Florida Department of Education - Bureau of Federal Educational Programs
Conference Call with the NCLB Committee of Practitioners
January 26, 2011  9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. EST

Conference Call Topic 	Meeting Minutes	
Welcome and Introductions
	Felita Grant-Lott, Chair of the CoP, lott_f@hcsb.k12.fl.us
LaTrell Edwards, Bureau Chief and Interim Title I Director, LaTrell.Edwards@fldoe.org, 850-245-9939
Carol Gagliano, Title I, Part C Director, Carol.Gagliano@fldoe.org, 850-245-9949 
Melvin Herring, Title I, Part D and Title I, Part A, Choice Director, Melvin.Herring@fldoe.org, 850-245-0479
Anna Moore, Title I, Part A, Anna.Moore@fldoe.org, 850-245-0726	
ESEA Flexibility Waiver Update	Our staff is working to develop plans for implementation of the NCLB Waivers if the United States Department of Education (ED) approves FDOE’s proposal.  Once this plan is vetted through our staff, we will present them to the CoP for comments.

SES and Choice options have not been removed as requirements of Florida’s LEAs.  We will proceed with implementation of these requirements until we are notified otherwise.	
Reallocation of Choice funds to Title I, Part A	The due date for submission of requests from LEAs to reallocate unspent Choice funds to the Title I, Part A project is March 2, 2012. 
http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-6284/dps-2012-04.pdf
State law requires the LEA to receive acceptance or rejection of at least 50% + 1 of eligible students prior to reallocating funds.  FDOE understands the complexities of this law and will review the number of students who are able to be based upon the LEA’s reservation of funds versus the number of students who are eligible for services.  This additional information will be taken into consideration during the review of the LEA’s request for reallocation.	
Increase in TIPA Allocations	Our office received notice from ED of the revised allocations which have resulted in an increase in the Title I allocations.  The Office of Grant Management will begin working immediately on the revised allocations so we may notify the LEAs of the increased amounts.  In order to reduce the paperwork burden for LEAs, we hope to combine the amendment processes for the increase in Title I funds and the roll forward process.  More information regarding those combined processes will be forthcoming.	
Roll Forward Timelines	We hope to combine the roll forward amendment requirements with the amendment requirements for increasing the Title I allocations.	
2012-2013 Project Applications	Please submit suggestions for reducing redundancy for project applications to the appropriate program director.  We are interested to hear your ideas and implement any strategy that would reduce the burden of paperwork on the LEA’s behalf.
Title I, Part A
The TIPA project applications are currently being revised.  The main area our staff is looking at improving is the set-asides section.  We are looking into how to make the set-aside screen easier to complete.  We want to provide additional TA within the online application explaining when equitable services should be reserved for applicable set-asides.
Some sections of the application may change based on the approval of FDOE’s Waiver proposal.  We are developing a plan to incorporate changes to the TIPA project application that includes the waivers.  Affected sections are: 
•	Set-asides (PD, HQ, PI)
•	PSES (Hold Harmless)
•	Need 2 (Question 5H)
•	Need 6 (SINI Status)
•	Budget (Set-aside codes)
We will seek CoP’s input once the FDOE receives final word on the Waivers from ED.

Title I, Part C
There are no major changes or added sections to the Title I, Part C Migrant Education application this year. Based on our assessment of the responses last year, the changes that have been made are related to refining the questions so that districts can provide appropriate responses this year. Some of the questions that have been refined are in the areas of Needs Assessment, Out-of-School Youth (OSY), and Early Childhood. Some sections of the Title I, Part C application will be pre-populated, but not all.

Title I, Part D
The only changes are:
•	A section will be added to address the Neglected set-aside from Title I, Part A to ensure coordination and program alignment.  
•	The most recent Title I, Part D evaluation will be included to assist in application development. 

Title I, Part A – Choice and SES
No significant changes 	
Parent Notification Requirements	There was a concern expressed regarding the amount of parent notification requirements and whether those requirements could be accomplished using the LEA’s web sites.  Unfortunately, any federal parent notification requirement cannot be changed by our office.  While parent notification via the LEA’s web site is acceptable, it must not be the only method used to notify parents of federal requirements.

Please send any suggestions for improving the notification process to Melvin.Herring@fldoe.org. 	
School Improvement Grant 1003(g)	We are beginning the process for renewal of the School Improvement Grant 1003(g) for FY09/Cohort I and FY10/Cohort II.

The state application for Fiscal Year 2011 funds was submitted to ED January 9.  The application was for approval to use FY 2011 funds solely to make continuation awards.  If approved, these funds will not make any new awards to Florida’s LEAs.  These funds will be used by the FDOE to continue funding for the LEAs that were deemed as eligible for the FY10 funds (Cohort II) during the 2011-2012 school year.  These funds will be awarded based on a competitive grant process.  Eligible LEAs will be notified of the available funding and will apply via the FDOE’s online grant system.  FDOE will use a trained review team to score the applications according to ED’s requirements.  FDOE will award funds to LEAs that meet the score criteria.

Additional information regarding the FY11 funds will be shared with LEAs.  We hope to award these funds by the Summer of 2012.	
Title I, Part A
Vacancy	The Title I, Part A Program Director position is currently vacant.  The position has been advertised and we are currently accepting applications.  We will continue to provide the most current, up-to-date, and timely information as possible. 

For now, LaTrell Edwards will act as Interim Program Director.  We ask that the Title I staff be contacted for assistance with program implementation and requirements.  Please find a list of program staff on our website at http://www.fldoe.org/bsa/title1/parta.asp.   Even though we are in the middle of this transition, we will continue to provide our highest quality support and assistance to our LEAs.  Please let us know if we can assist in any way.	
Adjourn	Next conference call: March 29, 2012 @ 9:00 a.m.