TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:
Subject: Clarification of standards that will be used by monitoring teams to evaluate the effectiveness and compliance of school districts with the requirements for accepting and using State Compensatory Education (SCE) Program funds
The purpose of the State Compensatory Education (SCE) Program is to provide programs/projects/activities that enhance and improve the regular education program to increase the academic achievement and reduce the dropout rate of identified students in at-risk situations. Concerns regarding the effectiveness and accountability of school districts in the use of these monies were frequently expressed by numerous members of the most recent legislative session. Monitoring teams for District Effectiveness and Compliance (DEC) will be looking closely at the effectiveness and compliance issues regarding these funds. Likewise, monitoring teams on visits to low-performing districts and/or campuses and to alternative campuses needing peer review will be asked to explain how SCE funds are being used to supplement the regular education program to address the condition of performance with identified students in at-risk situations. This letter is intended to clarify some of these requirements, define some of the terms in the law and State Board of Education (SBOE) rules, and establish some consistency in the expectations for compliance and effectiveness.
Districts are strongly encouraged to study Module Nine of the Financial Accountability System Resource Guide. Additional helpful information to assist districts can be found in the "To The Administrator Addressed" letter of July 27, 1998. Districts might also get additional information from the TEA Internet page located at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/school.finance/audit/resguide/index.html.
The 75th Legislative Session mandated that SCE funds were to be used to fund programs/projects/activities for students in at-risk situations and were to be supplemental to the regular education program. Each school district determines what constitutes the regular education program in the district, but it can be no less than what is mandated for all students by law, State Board of Education rules, or Commissioner's action. There are no schoolwide SCE programs, unless the funds are being used totally to support an alternative campus.
The programs/projects/activities for which SCE funds are being spent must be identified in the campus and district improvement plans (in the combination district/campus plan if the district has only one campus). How the districts and campuses identify these programs/projects/activities is not defined but is left to the discretion of each district. Monitoring teams, whether on District Effectiveness and Compliance (DEC) visits, accreditation visits to low-performing campuses and/or districts, or visits to alternative campuses needing peer review, will pursue the identification of these programs for a description of how they are supplementing the regular education program or how they are focused on improving the condition of performance of students in at-risk situations.
Improvement plans for the district and each campus must show the amount of SCE funds allocated to them and must identify the number of full-time teaching equivalents (FTEs) purchased with these funds. Chapter 41 districts and their campuses must also comply with this requirement. This mandate can be satisfied by including the required information in the respective campus or district improvement plan or by providing summary level information as an attachment to the appropriate campus or district improvement plan. Question 3 of the "To The Administrator Addressed" letter of July 27, 1998, states that this information must be provided only as "summary level information (aggregate totals)... This summary level information should be readily available from the district's official/amended budget and personnel records. Districts may readily comply with this requirement by printing detailed and/or summary reports from their budgetary and personnel systems and attaching this information to district/campus improvement plans. Additional detailed information may be added according to districts' discretion." It is not required, therefore, that SCE funds be identified with each program/project/activity that received SCE funds. The information provided, however, is expected to address only the district's or campus's budget for SCE funds and any other funds used to supplement the regular instructional program for the benefit of students in at-risk situations. Copying and attaching the entire district or campus budget to a plan will not meet the requirements of this standard. Districts should also be reminded that the Texas Education Code §44.007(a) requires that accounting systems used by school districts must conform to generally accepted accounting principles. SCE funds and local funds that are spent to supplement the regular educational program for students in at-risk situations are to be coded to Program Intent Code 24.
The July 27, 1998 letter from Commissioner Moses further states that "Districts need to review their district/campus improvement plans to ensure that the requirements of TEC §11.252 are adequately addressed in the performance objectives, strategies, resource allocations, staff responsible for strategies, timelines, monitoring, and evaluations. District/campus improvement plans will be reviewed during the on-site visits by the TEA's District Effectiveness and Compliance teams."
Districts are required to budget at least 85 percent of their allocated SCE funds. This calculation will be based on the District Planning Estimate (DPE) shown in the Summary of Finance each district receives in August.
A district's dyslexia program is considered part of the basic, required curriculum. Therefore, SCE funds can be used only to provide programs/projects/activities supplies and materials that supplement that district's regular dyslexia program.
If you have any additional questions regarding the monitoring of the SCE Program, please call Dr. Neida Estringel, Coordinator of the Division of Accountability Evaluations, at (512) 475-3112.
Questions regarding the auditing of SCE funds should be referred to the School Financial Audits Division at (512) 463-9095. Questions relating to the identification of students in at-risk
situations can be directed to Carolyn Young, Director of State Compensatory Education, in the State and Federal Waivers and Initiatives Unit at (512) 463-9077.
Sincerely yours,
Neida Estringel, Ph.D., Coordinator
Accountability Evaluations
For further information on this topic, contact Accountability Evaluations at 512-475-3112.