Special Education Directors,

Following the passage of Senate Bill 1177 during the last legislative session, the definition of home school district (HSD) has changed. The Arizona Department of Education/Exceptional Student Services (ADE/ESS) has reviewed this statutory change and the attached guidance is being provided to clarify which PEA is a child’s home school district for the purposes of vouchering a student. The guidance in this memo takes effect August 1, 2019.

If there are any questions or concerns, please email the Exceptional Student Services Voucher Unit.

Given recent findings and questions from the field, the ESS/Program Support & Monitoring Hot Topic reviews the requirements for English Learners (ELs) under the IDEA. Specifically, July’s Hot Topic addresses the requirements for consideration of EL with regard to eligibility determination and IEP development.

Additionally, there have been some changes regarding EL testing requirements provided to the field by ADE/OELAS. The OELAS communication, “ELs with Disabilities,” explains the testing and exiting requirements for all ELs, including those with disabilities. Also of note is the guidance document, “EL and Title III Addendum,” recently released by the USDOE, addressing EL requirements.

ESS realizes this is a complex issue and wants to assist however we can. We are planning on including ELs and Students with Disabilities as a topic on the upcoming Talk with ADE schedule. Additionally, per the ADE/OELAS communication, an ADE EL/Special Education Taskforce will be convened in the fall to discuss these issues.

In the interim, for questions regarding IDEA requirements and compliance, please contact your ESS program specialist. For questions regarding AZELLA and/or EL programming, please contact your regional OELAS program specialist.

Exceptional Student Services (ESS) has launched the ESS Portal, which will give users a single platform for all Special Education applications in one place! Over the next year, ESS will work on providing an easier and cleaner application interface to all public education agencies (PEAs) required to use Special Education applications. Users who have permission to any ESS application will see the ESS Portal application under ADEConnect. Over time, ESS will be reviewing permissions for all its applications and streamlining the number of applications. This will reduce confusion and save time for everyone using these applications. Please see this screenshot of the ESS Portal, as well as an explanation of some of the current features:

• Red and green dots (blue arrow) indicate which applications are open for collection/input and which are closed
• Grayed out sections (orange arrow) indicate applications for which the user does not have permission
• Upcoming Data Events (green arrow) highlights items that are either due soon, are critical dates in data collections, or are critical process times in applications

As ESS moves into the 2019-2020 school year, there are other enhancements to the ESS Portal in the works. We will add data dashboards for students with disabilities for all PEAs down to the student level. Additionally, we will be consolidating some applications to and making them easier to use, so users can save time on data collection and avoid unnecessary clicks in applications. We are excited to see how the portal will help PEAs and students! Please email the ESS Data Management team with any questions or call 602-542-3962

Please see the updates from the ESS Program Management Team and share with your Business Manager.

MOE Eligibility Please see the linked PowerPoint to learn more about the MOE Eligibility Testing requirements that will go into effect this July. The FY 2020 Budget that will be submitted to School Finance by July 15, 2019, will be subjected to the MOE Eligibility test in the ESS Maintenance of Effort Application. The PowerPoint will walk you through how to submit data if your Budget fails to meet the Eligibility Standard.

Substantially Approved Date Please note: The FY2020 IDEA Consolidated – Entitlement Grant applications have a different Substantial Approval Date process than other ADE grants due to federal IDEA fiscal requirements. ESS is required to wait until July 16, 2019, to review MOE Eligibility statuses and then change a public education agency’s (PEA’s) Substantially Approved Date based on whether the budget meets the Eligibility standard. This date is contingent upon when an adopted budget must be submitted to School Finance. Once your PEA’s application is approved by the ESS Program Specialist, the Substantial Approval Date will revert to July 1 if your application was submitted prior to July 1 or to the most recent date that the grant was updated to LEA Authorized Representative Approved if that occurs after July 1. If your Substantial Approval Date is after July 1, your PEA will be unable to obligate funds prior to that date.

FY 19 Completion Reports The FY19 IDEA Consolidated – Entitlement grant’s project period end date is September 30, 2019. Completion reports will be available in the Grants Management Enterprise (GME) System for PEAs that would prefer to close out the FY19 books immediately after June 30, 2019. The official due date for the completion report isn’t until 90 days after the end of the project period, so you have until December 30, 2019 to submit your data.

Expanding Charter Requests If your charter school is expanding and meets the definition of Significant Expansion as found on http://www.azed.gov/specialeducation/operations/, please e-mail ESS Program Management to notify your intent to expand and receive a new calculation for your IDEA allocation. The deadline to notify ADE for consideration of FY20 reallocation will be August 1, 2019.

As always, please e-mail ESS Program Management for any questions regarding your IDEA Consolidated – Entitlement grants. Thank you.

The Arizona Department of Education/Exceptional Student Services (ADE/ESS) is excited to announce the release of the SY 2019—2020 Monitoring Guidesteps and Student File form! This release is the earliest ESS has ever been able to provide this important resource to the field. We hope this helps all public education agencies (PEAs) in planning for the upcoming school year.

Each year, the ESS/Program Support and Monitoring (PSM) team reviews this document, along with findings of noncompliance and technical assistance provided to the field, to enhance the document and make it a better product for PEAs. An overview of this year’s enhancements is included below. As always, please contact your PEA’s assigned program specialist for any questions or assistance needed.

Enhancements:

• Cross-check for reporting in AZEDS re: eligibility and LRE
• Collection of why progress reporting was called out, when called out
• Frequency and duration for special education services
• Progress monitoring for secondary transition services

Special Education Administrators,

This past school year, Exceptional Student Services moved the reporting of students receiving Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS) from Grants Management into AzEDS. CEIS are services provided to students in kindergarten through grade 12 who are not currently identified as needing special education or related services, but who need additional academic and behavioral supports to succeed in a general education environment. If your public education agency is utilizing IDEA Entitlement funds, you must report which students are receiving services pursuant to 34 CFR §300.226(d). This letter provides more information regarding this data submission.

Please email ESS Program Management for any questions or concerns.

Tips to Increase Participation

Use the ADEConnect ESS Parent Survey progress report tool to track survey completion by school site and student name.

• Send staff a screen shot of the school-site tally. Teachers will be motivated to increase parental participation on their campus.
• Study school-site rates to ensure the overall number of completed surveys represents district and school demographics.
• Reach out to parents of students who haven't completed the survey. Personal contact will make a difference.

For assistance contact: Becky Raabe, [email protected], or (928) 637-1871.

The Arizona Department of Education/ Exceptional Student Services, in partnership with AHCCCS, is pleased to announce that the National Council for Behavioral Health will deliver Youth Mental Health First Aid Certification (YMHFA) training to Arizona educators. This 3-day interactive training will teach participants how to:

• Teach the Youth Mental Health First Aid course, including the 5-step action plan, evidence-supported treatment and self-help strategies, and prevalence data.
• Present the program with fidelity to the tested, core model.
• Apply the program to a range of adult learning styles.
• Tailor presentations to diverse audiences and learning environments.

Upon the successful completion of the course requirements as outlined by the National Council for Behavioral Health, participants will be certified to teach the standard Youth Mental Health First Aid course.

Registration:

There is no fee for participants! However, registration is first-come, first-served and based on statewide representation.

Please see this application form for more details.  If you have questions, please contact Aanya Rispoli at [email protected].

Directors of Special Education,

ESS Program Management is sharing the following important dates for IDEA Funding and IDEA Fiscal Related activities. Included in this memo is an announcement of a half-day, in-person training at ADE Central on April 15, 2019.

Please share these important updates with your PEA’s Business Manager.

If you have any questions regarding anything mentioned in this update, please contact [email protected] or call 602-542-4013 to speak to an ESS Program Management Specialist.

Special Education Directors,

ADE/ESS has important announcements to share regarding the upcoming 2019 Post School Outcomes (PSO) Survey data collection season.

• The student list is now open. At your earliest convenience, review your student list for accuracy. This is also a great time to start working on exclusions.
• ADE is currently hosting two webinars associated with PSO.
  • PSO 2018 Statewide Results
  • 2019 PSO Survey Essentials

Review the PSO webpage for exact details on dates, times, and registration links.

• NOTE: There has been an update to one PSO Survey Essentials session (April 2 at 3:00 p.m.). It has been rescheduled to April 1 at 3:00 p.m. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your flexibility. Flyers and registration through the Events Management System (EMS) reflect the updates.

It is recommended that all staff who will be conducting the survey this upcoming summer, at a minimum, attend the PSO Essentials webinar. The main purpose of this webinar is to share and explain the changes to the 2019 PSO Survey.

Please feel free to view and distribute the attached flyers and to forward this email to staff that can benefit from the above-listed webinars. All are welcome to attend, and the ADE/ESS encourages all PEAs that will be participating in the 2019 PSO Survey to participate.

We look forward to supporting you throughout the various stages of this initiative. As a reminder, PSO staff can be reached at [email protected].