Public Comment Period for California's Waiver for Title IV, Part A Funding Flexibilities

On December 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Section 8401(b), invited states to submit a streamlined waiver for the following requirements in Title IV, Part A of the ESEA:

• Section 4106(d) of Title IV, Part A of the ESEA, related to local educational agencies (LEA) needs assessments for the 2020-2021 school year.
• Section 4106(e)(2)(C), (D), and (E) of Title IV, Part A of the ESEA, with respect to content-area spending requirements for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2020 Title IV, Part A funds.
• Section 4109(b) of Title IV, Part A of the ESEA, with respect to the fifteen percent spending limitation for technology infrastructure for FY 2020 Title IV, Part A funds.
  

Summary of the Issue

On April 3, 2020, ED invited states to request a waiver which would allow for additional flexibilities of federal funds for the 2019–20 school year pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Through these waivers, the California Department of Education (CDE) was be able to, among many other things, permit an LEA or consortium of LEAs to use its Title IV, Part A funds to best meet its needs without regard to content-area spending requirements, spending limits on technology infrastructure, or completing a needs assessment.

Given the numerous challenges that states and LEAs continue to face in this challenging time, ED invited states to request a similar waiver for the 2020-2021 school year and FY 2020 Title IV, Part A funds. Prior to submitting this request, the CDE is required to provide the public and interested LEAs notice and a reasonable opportunity to comment in the manner in which the State educational agency (SEA) customarily provides similar notice and opportunity to comment to the public.

The CDE will hold a public comment period for all stakeholders and LEAs through January 5, 2021. Any comments or questions should be e-mailed to ESSA@cde.ca.gov.

A copy of the letter from ED inviting states to apply for this waiver and the waiver template is posted on CDE’s Every Student Succeeds Act Coronavirus (COVID-19) federal funding flexibility webpage at https://www.cde.ca.gov/re/es/covid19fundflex.asp.