School Improvement Status:
Guidance for Title I Schools that Close or Reconfigure
Title Iserved schools that do not meet federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals for two or more consecutive years in the same subject must offerPublicSchool Choice (PSC). These schools would be in School Improvement year 1 (SI-1). If Title Iserved schools continue not to meet AYP in the same subject for more than one consecutive year, they must offer Supplemental Educational Services (SES) in addition toPSC. These schools would be in School Improvement year 2 (SI-2) or higher.
The calculations that determine AYP are based on the unique identifying number of the school, called the IRN. The Ohio Department of Education(ODE) attempts to retain IRNs (and thus the historical data, AYP determinations, and School Improvement statuses) of schools when they are reconfiguring by adding grade levels, consolidating two or more schools, adding students from a closed school, or re-drawing attendance zones.There are also instances, however, when the IRN does not continue so that the School Improvement status for that entity is essentially lost.
This guidance addresses all of those cases. The basic idea is that the services (PSC and SES) follow the students but the SI status is not applied to the ‘new’ school.
School Closures: Districts must continue to offer PSC or SES, as appropriate, to students who would otherwise be attending a Title I served school in SI-1 or higher if that school had not closed.
Reconfiguration:Districts must continue to offer PSC or SES, as appropriate, to students who would otherwise be attending a Title I served school in SI-1or higher but were moved to a different school due to district consolidating, changing grade spans, or adjusting attendance zones.
In each of these cases, the PSC and/or SES offerings should be available for one school year immediately following the closure or reconfiguration. For example, if a building closes or reconfigures during the summer, students from that building should continue to receive the appropriate services for the entire upcoming school year. If a building closes or reconfigures during the school year, students from that building should continue to receive the appropriate services for the rest of the current school year as well as for the entire upcoming school year.
In the case of either closure or reconfiguration, the district should make every effort to contact parents of those children in their ‘new’ school to make them aware of their options for PSC and SES.