by Dr. David J Holbrook
This is the third of a three-part series of articles exploring how schools and school districts can use Title I, Part A funds to provide services to English learners (ELs). This article focuses on the local education agency (LEA) requirements to coordinate and integrateTitle I services with other educational services at the district or school level, which includes services for ELs. The coordination and integration requirements are found in Title I, but the method to reserve Title I funds for these requirements are actually found in regulations.
What are regulations and why do we need them?
If you have ever tried to read legislation or legal documents, you have probably noticed that these documents can be difficult to understand and sometimes don’t clearly identify or describe what or how to implement the requirements found there. Regulations provide legally binding information, Education Regulations (the bulk of which are found in EDGAR, the Education Department General Administrative Regulations) typically come from the US Department of Education (USED) nationally, or from State and local governments locally, to assist school districts and schools by attempting to provide clarity regarding how to implement compliance requirements found in laws.
Compliance Requirement: Coordination and integration of Title I services with services for ELs
Title I, Section 1112(c)(4) requires districts to include an assurance in their Title I plan (which is submitted to their State to apply for Title I funding) that they will “coordinate and integrate services provided by Title I with other education services at the district or school level”, of which services for ELs is specifically mentioned. This means that the Title I services LEAs and schools provide must be coordinated and integrated with EL services provided to meet Civil Rights requirements, those provided under Title III, and those provided under other ESSA Titles or other national, state, or local laws. The purpose of this is to avoid duplication of effort, avoid fractured, uncoordinated educational programs, and provide consistency in educational services provided to ELs.
So, can Title I funds be used to provide EL programs and services?
The answer is Yes, but how we know this and how we can justify using Title I funds for EL programs and services is not clearly identified in the law. We know from my previous article about the LEA Parent and Family Engagement reservation (and the first article related to the State’s School Support and Improvement grants reservation), that for an LEA to use funds at the LEA level to support students, including ELs, it is typically done using a reservation or set aside of funds at the LEA level. However, there is no directive in Title I, Part A that says LEAs or schools must or even may reserve Title I funds to use to help meet the requirements related to coordinating and integrating Title I services with EL programs and services as outlined in Title I.
ESSA, Title I does mention using Title I funds for EL programs. In Title I, Sec. 1112(e)(3)(A), which requires LEAs to notify parents if their child has been identified as an EL and/or placed in an EL program. The text leading up to that requirement says, LEAs using Title I or Title III funds “to provide a language instruction educational program . . .shall inform parents . . .” regarding EL identification or placement. The terminology, language instruction educational program, or LIEP, is the legal term used in ESSA for EL programs and services. This statutory reference, which specifically references using Title I to provide an LIEP, demonstrates that it is allowable to use Title I funds for EL programs and services. However, nowhere in ESSA does it tell us how to reserve Title I funds to provide EL programs and services.
This is where we look to regulations for clarification. The USDE recognized that the statute indicates it is allowable to use Title I funds for EL programs and services (not to mention the other requirements related to ELs found in Title I) but does not clarify how to do that. To address this, the USED created regulations to help LEAs know how justify using Title I funds to support ELs. In the (EDGAR) regulations found at 34 CFR 200.77(f) it says that before determining how much Title I funding is designated for eligible schools in the LEA, the LEA “must reserve funds as are reasonable and necessary to: . . . (f) Conduct other authorized activities, such as early childhood education, school improvement and coordinated services.” (See also the guidance on Within District Allocations Under Title I, Part A, Authorized Reservations section on page 4).
Since Title I services are required to be coordinated and integrated with services provided to ELs, it is allowable for LEAs to reserve funds to meet these coordination and integration requirements. Unfortunately, even this regulation didn’t fully clarify some of the issues surrounding using Title I funds to support ELs.
More clarity still needed
The statutory reference above that requires LEAs to notify parents of ELs includes notifying the parents of all ELs, not just the parents of ELs in those schools that receive Title I funds. This is an LEA level requirement and must be implemented for the entire LEA. Implementation may vary (some LEAs place these requirements on non-Title I staff), but ultimately, if an LEA is monitored and found not to be notifying parents, the compliance violation would fall to Title I. There is also a requirement that LEAs only useused Title I funds in Title I eligible schools. However, when it comes to students experiencing homelessness, who are automatically identified as at-risk, LEAs are required to use Title I funds to support students experiencing homelessness who attend schools that don’t receive Title I funds. With this in mind, many LEAs feel justified using Title I to support ELs in non-Title I funded schools because of the precedent set with students experiencing homelessness.
In LEAs, there are two opposing views as to how this is handled. One sticks with the requirement to only use Title I funds in Title I funded schools, and therefore, funds the LEA reserves to support ELs are only used in Title I funded schools. The other looks at the fact that the LEA has responsibility under Title I to meet certain EL related requirements for all ELs in the LEA, not just those in Title I funded schools. This takes into consideration that since Title I requires support for students from at least one at-risk student group who attend non-Title I funded schools (students experiencing homelessness), there is a precedent set to do the same for another at-risk student group (ELs). From this perspective, the LEA uses Title I funds to support ELs in Title I funded schools and non-Title I funded schools. However, to be cautious, before budgeting Title I funds reserved to support ELs, be sure to check with your State education agency to understand on which side they fall.
