SIF Glossary and Instructions

School Information Form (SIF) Section A. Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) of Classified Staff

Glossary and instructions for reporting school full-time equivalent (FTE) of Classified Staff data.

Glossary

Classified Staff Employee

Classified staff are employees of a school, district, or county office of education who are in a position not requiring certification. Classified staff include paraprofessionals, office/clerical staff, as well as other classified staff, such as custodians, bus drivers, and business managers. For more information and examples of classified staff, please see definitions for each of the classifications below.

• Paraprofessionals
  Staff members who provide instructional support, including those who: (1) provide one-on-one tutoring if such tutoring is scheduled at a time when a student would not otherwise receive instruction from a teacher, (2) assist with classroom management, such as organizing instructional and other materials, (3) provide instructional assistance in a computer laboratory, (4) conduct parental involvement activities, (5) provide support in a library or media center, (6) act as a translator, or (7) provide instructional support services under the direct supervision of a teacher. Common job titles include: teaching assistants, teacher aides, bilingual aides, pupil service aides, and library aides.
  
  Please note that paraprofessionals working in positions supported by Title I are subject to additional requirements pursuant to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). For more information on these requirements, please refer to the CDE Promoting Equitable Access to Teachers – Paraprofessional web page.

• Office/Clerical
  Staff members who provide support to administration, business services, data processing, or support of teaching and administrative duties of the office of principal or department chairpersons. Common job titles include: administrative assistants and secretaries.

• Other Classified
  Support staff not reported in instructional or student support and staff below the level of assistant, deputy, or associate superintendent. Common job titles include: health services staff, plant and equipment maintenance staff, custodians, food service staff, managers, after school staff, bus drivers, security, and noon duty supervisors.

Full Time

CBEDS coordinators shall refer to their county or district’s definition of full time when determining the full-time equivalent (FTE) of classified staff. If your county or district does not have a definition of full time, for CBEDS purposes, staff who work 30 hours or more per week shall be considered full time.

Racial/Ethnic Designation

The following racial and ethnic designations and definitions are aligned with the federal standards for collecting and reporting race and ethnicity categories.

American Indian or Alaska Native, Not of Hispanic Origin

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community attachment.

• Asian, Not of Hispanic Origin
  A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent (e.g., Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam).
• African American, Not of Hispanic Origin
  A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
• Filipino, Not of Hispanic Origin
  A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Philippine Islands.
• Hispanic or Latino of any race
  A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.
• Pacific Islander, Not of Hispanic Origin
  A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands (excludes the Philippine Islands).
• White, Not of Hispanic Origin
  A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East (e.g., England, Portugal, Egypt, and Iran).
• Two or More Races, Not of Hispanic Origin
  This designation shall be used to report aggregate data for staff with more than one race, or for staff who did not report an ethnicity or racial designation. This designation shall not be used for local collection of racial/ethnic data from individuals.

Instructions

Important: Single-school districts should report all classified staff on the school information form (SIF) only.

Full-Time Equivalent of Classified Staff

Report the full-time equivalent (FTE) of paraprofessional, office/clerical, and other classified staff positions assigned to a specific school by gender and racial/ethnic designation.

If a classified staff position is vacant and/or the regular staff member is on leave of absence on Information Day but will return on or prior to October 31, report the regular staff. If the regular classified staff will not return until after October 31, report the substitute instead.

When reporting classified staff, do not include:

• Adult education, Regional Occupational Center/Program (ROC/P), or children’s center/preschool classified staff.
• Teachers, administrators, or pupil services certificated staff.
• Employees of your district who work at another district or county office. The district where the employees are physically working should report the staff even if your district is reimbursed for services.
• Volunteer aides

Reporting Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)

When reporting FTE, first determine the FTE for each classified staff employee. Employees who work full-time should be counted as 1.00 FTE, and employees who work less than full-time should be counted by the percentage of time they work (e.g., a half-time position is .50 FTE, a three-fifths position is .60 FTE, etc.).

Calculating FTE

Take the number of hours the employee works each day (e.g., 5.75) and divide it by the number of full time hours (e.g., 8). The result is .71875. Since you are to report to two decimal places, the FTE would be .72.

Then total the FTEs for each type, gender, and racial/ethnic designation. For example, if your school has one full-time, female, American Indian paraprofessional (1.0 FTE) and one half-time, female, American Indian paraprofessional (.50 FTE), add the two FTEs together, and report the FTE for female, American Indian, paraprofessional as 1.50 FTE.

Reporting Staff Who Hold More than One Assignment

Classified staff who work in more than one position at the school should report the FTE for each position. For example, if a full-time employee serves half-time as a paraprofessional and half-time as an office/clerical, report the position as .50 FTE paraprofessional and .50 FTE office/clerical. Another example is if a full-time employee works .30 FTE as a secretary, .25 FTE as a bus driver, and .45 FTE as a teacher, report the position as .30 office/clerical employee, and .25 other classified staff. Since teachers are in certificated positions, which are not reported on CBEDS, the FTE in the teaching position should not be reported in CBEDS.

Reporting Staff Who Serve at More than One Site

Classified staff who serve at the county/district office and at a school should report the FTE on both the CDIF and the SIF. Therefore, if a full-time employee works half-time at the district and half-time at a school, the employee’s FTE is reported as .50 FTE on the CDIF and .50 FTE on the SIF. Another example is if a half-time employee works .25 FTE as a teacher at a school in the district and .25 FTE as a business manager at the district office, report the position on the CDIF as the .25 FTE other classified staff. Since teachers are in certificated positions, which are not reported in CBEDS, the FTE in the teaching position should not be reported in CBEDS.

Reporting Racial Ethnic Designations

• Report an employee who chooses not to report a racial ethnic designation in the “Two or More Races, not Hispanic” column.
• Report an employee who designates one or more races, as well as Hispanic in the “Hispanic or Latino of any race” column.

School Information Form (SIF) Section B. Kindergarten Program Types

Glossary and instructions for reporting Kindergarten Program Types staff data.

Glossary

Kindergarten Program

Kindergarten programs must be administered per California Education Code (EC) Sections 48000, 46111, 46118, and 8973.

Transitional Kindergarten (TK) Program

The first year of a two-year kindergarten program that uses a modified kindergarten curriculum that is age and developmentally appropriate. TK programs must be administered per EC Section 48000.

Full-Day

A full-day, or extended-day, kindergarten or TK program consists of a kindergarten school day that exceeds four hours, exclusive of recess, but does not exceed the length of the primary school day.

Part-Day

A part-day, or half-day, kindergarten or TK program consists of a kindergarten school day that offers up to four hours of instruction per day.

Instructions

Report the type of kindergarten and transitional kindergarten (TK) programs that the school offers.

• High schools, middle schools, or other schools in a district with no kindergarten or TK programs should report “None.”
• If you have kindergarten or TK students enrolled in your school but the students are sent to another school for kindergarten or TK services, report “None.” The school that provides the services should report the programs.
• When reporting the program length of independent study or homeschool programs, consider the instructional minutes that are equivalent to a classroom-based course.
• A kindergarten or TK school day with four hours or less is considered part-day, and more than four hours is considered full-day.

By statute, the maximum school day in kindergarten is four hours (EC Section 46111); however, schools that have adopted an early primary program (extended-day kindergarten) are allowed to exceed four hours (EC Section 8973). Pursuant to EC Section 37202(b), TK programs operated by a district may be of unequal lengths to any kindergarten programs operated by the same school site and/or district if an early primary program has been implemented. If an early primary program (EC Sections 8970-8974) has not been implemented, an approved State Board of Education (SBE) waiver must be on file.

Additional information on requesting a waiver from the SBE may be obtained from the following California Department of Education (CDE) web pages.

• Waivers web page
• Submit a Waiver Request web page

Additional information on kindergarten and TK programs may be obtained from the following CDE web pages.

• Kindergarten Frequently Asked Questions web page
• Transitional Kindergarten FAQs web page

School Information Form (SIF) Section C. Work Visa Applications (For charter schools only)

Glossary and instructions for reporting school Work Visa Applications data.

Glossary

H-1B Work Visa

Applies to employers seeking to hire nonimmigrant aliens as workers in specialty occupations or as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability. A specialty occupation is one that requires the application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.

The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the U.S.

Instructions

This section shall only be completed by charter schools.

Report the number of H-1B work visas applied for on behalf of potential charter school employees and the number of those visa applications that were granted.

The reporting period for work visa applications is the day after the previous information day through the current information day.

School Information Form (SIF) Section D. Educational Calendar

Glossary and instructions for reporting Educational Calendar data.

Glossary

Traditional Calendar

An educational calendar that is divided into nine months of instruction and three months of vacation during the summer.

Single-Track Year-Round Calendar

An educational calendar that has frequent and shorter vacation periods. The entire student body occupies the facility for on-track sessions and shares the same vacation schedules during off-track periods.

Multitrack Year-Round Calendar

An educational calendar divided into four to five tracks to increase the enrollment capacity of the facility. The four or five tracks rotate throughout the year depending on the year round calendar being used. At any one time, one track is on vacation, while the others are in session.

Instructions

Calendar Type

Report the type of calendar on which your school operates. If your school does not operate on a year-round calendar, only select “traditional” in this section. If the school operates both traditional and year-round calendars, select more than one type of calendar: Traditional and single-track, or traditional and multitrack.

• Do not report both single-track and multitrack for a single school site.
• Report the school start date (first day of school) and the end date (last day of school).
• Schools with a multitrack calendar should report the first day of school for the earliest track, and the last day of school for the latest track.

Start and End Dates

Report the school’s start date (first day of school) and end date (last day of school) for the 2024–25 school year.

If on a multi-track calendar, report the first day of school for the earliest track, and the last day of school for the latest track. For example, if Track A students are attending school from September 4, 2024 through May 13, 2025, and Track B students are attending school from November 2, 2024 through July 8, 2025, report the start date as 09/04/24 and the end date as 07/8/25.

School Information Form (SIF) Section E. Estimated Number of Teacher Hires (2025–26)

Glossary and instructions for reporting school Estimated Number of Teacher Hires data.

Instructions

This section is only to be completed by independently reporting charter schools.

Report the projected or estimated full-time equivalent (FTE) of new or vacated positions the charter school plans to fill in the 2025-26 school year. A vacated position occurs if a teacher is expected to retire, resign, transfer, or begin a leave of absence.

Include information about classroom teaching positions and specialist positions, including those funded by local, state, or federal monies.

When reporting estimated teacher hires, do not include:

• Teachers expected to remain with the school in a new specialization.
• Administrative, guidance, media, library, health service, or noncertificated positions in “other specializations.”