Status of Formula Grant Awards

February 1, 2006

TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

SUBJECT: Status of Federal and Non-Foundation School Program State Formula Grant Awards

The purpose of this letter is to provide you with the most current status of federal and non-Foundation School Program formula grant funds at the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Funding sources are listed below, along with their respective status as of February 1, 2006.

2005-2006 SCHOOL YEAR STATE FUNDS

Accelerated Reading Instruction & Accelerated Math Instruction (ARI/AMI) Grant Notices of Grant Awards (NOGAs) for the 2005-2006 school year were issued through eGrants in Fall 2005. Grantees who did not satisfy reporting requirements for their 2004-2005 grants were eligible to receive only 25 percent of their 2005-2006 allocations. Program Guidelines for this grant are posted at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/reading/ordering/200506ARI_AMIGuide102005.pdf .

Reporting Requirements: 2005-2006 ARI/AMI grantees should take note that after completing their final reporting requirements for this grant via the Consolidated Reading Initiative (CRI) Report in Fall 2006, they will be responsible for drawing down all of their reimbursements for their ARI/AMI grants through the TEA online expenditure reporting (ER) system, including the 10% reserve (if owed) that is released after grantees have completed, certified, and submitted their CRI Report. TEA will not make final payments to the grantees for this grant.

ARI/AMI critical deadlines are as follows:  October 2, 2006- deadline for submitting 2005-2006 CRI Report  October 2, 2006- deadline for submitting 2005-2006 final expenditure report in ER  November 1, 2006- deadline for submitting 2005-2006 revised final expenditure report in ER

Intensive Reading Initiative and Intensive Math Initiative Programs (IRI/IMI) The 79th Texas Legislature allocated funds for intensive reading and intensive mathematics instruction programs for the 2005-2007 school years. Campuses will be eligible for funds based on passing rates on the 2005 Grade 5 Reading TAKS and on the 2005 Grade 5 Mathematics TAKS. The Division of Curriculum expect to mail letters containing detailed information on these programs to superintendents and campus principals during the week of January 30, 2006. Campus principals must submit a letter of intent to apply by February 10, 2006. Applications for these grants will be submitted through the TEA eGrants System. Separate applications will be required for the reading initiative program and the math initiative program. It is expected that applications for Cycle I of these two grant programs will be available in eGrants on April 3, 2006. The deadline date for completing and submitting these applications will be May 15, 2006. The grant project period will be May 1, 2006—July 31, 2007.

IRI/IMI Cycle I critical dates are as follows:  April 3, 2006- applications available in eGrants  May 15, 2006- deadline for completing, certifying, and submitting 2005-2006 IRI/IMI applications  May 1, 2006- project beginning date  July 31, 2007- project ending date Status of Formula Grant Awards Page 2 of 4

LEP Summer School Program Payments to local educational agencies (LEAs) for the 2004-2005 LEP Summer School program were processed in November 2005.

Optional Extended Year Program (OEYP) General OEYP funding and application information can be found at the Division of Formula Funding website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/opge/formfund/oeyp . The deadline for submitting the SAS-OEYPAA06 was January 16, 2006. Beginning in late March, eligible grantees may apply for reallocation funding by amending their OEYP applications.

The state OEYP allocation for 2005-2006 is $15.3 million. Once an LEA’s application for funding has been approved and a NOGA has been issued, the LEA will report expenditures and draw down funds through the TEA online expenditure reporting system (ER).

OEYP critical deadlines are as follows:  July 31, 2006 - last date to submit 2005-2006 amendments  August 31, 2006 - end of project period  September 14, 2006 - last date to submit PEIMS Student Participation Data Submission 4 for 2005-2006  September 30, 2006 - last date to submit 2005-2006 project expenditures report  September 30, 2006 - last date to submit 2005-2006 program evaluation  October 12, 2006 - last date to resubmit revised PEIMS Submission 4 OEYP participation data for 2005-2006  October 16, 2006 - last date to submit revised 2005-2006 project expenditure report (if necessary)

Grantees are reminded that submission of OEYP participation data through the PEIMS Student Participation Data Submission 4 for 2005-2006 is required if an LEA accepts OEYP funds. TEA compares records from Data Submission 4 to determine if the required number of students was served.  Grantees that do not submit the required PEIMS data by September 14, 2006, will be required to refund their entire 2005-2006 OEYP NOGA amounts to TEA.  Grantees that do not serve the required number of students may be required to refund money to TEA.

Pre-kindergarten Expansion Grant Program The Cycle 10 (2004-2005) reconciliation letters were mailed to all Cycle 10 grantees on January 6, 2006, and grantees had until January 31st to make comments or provide additional data regarding their amounts earned.

Since the funding for the Pre-kindergarten Expansion Grant is no longer included in the Summary of Finance (SOF), any grantee who has been overpaid for Cycle 10 (as stated in the reconciliation letter) will need to send a refund check to TEA for the amount of overpayment by February 28, 2006. Grantees should follow standard refund procedures. Current grantees should note that their Cycle 11 (2005-2006) Pre-kindergarten Expansion Grant NOGA amount will not be affected by this overpayment.

Life Skills Program for Student Parents Grant (Formerly Pregnancy, Education, and Parenting [PEP]) Life Skills grantees should continue to report expenditures and draw down funds from the TEA online expenditure reporting (ER) system for the 2005-2006 school year.

Life Skills critical deadlines are as follows:  June 30, 2006 - last date to file amendments for the 2005-2006 program  August 31, 2006 - end of project period  September 30, 2006- deadline for filing the Life Skills Evaluation Report

Please refer to your 2005-2006 Life Skills grant application for the program evaluation requirements. Information about upcoming TETN sessions for this program can be found on the Life Skills website at www.tea.state.tx.us/pep.

State Deaf funds will be addressed in the following section. Status of Formula Grant Awards Page 3 of 4

2005-2006 SCHOOL YEAR FEDERAL FUNDS

Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act Information about the Carl Perkins formula grants can be found on the Division of Formula Funding website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/opge/formfund/carlperkins/. Reallocation amounts were posted December 16, 2005, and grantees will have until June 1, 2006 to apply via amendment.

Carl D. Perkins critical deadlines are as follows:  March 15, 2006- last date to submit equipment requests  June 1, 2006- last date to submit amendments for Perkins funds  June 30, 2006- end of project period  August 15, 2006- last date to submit the 2005-2006 final expenditure report  September 15, 2006- last date to submit revised final expenditure report (if necessary)

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) The projected date for posting 2005-2006 maximum entitlements is mid-February of 2006. TEA will notify the Education Service Centers (ESCs) when maximum entitlements have been released. Entitlements will be made available to LEAs via the automated Web SAS, which can be accessed at http://barton.tea.state.tx.us/websas. Revisions to budgets and program schedules will be accepted until May 15, 2006.

LEA notification of shared services arrangement (SSA) configuration changes effective for the 2006-2007 school year is due to TEA on February 1, 2006. The TEA will update AskTED to reflect new SSA configurations in March, 2006.

Correspondence for Newly Opened/Significantly Expanded charter schools for 2006-2007 was mailed on January 23, 2006. Charter schools should use the automated 2005-2006 Web SAS to report basic school information and the count of students with disabilities enrolled and receiving special education services as of February 1, 2006. System availability will begin February 1, 2006, and close on February 22, 2006.

Planning/Tentative amounts for 2006-2007 are expected to be released on May 16, 2006. School districts may access the automated Web SAS at http://barton.tea.state.tx.us/websas. ESC notifications will be sent regarding the status of the posting of planning/tentative amounts.

Rider 55 High Cost Risk Pool The 79th Texas Legislature has appropriated funds for the Local Education Agency Risk Pool—Rider 55. These funds are to assist LEAs, including school districts and charter schools, with high need students with disabilities. TEA is requesting that eligible LEAs submit applications for Rider 55 funding. The deadline for completing and submitting these applications is February 24, 2006. For more information, please refer to the Special Education web page at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed/funding/rider55.html.

Deaf Services State Deaf LEAs with an unexpended balance for 2004-2005 will be required to submit an amendment in Web SAS at http://barton.tea.state.tx.us/websas. The amendment is required in order to reduce 2005-2006 entitlements by the amount of the prior year’s unexpended balance. These funds do not roll forward, but prior year unexpended funds can be used as deferred revenue during the 2005-2006 school year. Based on this adjustment, the entitlement for school year 2005-2006 will be redistributed to LEAs to meet critical unmet needs approved for the 2005-2006 school year.

IDEA-B Discretionary Deaf Maximum entitlements for 2005-2006 are currently being calculated. Information and notification will be provided to LEAs via ESCs once the allocations are determined and approved. Status of Formula Grant Awards Page 4 of 4

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act Maximum entitlements for 2005-2006 are currently being calculated for the programs listed below:

Title I, Part A Title II, Part D Title I, Part C Title III, Part A—LEP Title I, Part D, Subpart 1 Title III, Part A—Immigrant Title I, Part D, Subpart 2 Title IV, Part A Title II, Part A Title V, Part A

TEA staff are committed to easing the time-consuming amendment preparation process by initiating adjusted budgets to incorporate the maximum entitlement amounts. LEAs will begin to be notified of maximum entitlements, adjusted budgets, and NOGAs the last week in March 2006. If budget adjustment(s) are not satisfactory, LEAs may submit an amendment by the May 1, 2006 amendment deadline.

Title VI, Part B, Subpart 2 Rural and Low-Income Schools Program Maximum entitlements for 2005-2006 are being calculated. LEAs receiving this grant should expect to see a revised NOGA and budget summary reflecting their maximum entitlement by the first week of February 2006.

All NCLB planning amounts for the 2006-2007 school year will be released prior to May 1, 2006.

If you have any questions, please contact the Division of Formula Funding at (512) 463-8525.

Sincerely,

Nora Ibáñez Hancock, Ed.D. Associate Commissioner Office for Planning, Grants and Evaluation cc: ESC Executive Directors