Waiver Notice August 27, 2010 Attachment 1

1430 N Street Sacramento, CA 95814-5901

 

August 27, 2010

 

Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana, Assistant Secretary
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Suite 3W230
Washington, DC 20202-6100

Dear Assistant Secretary Meléndez de Santa Ana:

Subject: Request to Waive the 14-Day Notice for Public School Choice Requirement

The State of California hereby submits for your consideration a request to waive one provision of federal law and regulations related to implementation of Title I, Part A requirements (34 Code of Federal Regulations § 200.37(b)(4)(iv)). The State of California requests a waiver of the:

• Requirement for a local educational agency (LEA) to provide parents of eligible students with notice of their public school choice options at least 14 days before the start of the school year.

This waiver would apply only with respect to students in schools that are newly identified for improvement for the 2010–11 school year.

In the 2009–10 school year, the California Department of Education (CDE) implemented a new data collection system, the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS). The 2008–09 graduation and dropout data, which is needed to determine whether or not schools and LEAs made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), will not be available until October. As a result, the CDE does not have the necessary data to calculate graduation rates for the initial 2010 AYP release currently scheduled for September 9, 2010.

The initial AYP release will include all components except the graduation rate (i.e., participation rates, the percent of students scoring proficient or above on state assessments, and the Academic Performance Index [API]). Determinations of AYP will be made according to the following guidelines:

• LEAs and schools that did not meet one or more of the AYP criteria will not make AYP.
• LEAs without high school students, and elementary and middle schools that meet all other AYP criteria, will make AYP.
• LEAs with high school students, and high schools that meet all AYP criteria other than the graduation rate, will be reported as “pending,” until graduation rates can be included.

LEAs and schools that receive a “pending” AYP status and are not currently in Program Improvement (PI) will also receive a “pending” PI status. This will affect 4 LEAs and 42 schools that missed only the graduation rate criteria for the 2009 AYP determination. LEAs and schools that were in PI in 2009–10, will remain in place and continue to implement their PI requirements from 2009–10 until the graduation data become available. The CDE has identified November 30, 2010, as the date when graduation rates can be incorporated into the AYP reports.

A public notice of the request to waive the 14-day school choice parent notification requirement is posted on the State Board of Education Public Notices Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/pn/pn/. All comments received regarding the waiver request will be forwarded to the U.S. Department of Education after the 10-day comment window closes.

If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact Deborah V.H. Sigman, Deputy Superintendent, Curriculum, Learning, and Accountability Branch, by phone at 916-319-0812 or by e-mail at dsigman@cde.ca.gov.

JO/TM:

California State Board of Education
1430 N Street, Suite #5111
Sacramento, CA 95814

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