CALPADS Update Flash #193

To:           Local Educational Agency (LEA) Representatives

From:      California Department of Education (CDE) –
                California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Team

Date:       November 13, 2020

Subject:  CALPADS Update FLASH #193

Special Education Guidance and Changes

Clarification on Certification Validation Errors CERT167 and CERT168

Last year the US Department of Education (ED) issued guidance on the appropriate federal setting for students who are at least five years of age and enrolled in kindergarten. This guidance now requires that kindergarten students with disabilities that are at least five years of age be placed in a school-age setting, rather than an early childhood setting. Consequently, the Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) Individualized Education Plan (IEP) Forms Committee modified the IEP form to capture a school-age setting and a general education participation range for these students.

Many LEAs are currently receiving the CERT167 - General Education Participation Percentage Range Code must be Populated and the CERT168 - Special Education Program Setting Code must be Populated errors on SPED records when meetings occurred before LEAs became aware of this guidance.

In order to resolve these CERT167 and CERT168 errors, LEAs should submit an amendment on the most recent IEP meeting record that overlaps Census Day with an amendment date that represents the first day of kindergarten for the student for the 2020–21 academic year (date must be on or prior to the Census Day, October 7, 2020 in order to clear the errors) with the Special Education Program Setting Code (Field 14.31) and General Education Participation Range Code (Field 14.34) fields updated to the appropriate school age setting and range. If the student’s first day of kindergarten for the 2020–21 academic year was before the most recent IEP meeting record that overlaps Census Day, then submit the amendment on the most recent record with an amendment date that is after the meeting date, but prior to or on Census Day.

For Special Education Information System (SEIS) users: If the most recent transaction in CALPADS has:

• A meeting date prior to Census Day and an amendment has not been created to populate these fields:
  • Submit an amendment dated prior to the Census Day, October 7, with Field 14.31 - the Special Education Program Setting Code and Field 14.34 - General Education Participation Range Code updated with the appropriate school age setting and range.
• An amendment that was created and dated after Census Day:
  • Contact SEIS for assistance to populate the Special Education Program Setting Code and General Education Participation Range Code fields.
• A meeting date after Census Day:
  • Contact SEIS for assistance, as an amendment cannot be added to a previous meeting.

Recommended Guidance on SPED0539 - Special Education Meeting Date Cannot Exist Between the Dates of Another SPED Record

SPED0539 - Special Education Meeting Date cannot exist between the dates of another SPED Record is an error that typically occurs when LEAs fail to approve or affirm transactions in a timely manner. This causes the transactions to be created and submitted out of sequential order. In some cases, LEAs will receive the SPED0539 error based on a record that was submitted by a different LEA.  In these instances, LEAs must work together to jointly resolve the issue. If an LEA is reluctant to assist in the resolution of these errors, please submit a service ticket.

Need to Report Change to District of Special Education Accountability Field on Education Plan Amendment

When specified components of a student’s Special Education Program change, the change needs to be reported to CALPADS as an Education Plan Amendment. Recently, Field 14.16 - the District of Special Education Accountability, was added to the fields in the Special Education (SPED) file, that should generate an Education Plan Amendment by the special education data system (SEDs) for submission to CALPADS. (See CALPADS File Specifications, Section 3.14.2 – Selection Criteria for the Special Education (SPED) File.) With this addition, an Education Plan Amendment is a modification of one or more of the following components of a student’s Special Education Program:

• Disability 1 (should only be changed in conjunction with a Triennial evaluation)
• Disability 2 (should only be changed in conjunction with a Triennial evaluation)
• District of Special Education Accountability (new)
• Primary Residence Code
• Special Education Program Setting Code
• Preschool Program Setting Service Location Code
• Preschool Program Ten Weekly Hours or Greater Indicator
• General Education Participation Percentage Range Code
• IEP Includes Postsecondary Goals Indicator
• Postsecondary Goals Updated Annually Indicator
• Postsecondary Goals Age Appropriate Transition Assessment Indicator
• Transition Services in IEP Indicator
• Supportive Services Indicator
• Transition Services Goals in IEP Indicator
• Student IEP Participation Indicator
• Agency Representative IEP Participation Code
• Special Transportation Indicator

Reporting Students Exiting from the Special Education Program

The CDE recognizes that it is a common and appropriate practice to exit students from the special education program during a triennial evaluation if they are determined to be ineligible for special education services. However, a new SPED record validation SPED0540 – Special Education Program Exit Date Cannot be Populated on Triennial Meeting Record, was recently implemented that prohibits a special education program exit date from being included on a triennial meeting record (Special Education Meeting Type Code 40). Instead, LEAs must submit special education program exit dates and reasons on the most recent annual meeting (20) or initial evaluation meeting (10 or 15), or amendment to the annual (20) or initial (10 or 15).

This change was made because all triennial meeting records are now excluded from Certification Reports 16.1 and 16.2. Including triennial meeting records on these reports made it difficult to generate an accurate count of students with disabilities on these reports. Because the triennial meeting records are no longer being used in these reports, if an LEA has exited a student with disabilities from the special education program on the triennial record only, and that exit occurred prior to Census Day, the student will erroneously appear on reports 16.1 and 16.2.

LEAs should continue to exit students from the special education program during a triennial evaluation; the implementation of this new validation is not intended to force LEAs to change that practice. Many of the special education data system (SEDS) vendors have created back-end processes that will assist in the correct population of the exit date and reason on the appropriate records in CALPADS; therefore, it is not necessary to change local business practices. LEAs should, however, consult with their SEDS vendor to determine how this process occurs.

Reporting Data for Private School Transfers (to or from) for Students with Disabilities

An analysis of data in CALPADS indicates that there is confusion about what data should be reported in the Student Enrollment (SENR) and Special Education (SPED) records when students with disabilities (SWD) transfer to and from private schools and remain eligible for the special education program.

When SWDs Transfer from a Public to a Private School: When a SWD who is enrolled in a California public school on an active Individualized Education Program (IEP) (Education Plan Type 100) voluntarily transfers to a private school, the LEA should:

1. Exit the student’s primary enrollment record in CALPADS with a date reflecting the date of the transfer and a Student Exit Category Code of T180 – Transfer to a Private School.
2. Confer with the special education data coordinator to ensure that the IEP team has met to determine if the student will continue to be served on an Individual Service Plan (ISP).
   1. If the student’s parent has declined services at the private school:
      1. Submit a SPED record for the IEP meeting type with an exit date and reason.
   2. If the student’s parent elects to continue services for the student under an ISP:
      1. Create a new enrollment in CALPADS at the private school:
         1. Use Enrollment Status 50
         2. Populate School of Attendance with 0000002 – Private School Group
      2. Submit a SPED record with:
         1. The date the IEP team met to agree on the ISP
         2. A Special Education Meeting Type Code of 20 – Annual
         3. An Education Plan Type Code of 200 – ISP
      3. Do NOT submit a special education program exit on the previous IEP record.

When SWDs Transfer from a Private to a Public School: When a SWD who is enrolled in a private school on an active ISP (Education Plan Type Code 200) accepts the offer of Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and transfers to a public school, the LEA should:

1. Exit the student’s private school enrollment record in CALPADS with a date reflecting the date of the transfer and a Student Exit Category Code of E170 – NonPrimaryEnrlExit, (student was enrolled with a secondary Enrollment Status Code [20] or Non-ADA Enrollment Status Code [50]).
2. Create an enrollment at the public school with a start date reflecting the date the student was expected to start at the public school:
   1. Enroll the student with Enrollment Status 10 – Primary (preschool through 12^th grade).
   2. Populate the School of Attendance with the school where the student will be attending.
      1. Preschool students that will not be attending a specific school can be enrolled at the district level.
3. Submit a SPED record with the date the IEP team met to agree on the IEP:
   1. If the Meeting Date is less than or equal to Census Day:
      1. Populate Special Education Meeting Type Code with 20 – Annual
      2. Populate Education Plan Type Code with 100 – IEP
   2. If the Meeting Date is AFTER Census Day:
      1. FIRST submit a SPED record “adopting” the student’s current ISP (Plan Type 200) at the public school – this would represent the interim placement
      2. Submit the SPED record with the date the IEP team met to agree on the IEP
         1. Populate Special Education Meeting Type Code with 20 – Annual
         2. Populate Education Plan Type Code with 100 – IEP
4. Do NOT submit a special education program exit on the previous ISP record.