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Applications for Emergency Impact Aid

Attachment A to Adm Supt. Memo No. 005

Instructions for School Division Applications for Emergency Impact Aid forDisplaced Students

The Emergency Impact Aid for Displaced Students program provides funds for local school divisions to assist with the cost of educating students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita during school year 2005-2006, for nonpublic schools serving displaced students, and for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)-funded schools serving displaced students. The program provides $645 million which the U. S. Department of Education (USED) will disburse in quarterly payments to state education agencies (SEAs) based on quarterly counts provided by school divisions of displaced students enrolled in public and nonpublic schools. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) will make payments to school divisions based on these counts. Reimbursement per pupil will be up to $6000 for students without disabilities and up to $7500 for students with disabilities.In addition, the same application will be used by the USED to award funds under a second program, the Assistance for Homeless Children and Youth.

Deadlines for Completing the Application Process

School divisions must complete the initial application and submit it electronically or by fax to the VDOE, via Project HOPE-Virginia, no later than 5 p.m. on January 26, 2006. Applications must be submitted to Patricia Popp, state coordinator for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, Office of Student Services, atProject HOPE—VA electronically at or faxed to 757-221-2988. To be eligible for funding, the VDOE and local school divisions must meet all deadlines. Virginia must submit its application to the USED on February 2, 2006; therefore, there is no flexibility with the school division deadline to submit the initial application. Please note, however, that school divisions will be able to adjust their counts and submit revised numbers to VDOE before April 1, 2006. Subsequent payments to the state and local school divisions will be adjusted to reflect any revisions to the initial counts.

As part of the application process, school divisions must submit quarterly counts of eligible displaced students with and without disabilities in public and nonpublic schools. [See Questions 39 and 40 in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for suggested methods for identifying and documenting eligible students.] The point in time counts for Virginiaschool divisions are:

• September 30, 2005
• December 1, 2005
• February 1, 2006
• March 31, 2006

The counts for the first two quarters must be included as part of the initial application. The process for submitting revised counts and subsequent quarter counts will be provided at a later date.

Definition of “Displaced Students”

“Displaced students,” that is, students for whom school divisions may receive payments, are those students who:

1. On August 22, 2005, resided in, and were enrolled or eligible to be enrolled in a school in an area later declared a major disaster related to Hurricanes Katrina or Rita; and
2. As a result of their displacement by the storm, are enrolled in different schools on a date on which an enrollment count is taken for the purpose of this program.

For a list of declared disaster areas refer to Question 4 in the FAQ. Since the Code of Virginia defines elementary education as beginning with kindergarten, preschool students may not be included for any child counts.

Displaced students attending a nonpublic school must meet certain additional criteria beyond the definition of “displaced student” explained above.

1. They must have enrolled in an eligible nonpublic school prior to December 30, 2005, the date of enactment of the Hurricane Education Recovery Act.
2. The students’ parents must have chosen to enroll the students in a nonpublic school.
3. The students’ parents must submit a timely application for funding under this program to the school division.

Virginia has not established any additional eligibility criteria, such as family income parameters.

Procedures for Completing the Initial Local Educational Agencies (LEA) Application

Aschool division is eligible to receive funds if it:

1. Enrolls or enrolled at least one displaced student on a date on which a child count is taken under this program; or
2. Serves an area in which at least one displaced nonpublic school child is enrolled on a date on which a count is taken.

To receive funds, eligible school divisions must complete the following Local Educational Agencies (LEA) Impact Aid Application Forms located in the Appendix .

In addition, Sample Forms have been included for school division documentation of information from parents and nonpublic schools.

A public, nonprofit charter school that enrolls one or more displaced student is eligible for funds under the program and receives funds from the payment to the school division under which it is established. School divisions that have within their jurisdictions charter schools that enroll displaced students must ensure that those charter schools receive their full, proportional share of aschool division’s formula grant.

Eligible Nonpublic Schools

The law provides for payments to eligible nonpublic schools that have enrolled students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, based on the number of displaced students enrolled during the designated counts. An eligible nonpublic school is one that:

1. Is accredited or otherwise operates in accordance with State law;
2. Was in existence on August 22, 2005, and serves at least one student whose family has applied for Emergency Impact Aid under the program;
3. Abides by certain civil rights requirements (see Question 51 in the FAQ); and
4. Waives tuition or reimburses tuition paid in order to receive funds under this program

Parents or guardians of displaced students apply to the school division directly for payment of emergency impact aid to the nonpublic school on behalf of their children by providing their names, the names of their enrolled children, the names of the nonpublic schools of enrollment, and certifications. (See Appendix, Sample Form 6.) The school division must count the number of students whose parents have applied for emergency impact aid under the program. The school division must document that each student was enrolled, or eligible to be enrolled, in a school within the declared disaster areas covered by the declarations for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and resided in that area on August 22, 2005.

Emergency Impact Aid Accounts

The school division is responsible for setting up Emergency Impact Aid Accounts for each nonpublic school based on the number of displaced students per nonpublic school. The accounts are to be used for payment of relief funds to those nonpublic schools and the tracking of the distribution and use of these funds. The application for emergency relief funds requires the school divisions to describe the procedure to be used to provide payments to accounts on behalf of the nonpublic school students. Payments to all accounts established for displaced students enrolled in nonpublic schools must be made within 14 days of receipt of allocated funds by the school division. The school division is responsible for contacting the nonpublic schools within the division in order that the numbers and names of displaced students enrolled per nonpublic school can be provided by parents. Certifications from parents and nonpublic schools must be provided to the school division. (See Appendix, Sample Forms 6 and 7.)

Parent contact and nonpublic school responsibilities

School divisions should work with the nonpublic schools within their boundaries to have them provide enrollment data and contact parents of displaced students who are or have attended their respective nonpublic schools. School divisions must provide notice to each parent of a displaced student attending a nonpublic school that the parent has the option to enroll his or her child in a public school or a nonpublic school, and that Emergency Impact Aid is a temporary program available only for the 2005-2006 schoolyear. This may be accomplished working with the nonpublic schools within the school division. Nonpublic schools must certify that the children listed as enrolled were enrolled in the schools on the designated count dates. Nonpublic schools are also responsible for contacting the parents of the displaced students who are or have been enrolled in order that the parents:

• Formally request that the school division make payments to the
  Emergency Impact Aid Accounts of the nonpublic school on behalf of each child named. (See Appendix, Sample Forms 6 and 7)
• Verify that the children were enrolled prior to December 30, 2005, and are eligible based on their previous location in a named hurricane-related disaster area. (See Appendix, Sample Form 6.)

The nonpublic school also must certify that:

• It meets the definition of a nonpublic school as provided in Section 107 (b)(3) of the law governing emergency impact aid. (See Appendix, Sample Form 7.)
• Payments to Emergency Impact Accounts received from the school division will be used only for purposes as described in paragraph (e)(1) of the law. (See Appendix, Sample Form 7.)
• Copies of the above sections of the law have been received and read.(See Appendix, Sample Form 7.)

School divisions must complete the following forms and submit them with their application to the VDOE.

• Certifications by the school division that it has contacted all nonpublic schools within its boundaries to notify them of the availability of funding under this program, that the division has reviewed documentation to verify the eligibility of any nonpublic school students included in the application, that the school division will make payments to Individual Emergency Impact Aid Accounts for students enrolled in nonpublic schools who are counted on this application within 14 calendar days of the school division’s receipt of funds provided for this application, and that the information provided in the application is accurate and true. (See Appendix, Form 1.)
• A narrative to be completed by the school division that describes the procedure to be used by the school division to provide payments to the emergency aid accounts on behalf of the nonpublic school students. (See Appendix, Form 4.)

The Virginia Council for Private Education is e-mailing the above information to its list of nonpublic schools, and encouraging them to contact school division superintendents to expedite the process of compiling information and parent applications for this submittal. However, in recognition of the short timeframe for the initial application submittal to USED and the time that may be needed to retroactively account for displaced students who may have now moved to other states or school divisions, adjustments to data submitted by the school divisions and state by the required deadlines may be made. Amendments to the application for funds may be made after the initial submission by the state through April 2006. The state deadline to submit final information isApril 30, 2006.

Expenditure of Program Funds

Program funds may be used by school divisions and nonpublic schools to provide instructional opportunities for displaced students who enroll in their schools and for expenses the recipient incurs in serving displaced students.Examples of allowable expenses include:

1. Paying the compensation of personnel, including teacher aides, in schools enrolling displaced students;
2. Identifying and acquiring curricular material and classroom supplies;
3. Acquiring or leasing mobile educational units or leasing sites and spaces (to the extent that those costs are not met by FEMA);
4. Providing basic instructional services for displaced students, including tutoring, mentoring, or academic counseling;
5. Paying reasonable transportation costs;
6. Providing health and counseling services; and
7. Providing education and support services.

While the activities and services must be related to serving displaced students, there is no requirement that they be provided only to those students.For instance, one of the allowable activities under the law is provision of basic instructional services.There is no requirement that program funds be used to provide those services only to displaced students; rather, school divisions may use the funds to support regular classroom programs in which both displaced and other students participate.Similarly, the law authorizes the use of funds for reasonable transportation costs.School divisions are under no obligation to provide separate transportation, using these funds, to displaced students.They may instead use the money to support their regular transportation budget, taking care to ensure that the transportation needs of displaced students are met.

In addition:

• A school division may use up to two percent of its allocation for administration of the program.
• Recipients may use these funds for pre-award costs, including the reimbursement of expenditures incurred prior to the receipt of a grant.
• School divisionsmay not use program funds for construction or for major renovation of schools.

Recipients of funds for students with disabilities under this program may use those funds only to pay for special education and related services consistent with the IDEA.However, the law does not require that these funds be used to provide special education and related services only to students displaced by the hurricanes.They may become part of a school division’s or school’s regular special education budget, and the school division or school may use them to provide activities and services in which both displaced and other students with disabilities participate, taking care to ensure that the special education needs of displaced students are met.

The VDOE and local school divisions must obligate funds received under this program by July 31, 2006. The VDOE must return any funds that are not obligated by any of these entities by this deadline to the Department. Obligations must be liquidated within 90 days of this July 31 date.

Checklist for Application

Please contact either CynthiaCave or Patricia Popp if you have questions:

CynthiaCave, Director of Student Services

804-225-2818

Patricia Popp, State Coordinator for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth

757-221-7776

Completed applications should be submitted electronically or by fax to:

Patricia A. Popp, Ph.D.

Project HOPE-Virginia

E-mail:

Phone: 757-221-7776

Fax: 757-221-2988

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Applications for Emergency Impact Aid

Appendix

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State Virginia

ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION HURRICANE RELIEF PROGRAM

APPLICATION BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES

FOREMERGENCY IMPACT AID FOR DISPLACED STUDENTS

AND ASSISTANCE FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH

FORM 1

ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION HURRICANE RELIEF PROGRAM

APPLICATION BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES

FOREMERGENCY IMPACT AID FOR DISPLACED STUDENTS

AND ASSISTANCE FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH

QUARTERLY NUMBERS OF DISPLACED STUDENTS

FORM 2

ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION HURRICANE RELIEF PROGRAM

APPLICATION BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES

FOREMERGENCY IMPACT AID FOR DISPLACED STUDENTS

AND ASSISTANCE FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH

PARENTAL NOTIFICATION TO LEA