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Monday, August 27, 2007

Is your child attending a low performing school? Were you notified of a school choice option?

It is required by law that parents receive notification no later than the first day of school. In Texas, public schools have a mandatory start date of August 27, 2007 which is today! Here is some additional information for parents who may have children attending a school that has missed AYP (adequate yearly progress). I hope this offers some clarification on what your options are for selecting another school for your son or daughter.

Schools of Choice
Which campuses may be offered to students as transfer options?

Except in the situations described in items E-9 and E-12, students must be given the option to transfer to other public school campuses, which may be campus charter schools, within the LEA (local education agency). The choices made available to students may not include campuses identified for improvement (or corrective action or restructuring) under Title I or identified by the State as persistently dangerous.

Open-enrollment charter schools that fall within the boundaries of an LEA, but are not authorized by the LEA, may also be included as transfer options, in coordination and with the agreement of the individual charter school. The public schools from which students may choose may be, but are not required to be, public schools that operate Title I programs [34 C.F.R Section 200.44(a)(3)].

May an LEA (local education agency) provide eligible students with an option to transfer to campuses outside of the district?

Yes. In fact, the law states that if all public school campuses within an LEA to which a child may transfer are identified for school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring, the LEA must, to the extent practicable, establish a cooperative agreement with other LEAs in the area that are willing to accept its students as transfers. In addition, LEAs that are not in this situation may want to include inter-district transfers in their plans, in order to broaden the range of student choices or mitigate capacity concerns in the district, or both.

What if providing the option to transfer to another campus within the district is not possible?

A number of LEAs may have no campuses available to which students can transfer. This situation might occur when all campuses at a grade level are in school improvement or when the LEA has only a single campus at that grade level. It may also occur in rural areas where an LEA’s campuses are so remote from another that choice is impracticable. For example, if the only other elementary school is over 50 miles away, then choice is likely impracticable. On the other hand, if other potential elementary school choices are located outside an LEA-defined attendance zone or internal boundary, these LEA defined boundaries may not be used to prevent student transfers.

In these cases, the LEA must, to the extent practicable, enter into cooperative agreements with other LEAs in the area
(or with open-enrollment charter schools in the State) that can accept its students as transfers [Section 1116(b)(11)]. The LEA may also wish to offer supplemental services or other campus reform strategies to students attending campuses in their first stage of improvement who cannot be given the opportunity to change campuses [34 C.F.R. Section 200.44(h)(2)].

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Great show today on the learning styles of African American children

No. Really, why can't he Read?