment records for students with disabilities (SWD) who are being initially evaluated for special education program eligibility, what should an LEA use as the enrollment start date for the Student Enrollment (SENR) record?

For students in the following grade levels, the enrollment start date should reflect the date the student’s parent consented to the initial evaluation:

  • Infants and Toddlers (IN, TD)
  • Prekindergarten (PS)

For students who are school-age (Kindergarten through 12), the enrollment start date should reflect the first day the student was expected to attend a school within the LEA.

When a student transfers to another LEA, the LEA receiving the student must implement the student's current special education plan upon the student's enrollment or complete an addendum or amendment to record until a full IEP meeting is held. How should any plan changes such as program setting or service location be reported when the changes are due to the transfer?

If a student's education plan changes due to a LEA transfer, the LEA receiving the student should do the following:

  1. Adopt the student’s plan "as is" upon enrollment in the new LEA and submit a SPED record to CALPADS (unless the LEA has already held a full IEP meeting prior to the student’s enrollment - if so, then submit the record for the full IEP meeting).

Submit a subsequent addendum or amendment with the plan changes until a full IEP meeting can be held.

Student Absence Summary (STAS)

What is the STAS File?

The Student Absence Summary (STAS) file is a file collection included in the End-of-Year 3 snapshot beginning with the 2016–2017 academic year. The data in the STAS will enable the calculation of student-level chronic absenteeism rates as required by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Which students need to be reported in the STAS?

CALPADS will expect STAS data for all students in grades K–12, including transitional kindergarten (TK), who have primary or short-term enrollments. Local educational agencies (LEAs) are required to submit STAS records for students enrolled in a Non-Public School (NPS) or students receiving home or hospital instruction but may indicate in the record that they are exempt from submitting absence information.

Non-Public Schools and Home/Hospital students are exempt from absence reporting, but the documentation states Home and Hospital schools are required to submit a STAS record. Can you please clarify?

To be exempt does not mean you do not report a STAS record. Users still need to report their STAS record; however, the records need to have “Y” in the exemption indicator field. In addition, when the exemption indicator is populated, users need to make sure all other fields below the indicator are left blank.

Is the STAS used for calculating average daily attendance (ADA)?

No, the STAS data in CALPADS are not used to calculate average daily attendance (ADA) for funding purposes. ADA reporting continues unchanged.

While the local data submitted in the STAS file are derived from the same local data used for ADA calculations, the ADA calculations remain separate from the STAS calculations and are reported separately.

How should we report a STAS record when there is an unresolved CCE for a student?

No special accommodation needs to be made in the case of an unresolved CCE anomaly. The CALPADS File Specifications states the STAS file is independent of all the other file types; there are no validations related to the anomalies.

The CALPADS File Specifications (CFS) indicate the STAS record represents daily attendance. How do I convert my attendance if it is not based on daily attendance?

LEAs may report student attendance that is calculated using one or more of the following three methods:

  1. Daily Attendance: LEAs should use the same rules that are currently used to determine a day of attendance for ADA purposes.
  2. Coursework Completed (e.g., independent study): LEAs should translate coursework completed into days attended per the rules used to determine daily attendance for ADA funding purposes; however, the “days” absent should be populated in the “Incomplete Independent Study” field. NOTE the following:
    • LEAs should populate the Days Attended and Incomplete Independent Study Days fields for these students, and not the other fields (out-of-school suspension, in-school suspension, days absent excused, and days absent unexcused).
    • LEAs are not required to use this method for students on short-term independent study or in single independent study courses.
  3. Hourly Attendance (e.g., Continuation Schools): LEAs should translate hourly attendance/absence into days – as described in the following table (NOTE: In the table below, rows 2–6 represent explanations involving division and multiplication):
Data Element Translating Hours into Days
Expected Attendance Days The number of days the student is expected to attend, which may be less than five days in a typical five-day week.
Days Attended (Hours present [attended]* DIVIDED BY Hours scheduled to attend**)
MULTIPLIED BY
Days expected to attend
Days Absent Out-of-School Suspension

(Hours absent due to out-of-school suspension DIVIDED BY Hours scheduled to attend**)
MULTIPLIED BY
Days expected to attend

Days Attended In-school Suspension

(Hours attended in in-school suspension DIVIDED BY Hours scheduled to attend**)
MULTIPLIED BY
Days expected to attend

Days Absent Excused
Non-Suspension

(Hours absent excused [non-suspension] DIVIDED BY Hours scheduled to attend**)
MULTIPLIED BY
Days expected to attend

Days Absent Unexcused
Non-Suspension

(Hours absent unexcused [non-suspension] DIVIDED BY Hours scheduled to attend**)
MULTIPLIED BY
Days expected to attend

*For “Hours present (attended)” used in the numerator, include the total hours in actual attendance. Note: the hours entered for the purpose of determining chronic absenteeism are based on actual hours attended and may exceed those used to determine attendance for the purpose of funding.

**For “Hours scheduled to attend” used in the denominator, LEAs should use the total hours the student is scheduled to attend. Note: the hours entered for this purpose of determining chronic absenteeism may differ from those used to determine attendance for the purpose of ADA funding.

Is STAS Field 13.21 — Incomplete Independent Study Days — only for students attending schools where they attend 100% independent study?

For schools that run seat-based and Independent Study programs, where students may have a mix of seat-based and independent study courses, both the Incomplete Independent Study Days and Days Absent fields may contain data.

What is the best way to resolve CERT127- Missing Student Incident Data for a student who was reported as absent due to either out-of-school suspension or in-school suspension when the incident occurred in the current academic year but the suspension or expulsion will be carried out in the subsequent academic year?

The incident should be reported in the year it occurred. If the student has out-of-school suspension or expulsion which will be served in the following academic year it can be marked in the STAS for the subsequent year. The CERT127 error will not trigger as long as the Incident occurred between April 1 of the previous academic year through the current academic year.

My LEA has a charter school with mostly independent study students. Is that school exempt from reporting the STAS?

No, all schools are expected to report STAS records for their students. See the Expected School Types for Each Data Submission in the CALPADS File Specifications (CFS) document, located within the CALPADS System Documentation, for the expected school types. Please refer to the CALPADS Data Guide, located within the CALPADS System Documentation, for acceptable scenarios in which a student may be exempt from reporting student absence summary information.

I have a student involved in a custody battle. She attends our district for two or three days a week and is at another district the remaining days. How do I deal with this for STAS reporting?

It will depend on how each LEA is reporting the student’s attendance. If the student’s enrollment remains an ongoing CCE at both LEAs, reporting the STAS record may require adjustment to reflect the days the student was expected to be in attendance at each LEA. If, on the other hand, both LEAs maintain the actual reporting of the student’s attendance in their respective SIS as well as CALPADS by exiting and re-enrolling the student from both systems each week to reflect when she was in attendance at each, the data will be aggregated and extracted accurately for the STAS.

The STAS requirements describe reporting the number of days the student is expected to attend and the number of days the student was absent in that time frame. In this scenario, two to three days per week are expected at your LEA and two to three days at the other LEA. The absences would be based only on the days the student was expected to attend at each LEA.

Do excused absences count against us?

Excused absences are part of the absenteeism calculations. The purpose of the STAS file is to collect absenteeism data regardless of the reason. While the reports show counts of excused and unexcused absences, the goal is to display the total absences regardless of the reason for the absence, because any absence impacts a student's instructional time and therefore their learning opportunity.

I have a student with an open short-term enrollment at a COE. The primary enrollment at our school remains open waiting for this student to return. How do I report that on the STAS?

The STAS requirements describe reporting the number of days the student is expected to attend and the number of days the student was absent in that time frame. While the student is enrolled at the COE with a short-term enrollment, the student is not expected to be in attendance at the school with the primary enrollment. How your SIS records the interruption in the enrollment will determine what (if any) changes need to be made to the STAS before submitting it. Please consult your SIS vendor to determine if they have a process to account for an enrollment interruption or a leave of absence.

Should suspensions be reported as excused or unexcused absences in the STAS file?

Suspensions are collected apart from the Excused and Unexcused absences, meaning that they should not be included in either the excused or unexcused counts. They are their own count.

When calculating an absenteeism rate, out-of-school suspensions are considered a day absent, as students were not in the classroom receiving instruction. Students in in-school suspensions, on the other hand, are treated as attending, since they were in school receiving instruction.

Can a student serve their suspension on a day(s) when there is no school (winter/spring break or when the school is off track)?

Students are not suspended from school on days when they would not otherwise normally be attending. When a student is suspended from school, it means that he or she will miss a day of school that he or she would have otherwise attended.

I have a student enrolled in summer school. Do I include their attendance information from summer school in the STAS record?

Local educational agencies (LEAs) only submit enrollment/exits for students attending school during the regular school year. LEAs do not submit enrollment/exits for students attending “summer school” which is not considered part of the regular school year. Therefore, attendance in summer school is not included in the STAS record.

Is the CBEDS Truancy count the same as the STAS data?

The aggregate truancy count that was collected in CBEDS was completely different: It did not collect absences; it collected truancies based on a state definition. Beginning with the 2017–18 reporting year, the aggregate truancy collection in CBEDS will be discontinued because the federal reporting requirement no longer exists. Per new federal requirements, California will report counts of students who are chronically absent, and, at some point, the chronic absenteeism data will be used to calculate the chronic absenteeism performance indicator in the California School Dashboard.

When should an LEA dis-enroll a student who is absent for several days with no communication from the student or parents?

A student who is absent for several days with no communication from the student or parents is considered a habitual truant. LEAs should not dis-enroll a habitual truant who should still be attending school in the LEA. The LEA should follow guidance in the School Attendance Review Board (SARB) Handbook regarding how to investigate when a student may be in violation of the compulsory attendance law. Education Code Section 48290 states that school districts should “make full and impartial investigation” of possible compulsory attendance violations. District boards adopt their own policies for what constitutes a “full and impartial investigation,” and many districts will do a home visit to determine what has happened to a student who should be attending school. Education Code Section 48291 further states that if it appears upon investigation that there is a violation of compulsory attendance law, the case shall be referred to a school attendance review board (SARB). A habitual truant should not be dis-enrolled without an investigation and referral to the SARB.

If after referral to the SARB, and the student cannot be located, can the LEA dis-enroll the student?

Yes, after a “full and impartial investigation,” and referral to the SARB, the student may be dis-enrolled.

If after referral to the SARB, the student is found to have enrolled in another school district or in another state, when should be the student’s exit date?

The student may be dis-enrolled on the school day prior to his or her enrollment in the new school district.

If a student had a full day absence, but then attended a Saturday School Attendance Recovery program to recoup that absence which enables us to claim ADA, does the Saturday School Attendance count as a Day Attended, or will the full day absence count as a Day Absent?

No, Saturday School attendance is explicitly not counted as attendance in California’s legal definition of a chronic absentee: A "chronic absentee" has been defined in California Education Code (EC) Section 60901(c)(1) as "a pupil who is absent on 10 percent or more of the school days in the school year when the total number of days a pupil is absent is divided by the total number of days the pupil is enrolled and school was actually taught in the regular day schools of the district, exclusive of Saturdays and Sundays."

If a student is pending expulsion, do I need to keep their enrollment open until an enrollment in another school is verified? If a new enrollment does not occur or cannot be verified, when do I exit the student from our school?

The student pending expulsion should be enrolled until enrollment in another school is verified. All students between the ages of 6 and 18 are required to attend school, including pupils who have been expelled by their school district governing boards. Therefore, if a new enrollment does not occur or cannot be verified, the student may be dis-enrolled after a full and impartial investigation and then referral to the School Attendance Review Board (SARB).

A student is suspended for a partial day. For STAS, we do not count this student as a day absent because they were not absent for the entire day. However, for reporting discipline, we report the student as a day suspended. Will this cause an error when the STAS or SDIS file is uploaded to CALPADS?

No, this will not cause an error when loading the STAS or Student Incident (SINC) file to CALPADS. However, a warning error will occur if the STAS record contains a Days Absent due to Suspension and there is not a SINC/SIRS record showing a disciplinary action. LEAs should check to make sure all SDIS records for the reporting year have been uploaded. There are legitimate scenarios when a disciplinary incident occurred in the prior year but the disciplinary action is taken in the next year, or if a disciplinary incident occurred in a school in which the student was secondarily enrolled but the disciplinary action impacts the student’s attendance at the school where the student was primarily enrolled.

May I submit attendance information for my NPS and home/hospital students even though they could be exempt?

Yes. Rather than submitting an exempt STAS record, users may report attendance information for students attending an NPS school or home/hospital program. For those choosing to submit attendance information for students in home/hospital programs, they should report attendance based on the coursework completed method.

How do we report STAS records for students receiving home hospital instruction for only a part of the school year?

Do not report the student as exempt on the STAS record. Deduct the days the student was away from school receiving home and hospital instruction from the expected attendance days when reporting the STAS associated to the student’s regular school attendance setting.

How should a student be reported in STAS if they attended a regular program for part of the year and then transfer to an NPS school? Are they exempt?

For attendance at the regular program at a traditional school, the LEA would report absence information for the student using a STAS record. If the student transfers to an NPS school, the LEA would submit a STAS record with the CDS code of the NPS school and the exemption indicator.

What constitutes an excused absence for purposes of reporting Days Absent Excused Non-Suspension on the STAS?

An excused absence is when a student misses school with a valid excuse per Education Code Section 48260(c).

48260(c)

For purposes of this article, a valid excuse includes, but is not limited to, the reasons for which a pupil shall be excused from school pursuant to Education Code sections 48205 and 48225.5 and may include other reasons that are within the discretion of school administrators and, based on the facts of the pupil’s circumstances, are deemed to constitute a valid excuse.

48205.

(a) Notwithstanding Section 48200, a pupil shall be excused from school when the absence is:

(1) Due to the pupil’s illness.

(2) Due to quarantine under the direction of a county or city health officer.

(3) For the purpose of having medical, dental, optometrical, or chiropractic services rendered.

(4) For the purpose of attending the funeral services of a member of the pupil’s immediate family, so long as the absence is not more than one day if the service is conducted in California and not more than three days if the service is conducted outside California.

(5) For the purpose of jury duty in the manner provided for by law.

(6) Due to the illness or medical appointment during school hours of a child of whom the pupil is the custodial parent.

(7) For justifiable personal reasons, including, but not limited to, an appearance in court, attendance at a funeral service, observance of a holiday or ceremony of the pupil’s religion, attendance at religious retreats, attendance at an employment conference, or attendance at an educational conference on the legislative or judicial process offered by a nonprofit organization when the pupil’s absence is requested in writing by the parent or guardian and approved by the principal or a designated representative pursuant to uniform standards established by the governing board.

(8) For the purpose of serving as a member of a precinct board for an election pursuant to Section 12302 of the Elections Code.

(9) For the purpose of spending time with a member of the pupil’s immediate family, who is an active duty member of the uniformed services, as defined in Section 49701, and has been called to duty for, is on leave from, or has immediately returned from, deployment to a combat zone or combat support position. Absences granted pursuant to this paragraph shall be granted for a period of time to be determined at the discretion of the superintendent of the school district.

(10) For the purpose of attending the pupil’s naturalization ceremony to become a United States citizen.

(b) A pupil absent from school under this section shall be allowed to complete all assignments and tests missed during the absence that can be reasonably provided and, upon satisfactory completion within a reasonable period of time, shall be given full credit therefor. The teacher of the class from which a pupil is absent shall determine which tests and assignments shall be reasonably equivalent to, but not necessarily identical to, the tests and assignments that the pupil missed during the absence.

(c) For purposes of this section, attendance at religious retreats shall not exceed four hours per semester.

(d) Absences pursuant to this section are deemed to be absences in computing average daily attendance and shall not generate state apportionment payments.

(e) “Immediate family,” as used in this section, has the same meaning as set forth in Section 45194, except that references therein to “employee” shall be deemed to be references to “pupil.”

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 92, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2017.)

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 432, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2013.)

48225.5.

(a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 48200, a pupil who holds a work permit to work for a period of not more than five consecutive days in the entertainment or allied industries shall be excused from school during the period that the pupil is working in the entertainment or allied industry for a maximum of up to five absences per school year.

(2) Notwithstanding Section 48200, a pupil shall be excused from school in order to participate with a not-for-profit performing arts organization in a performance for a public school pupil audience for a maximum of up to five days per school year provided the pupil’s parent or guardian provides a written note to the school authorities explaining the reason for the pupil’s absence.

(b) A pupil absent from school under this section shall be permitted to complete all assignments and tests missed during the absence that can be reasonably provided and, upon satisfactory completion, shall be given full credit therefor. The teacher of any class from which a pupil is absent shall determine, pursuant to the regulations of the governing board of the school district, or the county board of education, what assignments the pupil shall make up and in what period of time the pupil shall complete those assignments. The tests and assignments shall be reasonably equivalent to, but not necessarily identical to, the tests and assignments that the pupil missed during the absence.

(c) A pupil absent pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall receive instruction during the period of the absence from a studio teacher certified by the Labor Commissioner holding credentials as defined in Section 11755 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations. The instruction shall be offered between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. for pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. for pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive. The school district or county superintendent of schools shall accept the work done by the pupil and the grades given to the pupil on that work and shall provide the pupil with credit for the instruction the pupil received from that teacher.

(d) At the request of a pupil excused from school pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), the pupil may be permitted to enroll in a work experience program of the school district and shall receive appropriate academic credit for that work experience.

(e) This section shall apply to all pupils, whether a pupil is enrolled in regular classes or special education classes, a regional occupational program or center, or a program of independent study, or any other program of the school district or county superintendent of schools.

(Added by Stats. 1997, Ch. 879, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1998.)

How should I report STAS information for a student who is attending community college full-time but who is primarily enrolled in my district?

A student who has a primary enrollment in your school/district but who is attending community college full-time may be exempt from reporting attendance information. For this situation, the exemption indicator needs to be populated.

For which EOY submission is a 504 Accommodation program record required?

504 Accommodation records (SPRG Program Code 101) are required to accurately report the EOY 2 – Student Programs submission. Additionally, in the EOY 1 – Student Career Technical Education Submission, students with 504 Accommodation Plans are counted in report 3.14 in the Students with Disabilities column.

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Last Reviewed: Friday, April 26, 2024
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