Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides financial assistance through state education agencies (SEAs) to local education agencies (LEAs) and public schools with the highest percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards.

Title I funds may be used for children from preschool through grade 12. LEAs target the Title I funds they receive to public schools with the highest poverty rates. Public schools with poverty rates of at least 40 percent may use Title I funds, along with other federal, state, and local funds, to operate a school-wide program to upgrade the entire educational program. Schools with poverty rates below 40 percent, or those choosing not to operate a school-wide program, offer a targeted assistance program. In a targeted assistance program, the school serves Title I-eligible students who are failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet challenging state academic standards. The school then designs, in consultation with parents, staff, and district staff, an instructional program to meet the needs of those students. Both school-wide and targeted assistance programs must be based on effective means of improving student achievement and include strategies to support parent and family engagement.

Parent/Family Involvement Policy
Parent & Family Engagement Plan (En español)
Parent-School Compact (En español)
Teacher Qualification Request Policy (En español)

ACADEMICS and ESSA

Every Student Succeeds ACT (ESSA) - Reauthorized ESEA of 1965 The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB), and now as amended by ESSA in 2015 has been a longstanding national education law committed to providing all children significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps for all children. ESSA was signed into law on December 10, 2015 by President Obama with a focus on the clear goal of preparing all students for success in college and careers.

Notification of Teacher Qualifications: A district must notify all parents of children in Title I schools that they may request information on teacher qualifications at any time. Additionally, parents must be notified if a child is assigned to, and/or is being taught for four or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who does not meet state certification and licensure requirements.

Notification of School Designation: The LEA is required to provide notification of academic status to parents of each child enrolled in a school identified for improvement and the notices must contain school status, reasons for the identification, planned interventions to address the academic problems, district support and parent support.

Notification of Assessments and Individual Student Assessment Results: A district must provide information to parents regarding state assessments, locally selected assessments for high school students, alternate assessment plans for children with the most significant cognitive disabilities and individual student assessment results, including details about parent opt-out rights, if applicable. Districts’ must test 95% of all students and every student subgroup.

Notification and Permission for Placement of Eligible Title III Students: The district and schools serving English learners shall inform the parents that their child(ren) has/have been placed in an instructional program for English Learners no later than 30 days after the beginning of the school year. If the student is identified after the beginning of the school year, the LEA/school shall notify parents within the first two weeks of the child’s placement in a program for ELs. Once a child has been identified as eligible for language assistance, the parent must be notified of the instructional program offerings and services in an understandable and uniform format and to the extent practicable in a language that the parent can understand.

Report Cards: States, districts, and schools must publish report cards for public dissemination in 41 the fall semester of each school year. ESSA report cards start in December 2018. Reports 18 must include professional qualifications of teachers, emergency and provisional credentials, teachers who teach in areas outside of certification, disaggregated data on the graduation rates, foster care data and the academic achievement of homeless children and youth experiencing homelessness. Report cards must be in a language that parents can understand.

Lafayette County School District

Federal Programs

Suzanne A. Ryals

Lafayette County School District