Office for Civil Rights

Today, the Office for Civil Rights has released guidance to remind school districts, postsecondary institutions, and other Federal funding recipients of the legal prohibition against retaliation with regard to civil rights complaints and to describe OCR’s methods of enforcement. The DCL does not contain any new policy or new interpretations of law and is supported by well-established caselaw. However, OCR has never before issued any public guidance describing its enforcement of recipients’ non-retaliation obligations.
Please take a moment to read this important guidance at:

•   http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201304.html
•   http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201304.pdf

If you have any questions, requests for technical assistance, or outreach opportunities where OCR can play a role please contact one of our regional offices. You can always find our list of offices and the regions they support at https://wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/CFAPPS/OCR/contactus.cfm.

Arizona’s Grant for IDEA Part B (611)

Arizona received the state allocation tables for IDEA Part B this past week. The short and sweet of it is that our allocation was reduced by 5.6% due to sequestration. Which is about what we thought the reduction would be based on earlier communication from USDoE. However, what was a surprise was that the LEA allocations were reduced by 6.6% or about $11 million dollars. The reduction was taken in the “population and poverty” portion of the allocation formula. Individual LEA allocation reduction may vary due to increases and decreases to the overall student enrollment and number of students living in poverty as reported to the ADE through October enrollment and SAIS during the current fiscal year.

State Administration and State Set-Aside funding had a very slight increase of 2.2%. These set-aside funds cover grants to LEAs for Capacity Building, IDEA and Preschool Emergency, High Cost Child, Secure Care, ESS sponsored professional development activities, program and fiscal monitoring activities overseen by the ESS section.
Arizona’s grant for IDEA Preschool (619) was reduced by 6.6% due to sequestration. In the case of 619 funds, the poverty and population portion of the formula was not funded at all. LEA allocations will be reduced by just less than 3% or $115,568.
Below are links to the Fiscal Year Allocation for Grants to States IDEA Part B Sections 611 and 619.

• FY 2013 Allocations for Grants to States – IDEA, Part B, Section 611 – Table I
• FY 2013 Allocations for Preschool Grants – IDEA – Part B, Section 619 – Table II

Talk with ADE Meeting

April 26, 2013
9:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

New Location – Map http://goo.gl/maps/0amUl
3300 N. Central Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85012
16th Floor, Room 100/101

Parking at the new building:

Please carefully read and print the attached parking pass and directions that show where/how to park.
Make sure to bring your parking ticket stub with you to the meeting to have it validated!

Agenda

Parking Pass

Based on the March 1, 2013 OMB sequester report, CEF prepared the attached table showing the discretionary funding levels for Department of Education programs plus related education programs in other agencies. The total cut to ED discretionary funds = $2.271 billion.  In addition, mandatory programs are cut by $207 million for a total Education Department cut of $2.478 billion.

The specific funding levels on CEF’s table are based on OMB’s cut of 5.0% for nondefense discretionary programs.  This 5% cut is taken from the FY 13 CR level, which equals the FY 12 appropriation level increased by the 0.612% across-the-board (ATB) increase. However, for four ED programs with advanced appropriations (Title I, ESEA Title II, IDEA Part B state grants and Career/Technical Education state grants), the 5% sequester cut is calculated from the advanced appropriation levels for FY 13 provided in the FY 12 omnibus appropriations bill, which are not subject to the ATB increase, plus the FY 13 annual appropriations in the FY 13 CR which are subject to the ATB increase.  However, all of the sequester cuts to these four programs will be taken from school year 2013-14 funds. See July 2012 memo from Anthony W. Miller, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Education for further details.

The Department of Education has not yet issued tables showing the sequester cuts at the program, project and activity level, so the figures in this table are CEF calculations. In addition, the FY 13 funding levels are subject to change by the final FY 13 CR or omnibus appropriations bill.

Special Education Directors,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to the Exceptional Student Services (ESS) annual customer survey.  

Please click on the graphic below to read the summary memo.

Back to Directors Corner.
Back to Special Education.

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is applying for federal funding under IDEA ‘04 for the period of July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014. The eligibility document serves as the basis for the operation and administration of activities to carry out the requirements of Part B of the IDEA. In accordance with 34 C.F.R. §§ 300.165 and 441 (b)(7), the federal regulations that implement the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) ((20 U.S.C. §1232d(b)(7)(B)), this application is posted for public participation and comment.

The Application document sets forth policies and procedures that Arizona will undertake:

1) to ensure that all eligible children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that includes special education and related services to meet their unique needs;

2) to ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents are protected;

3) to assist public education agencies in providing for the education of all children with disabilities; and

4) to assess and ensure the effectiveness of efforts to educate those children.

The Part B State Application and Interactive Spreadsheet are available to parents, educators, and members of the general public for review and comment at the Arizona Department of Education, Exceptional Student Services, 1535 West Jefferson Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85007, or on the ADE website at www.azed.gov/special-education. Please note that the 2013 allocations are not yet available through the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Therefore, the numbers on the currently posted Part B Interactive Spreadsheet, located on the Web site, are in draft form. The State will post the 2013 Interactive Spreadsheet as soon as it becomes available.

Review the Part B Application and Interactive Spreadsheet

• Arizona Part B Application Packet FFY 2013
• Interactive Spreadsheet – This is a DRAFT version.

Comments may be submitted in writing until April 30, 2013 to:

Angela M. Denning, M.Ed
Deputy Associate Superintendent
Exceptional Student Services
Arizona Department of Education
1535 West Jefferson Street, Bin #24
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
Email: angela.denning.azed.gov

The agenda for the Talk with ADE for February 22, 2013 has been posted.

For more information, contact Colleen Ryan by email.