Prepare Now for ESSA Consultation with Your Local School Districts
As consultations for Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, formally known as No Child Left Behind) approaches, WCRIS reminds administrators that ESSA also serves private school students. As you prepare and plan, remember that Title I of the ESSA is provided by the local public school district where the student resides, unlike other Title programs which are provided by the public school district that the school sits in. Planning for these services should be ongoing.
However, the Spring is a key time for local public school districts to connect with private school leaders. They do this through the “Private School Affirmation Form” created by the DPI, with substantial input from WCRIS.
In the coming days, your local school district should be sending this form to your school and scheduling a consultation with you to talk about how your students and faculty will be served by ESSA Title programs.
If your school district has not contacted you, contact them. Every district has a different designee. If you do not know who to contact, call the district office and ask who is in charge of ESSA Title funding and programming.
To prepare for the meeting you should:
1. Read the Private School Affirmation Form because it outlines the school district’s obligations and the choices available to you. The form is available by following either link:
- Affirmation Form Note: This will start the download. Once finished, the form can be found in your downloads folder as f9580-ac.doc.
- Private School Participation page of the DPI website. It will be the first link under the Private School Participation section.
2. Read and follow the “The ESSA & Private Schools: Key Things Principals Can Do to Maximize Title Funding” document by WCRIS on our web page.
3. Read and follow the “Checklist of Issues for Consultation and Agreement Between Private Schools and LEAs” by our lawyer friends at the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL).
4. Ask your district for a breakdown of their Title funds and the private school portion of this. The federal law requires this information be provided. The DPI is working on assembling it all in one place. But in the meantime, the district should be able to provide it.
5. Ask your district for a copy of their ESSA grant application from the last school year so you can review what services similar eligible public school students are receiving. This is a public record so it should be readily available to you.
If you take the time to use this information, you will be rewarded by better services and funding for your students because you will be an informed advocate on their behalf.
Some things to remember:
- Money cannot be paid directly to the private school.
- The school district can NOT dictate what programming you will fund with Title money;
- Consultation on your Title funds must be “timely and meaningful;”
- You may, but are NOT required, to pool funds with other private schools;
- The public school district cannot get its Title funds until your school signs off on the Affirmation Form, so they should be incentivized to work with you on an agreeable plan for your school’s students and teachers.
If you have any questions, contact WCRIS Project Coordinator Abbie Pavela at APavela@wcris.org or WCRIS School Programs Coordinator Laura Sumner Coon at LSumnerCoon@wcris.org.
