US Education Department Guidance: Title I Part A Waivers

Title I Allocations

In July, the US Education Department released draft guidance on how to request a waiver for specific statutory and regulatory provisions of Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This memo gives you a one-page snapshot of what the requirements are for requesting waivers for various aspects of Title I, Part A. A full copy of the guidance is available online.

WHAT WAIVERS ARE AVAILABLE? Please note that while the waivers could last up to four years, the guidance indicates that the Secretary intends for almost all of the waivers to count for only one year.

Eligible SEAs and LEAs can request waivers in several areas:

• 14-day notice of public school choice: SEAs can apply for the waiver on behalf of LEAs in their state. This waiver would apply only to students in schools that are newly identified for improvement in the 2009-10 school year, meaning LEAs would still have to provide 14-day notice to schools that cannot exit improvement, corrective action or restructuring.
  
  
• Approving Schools INOI as SES Providers: SEAs apply for this waiver, which would allow SEAs to approve identified schools (LEAs in improvement, corrective action or restructuring) as SES providers.
  
  
• Set Asides (obligations): These waivers would permit eligible LEAs to exclude all or some of their Title I Part A ARRA funds in calculating set-aside amounts. SEAs apply on behalf of their LEAs for the following waivers: Please note that Ed-Flex States (CO, DE, KS, MA, MD, NC, OR, PA, TX, and VT) are ineligible for the waivers below.
  
  
  • 20 Percent Obligation to Public School Choice/SES: Allows LEAs to offer SES in addition to (not in place of) public school choice to eligible students in Title I schools in the first year of school improvement, and to count the costs of providing SES to those students toward the LEA’s 20 percent obligation.
    
    
  • 10 Percent Obligation to Professional Development (for school/LEA INOI)
    
    
• Per-Pupil Amount for SES: These waivers would permit LEAs to exclude some or all of their Title I, Part A ARRA funds in calculating the per-pupil amount for SES, thus enabling them to provide SES to a greater number of eligible students.
  
  
• Carryover Limitation: LEAs apply to SEAs for this waiver. Currently, LEAs cannot carry more than 15 percent of their Title I Part A Subpart 2 allocation over to the next fiscal year, though SEAs can currently lift this limitation once every three years. This waiver would allow SEAs to lift the carryover limitation more than once every three years. SEAs would have this authority for two years.
  
  
• Maintenance of Effort: For any state receiving prior approval from the Secretary, an LEA may treat State Fiscal Stabilization funds (through ARRA) used for elementary and secondary education as non-federal funds for the purpose of meeting maintenance of effort requirements. Given the current economic situation and the likelihood that a large number of LEAs may fail to maintain effort in SY 2008-09 and SY 2009-10, the Secretary invites any interested SEAs to apply for a waiver for maintenance effort on behalf of its LEAs. Any granted waivers will NOT apply to requirements under IDEA.

(SOURCE: American Association of School Administrators’ Policy and Advocacy Team)