Note: The FAQ from this Hot Topic was revised on 4/12/2022 to add information from the Governor's Office regarding this program. 

Districts and charters are required to report to ADE the number of days of in-person, teacher-led instruction that were offered to all students during the 2020-2021 school year. We understand that the Governor’s Office intends to use the reported data to allocate funds this fall and therefore it is imperative that all districts and charters complete the required reporting.

Please see the reporting instructions in the original email from ADE to school leaders below. The original message is followed by the answers to frequently asked questions about this requirement.

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Dear School Leaders, 

As passed by the state legislature, the Arizona Department of Education is required to collect information on whether LEAs offered in-person, teacher-led instruction for at least 100 days of the 2020-2021 school year. 

"School districts and charter schools in this state shall report to the Department of Education whether they offered in-person, teacher-led instruction for at least 100 days of the 2020-2021 school year, except that school districts and charter schools with fewer than 180 days of instruction pursuant to section 15-341.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, shall report whether they offered in-person, teacher-led instruction for an equivalent proportion of instructional days. The report shall delineate the number of days of in-person, teacher-led instruction that was offered by the school site.” - Laws 2021, Chapter 404, Section 108 

The Department is required to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting that compiles the reported information above. 

This communication is to ask you to please submit the following information for all schools in your LEA no later than July 28, 2021. In order to complete the form, you will need to download and complete the In-Person, Teacher-led Instruction Reporting template and upload it into the form. You will also need your Entity ID, which can be found here. 

Please Contact ADE School Finance with any questions at [email protected].  

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Frequently Asked Questions:

Note: 

Click here to determine which schools the Governor's Office has determined are eligible for funding.

Click here for information about the funding program.

Q: Should days on which only on-site support services were offered be included?

A: No, please report the total number of instructional days that all students were offered the option to attend in-person, teacher-led instruction.

Q: If the school was providing in-person, teacher-led instruction for special education students only. Should that count as a day of in-person, teacher-led instruction?

A: No, please report the total number of instructional days that all students were offered the option to attend in-person, teacher-led instruction.

Q: Do summer camp numbers count towards this report?

A: No, please report the number of instructional days during the school year that all students had the option to attend in-person, teacher-led instruction.

Q: At several of our sites, we offered hybrid models in which groups of students attended in-person instruction on specific days of the week. For example, for a portion of the year, any given student attended in-person instruction one day per week although the campus was open for in-person instruction four days per week. In this model, should we report one day of in-person instruction each week or four days each week?

A: In this model, you would report four days of in-person instruction per week to report the number of instructional days that the school offered the option to attend in-person.

Q: Our hybrid model consisted of morning and afternoon groups. Over the course of the week, each student attended in person for five half-days (with the other half consisting of remote instruction while the opposite group attended in person). Should this be reported as 2.5 days of in-person instruction for the week or five days of in-person instruction?

A: In this model, you would report five days of in-person instruction. It is not necessary to report or adjust for the length of each instructional day.

Q: Can one file be submitted for all LEAS or does it need to be submitted by individual school?

A: One file should be submitted for each LEA, but the file can include information for all schools within the LEA.

Q: Our district successfully uploaded the in-person, teacher-led instruction reporting for SY2020-2021, but we also received an error message. We would like to confirm that the data has been received or if we would need to re-submit.

A: Please email [email protected] to confirm that the report has been received.

Q: I uploaded and submitted incorrect reports, can you archive the incorrect reports so I can upload the correct ones?

A: Yes, please email [email protected] and request that the incorrect reports be deleted. After the incorrect reports are deleted, you will be able to resubmit new reports.

Special Education Directors,

ADE/ESS and STAR Autism Support are collaborating to offer resources and professional learning opportunities to support PEA staff with free Virtual Learning Opportunities this Fall. 

STAR Online Learning System (SOLS) Workshop

STAR Online Learning System (SOLS) is designed to allow your PEA to provide access to all students through remote learning opportunities. Through teacher facing, evidence-based lesson plans and a scope and sequence that provides scaffolded learning opportunities, teachers can provide their students individualized learning opportunities. The focus of the instruction uses the evidence-based practices appropriate for students with autism to teach skills in critical areas. This comprehensive workshop provides participants with detailed examples and practice activities on how to implement the evidence-based practices identified in the National Standards Report (2009) remotely using SOLS.

2-Day STAR Comprehensive Workshop

This comprehensive two-day workshop provides participants with detailed examples and practice activities on how to implement the evidence-based practices identified in the National Standards Report (2009). The STAR Program (Arick, Loos, Falco and Krug, 2015), a research-based curriculum is used to provide examples. Appropriate content connected to the common core curriculum is presented and detailed information on the three evidenced-based instructional methods of discrete trial training, pivotal response training and teaching through functional routines are shared.  If registered as a team, you will also be eligible to apply for free coaching hours.

2-Day Links Comprehensive Workshop

This two-day workshop provides participants with information on how to implement evidence-based practices for secondary students using the Links Curriculum (Arick, Hoffman and Magee-Arick, 2012). Participants will learn to use a process for assessing and teaching functional routines that has been documented in the research. Extensive information will be given on selecting and individualizing routines and teaching specific skills to support success during routines. If registered as a team, you will also be eligible to apply for free coaching hours.

Early Childhood Learning Workshop

This workshop will provide preschool staff, child­care staff and quality first coaches with a greater under­standing of working with children with autism spectrum disorders. Topics discussed will include learning characteris­tics, behavioral strategies and simple activities to encourage social and language skill development. This workshop will provide specific examples of evidence-based practices that can be implemented immediately in the childcare and pre­school setting.

Supporting Students in General Education Workshop

This workshop will provide general education teachers and staff an introduction to how students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) learn. Examples of simple classroom strategies and tools to help students with ASD be successful in general education classrooms will be provided. Learning outcomes include identifying the characteristics of students with ASD and how these characteristics impact learning, identifying evidence-based strategies to address the learning needs of students with ASD, and identifying a few simple tools to help your students with ASD learn.

Coaching and Training Site Workshop

This workshop is designed to train certified PEA staff to coach others in the evidence-based strategies and instructional content as used in the STAR Program. SAS provides a series of coach workshops for staff to learn to coach others along with on-site follow-up training at their school district sites. SAS has a fidelity of implementation checklist that is used to identify specific training needs for each coach. Once a trainee has completed all aspects of the training and is able to demonstrate the needed skills, they are eligible to receive a certificate as a STAR Coach that is provided by SAS.

Parent Training Session

The parent training class series provides information and training on topics of interest to parents. These classes discuss evidence-based instructional strategies and effective strategies for parents to use at home with their children. Skills addressed include communication, play and social, behavioral, and self-management. All classes in the series use lecture, demonstration, video, and discussion to present the information. The sessions are designed as a series, but it is not necessary to attend all sessions to benefit from these classes.

Paraprofessional Training Series

This workshop series provides paraprofessionals with key strategies and a demonstration of implementing lessons found in the Links Curriculum and STAR Pogrom for students. Participants will also learn how to use basic behavior principles to assess student’s challenging behaviors, identify appropriate interventions that match assessment results, and determine whether an intervention is working.

PEAs are also encouraged to contact STAR Autism Support if they would like additional individualized support during this time for their teachers, related service staff members, and paraprofessionals! Click here to learn more about these additional support opportunities.

We are excited to offer these opportunities to work with your teams to support our students!  Please contact Bekah Anderson [email protected] or Christy Hegebush [email protected] for questions or assistance.

Special Education Directors,

Due to the passage of HB 2863 during the Spring 2021 legislative session, the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB) is now considered a local education agency (LEA) for the provision of free and appropriate public education (FAPE), for the submission of data and other required reports, and for the provision of courses of study that lead to graduation with a regular high school diploma for all students enrolled in their campus locations. This status change began July 1, 2021 (fiscal year 2022).

This memorandum addresses specific areas of responsibility that will impact both ASDB and public education agencies (PEAs) that place eligible students at ASDB through the IEP and voucher process.

For questions on data reporting, please contact ESS Data Management at [email protected]. For any items pertaining to the institutional voucher, please contact the ESS Vouchers Unit at [email protected].

FY2022 School Finance Fiscal Operations Updates

Base Level Amount 15-901

$4,390.65 ($4,445.53 w/1.25% Teacher Compensation 15-952)

$84.92/1.97% total increase

$52.10/ 1.21% inflation

$32.82/ Teacher Salary Increase ($50M previously funded one-time from Classroom Site Fund)

Transportation Support Level 15-945

1.21% inflation to support per route mile

0.5 or fewer: $2.77

0.5-1.0: $2.27

More than 1.0: $2.77

District Additional Assistance (DAA) and Charter Additional Assistance (CAA) 15-185 and 15-961

1.21% inflation to CAA

Grades PSD-8: $1,897.90

Grades 9-12: $2,211.97

No change to DAA per student count

Reduction to DAA and CAA has been eliminated in FY2022

Qualifying Tax Rate

Unified School Districts and Common School Districts not within a High School District (Type 03): $3.5388

Common School Districts within High School District and High School Districts: $1.7694

Group B Add On

New add-on category "G" with support level weight 0.007 - Means educational programs for gifted pupils who score at or above the ninety-seventh percentile, based on national norms, on a test adopted by the State Board of Education.

Increased support level weight for MD-SC, A-SC, SID-SC to 5.988 (previously 5.833)

Increased support level weight for DD,ED,MIID, SLD to 0.093 (previously 0.003)

State Aid Rollover 

$865,727,700 of the FY22 basic state aid appropriation to school districts is deferred until July 2022. 

This is $65M lower than FY2021

 Does not apply to charters or school districts with less than 2000 ADM.

Classroom Site Fund 15-977

$733 per weighted pupil 

Prop 123 Additional Funding Laws 2015, 1^st Special Session, Chapter 1, Section 6

$75,000,000 (FY21-FY26)

Results-Based Funding

$68,600,000 allocated based on Spring 2019 AZ Merit Test Results notwithstanding 15-249.08

Certificates of Educational Convenience   Forms/Memos   15-825/ 15-976

School Finance is no longer accepting copies of certificates throughout the fiscal year. Counties will submit one electronic data sheet June 30, 2022 for all certificates issued the FY2021-2022 year.

School Finance Fiscal Operations – Related Statutes

Additional Monies for Teacher Compensation (1.25% base level increase) 15-952

Arizona Department of Corrections 15-1372

Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections 15-1371

Arizona Online Instruction 15-808

Certificates of Educational Convenience   15-825   15-976

Charter Equalization 15-185

Classroom Site Fund 15-977

College Credit by Examination Incentive Program 15-249.06

County Jails   15-913.01

County Juvenile Detention 15-913

County Small School 15-365

Definitions 15-901

Determination of equalization assistance payments from county and state funds 15-971

District Cash Advance of State Aid   15-973

District Equalization 15-943

Early Literacy Grants 15-249.09

Instructional Improvement Fund 15-979

Optional Two Hundred Days of Instruction (5% base level increase) 15-902.04

Result Based Funding 15-249.08

Small School Capital Transportation 15-963

State equalization assistance property tax levy 15-994

Teacher Experience Index 15-941

Unorganized Territory 15-1001

Special Education Directors,

Please see the memorandum regarding a change in procedure to the Offer of Early Resolution in Response to a State Complaint effective July 1, 2021. This change is in response to recent technical assistance received by Exceptional Student Services/Dispute Resolution.

Please contact Dispute Resolution with any questions about this change. Thank you.

Please share the following details about upcoming professional learning opportunities for general and special education teachers who teach mathematics.

Building Bridges: Developing Relationships and Establishing Rigor!

We know that, as special education and general education teachers, you typically work with students who have various strengths, and we are here to support you in making it all work!

Join us as we spend time on starting the year off right to foster a positive math community and to establish classroom norms for deep learning with a focus on strength-based teaching. Our content focus will be on making connections across grade bands.  You will leave with resources that will support building your classroom community as well as maximizing student learning with grade-level content that can be used the first day of school and beyond!

For grades K–2, please register for one of the following:

• Monday, July 12 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Wednesday, July 14 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, July 20 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.
• Thursday, July 22 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.

For grades 3–5, please register for one of the following:

• Monday, July 12 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 14 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Tuesday, July 20 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Thursday, July 22 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.

For grades 6–8, please register for one of the following:

• Tuesday, July 13 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Friday, July 16 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.
• Monday, July 19 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 21 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.

For High School Algebra and Geometry, please register for one of the following:

• Tuesday, July 13 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.
• Friday July 16 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Monday July 19 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Wednesday July 21 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.

Note: accommodations must be requested at least one week in advance of each webinar.

Please email Jenifer Fernandez or email Rob Hilliker with any questions.

Special Education Directors,

The ADE/ESS is pleased to announce the opening of registration for Arizona's 2021 IDEA Virtual Conference, Renewal: Resilience to Results, scheduled for September 13–15, 2021.

The conference registration fee for professionals is $100.00 and can be paid by credit card, check, or purchase order.

Information about conference keynotes can be found on the conference webpage, which will continue to be updated throughout the summer.

Questions about the conference or registration can be sent to [email protected].

Please share the following details about upcoming professional learning opportunities for general and special education teachers who teach algebra.

Algebra Tiles Part 1: Exploration of Algebraic Expressions

Wednesday, July 7 from 9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.

Register in advance for Algebra Tiles Part 1.

In this webinar, we will explore the properties of virtual algebra tiles and the use of these tiles in simplifying expressions and adding and subtracting algebraic expressions.

Algebra Tiles Part 2: Exploration of Substitution and Solving Equations

Wednesday, July 7 from 12:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m.

Register in advance for Algebra Tiles Part 2.

In this webinar, we will explore the use of virtual algebra tiles to visualize substitution and to solve equations.

Algebra Tiles Part 3: Exploration of Algebra Tiles in Multiplying Binomials and Dividing Quadratic Equations

Thursday, July 8 from 9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.

Register in advance for Algebra Tiles Part 3.

In this webinar, we will explore the use of virtual algebra tiles to multiply binomials and to divide quadratics.

Algebra Tiles Part 4: Exploration of Algebra Tiles in Factoring Quadratic Expressions and Completing the Square

Thursday, July 8 from 12:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m.

Register in advance for Algebra Tiles Part 4.

In this webinar, we will explore the use of virtual algebra tiles to factor quadratic expressions and to complete the square.

Attendance at all sessions is recommended but not required. These sessions will not be recorded. Participants can earn 1.5 hours of professional development credit per session attended.

A computer or tablet with the ability to access Google slides is not required but is strongly recommended to enable full participation in the session.

Algebra Tiles Open Practice Session

Friday, July 9 from 12:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.

Register in advance for Algebra Tiles Open Practice Session.

Come to this session to refine your understanding of working with algebra tiles.

Attendance at a prior algebra tiles session is required to attend this session. Participants can earn two hours of professional development credit for this session.

Please email Jenifer Fernandez or email Rob Hilliker with any questions.

FY2021 Prop 123 Payment 2 has been calculated and was distributed June 7, 2021. This completes the full distribution of $75,000,000.00. The file linked below will show the FY2021 Prop 123 amounts per LEA. Districts are listed first by county, followed by charters alphabetically. The yellow highlighted column is FY21 Prop 123 Payment 2 and the most recent distribution, but the other columns indicate the full FY21 Prop 123 Amount for that LEA, as well as FY21 Prop 123 Payment 1 for that LEA.

FY2021 Prop 123 Amounts

Special Education Directors, 

Please share the following details about upcoming professional learning opportunities for general and special education teachers who teach mathematics.

Count Me In! Exploring Adding and Subtracting Integers

June 22, 2021 9:00–10:30 a.m.

Register in advance for Count Me In! Exploring Adding and Subtracting Integers.

In this free webinar, we will explore multiple representations to build conceptual understanding for the addition and subtraction of integers. We will apply and extend previous understandings of operations with whole numbers to create zero-sum pairs.  Additionally, we will demonstrate how to develop grit and creative problem-solving with accessible low-floor/high-ceiling tasks.

Count Me In! Exploring Multiplying and Dividing Integers

June 22, 2021 12:00–1:30 p.m.

Register in advance for Count Me In! Exploring Multiplying and Dividing Integers.

In this free webinar, we will explore multiple representations to build conceptual understanding for the multiplication and division of integers. We will demonstrate how to develop grit and creative problem-solving with accessible low-floor/high-ceiling tasks. Attendance at the Exploring Adding and Subtracting Integers session is not required to attend this session but recommended. 

Count Me In! Practice Session for Exploring Integers

June 25, 2021 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Register in advance for Count Me In! Practice Session for Exploring Integers.

Come to this session to refine your understanding of working with integers.

Attendance at any prior “Count Me In! Integers” session is required to attend this practice session. 

A computer or tablet with the ability to access Google slides is not required but is strongly recommended to enable full participation in each session.

Note: accommodations must be requested at least one week in advance of each webinar.

Please e-mail email Jenifer Fernandez or email Rob Hilliker with any questions.