Dear Select County and District Superintendents:

2023–24 Title III Immigrant Student Program Subgrant:
Private School Participation

Under Title III, Part A, Section 6824(d)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the California Department of Education (CDE) is required to set aside funds to provide subgrant awards to local educational agencies (LEAs) that meet eligibility requirements for participation in the Title III Immigrant Student Program Subgrant. You are receiving this letter because your LEA is eligible to apply for the Title III Immigrant Student Program Subgrant. Also, one or more nonprofit private schools within the geographic jurisdiction of your LEA is eligible to request participation. By participating, the private school receives products and services from your LEA for eligible immigrant students.

LEA eligibility for funding is determined when the LEA has five or more eligible immigrant students and has experienced one half of one percent (.5%) or greater growth in the enrollment of eligible immigrant students in 2022 as compared to the average of the eligible immigrant student enrollments in 2021 and 2020, two prior years. LEAs that meet these conditions are eligible to apply. LEAs can include private school Student National Origin Report counts to meet the Title III Immigrant Student Program eligibility, regardless of private school participation. To view the private schools that requested to participate, and the corresponding number of eligible immigrant students, please visit the CDE Request for Applications Title III Immigrant Student Program web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r28/imm23rfa.asp.

On an annual basis, LEAs must consult with private schools within their geographical jurisdiction to determine whether the private schools will participate in the Title III Immigrant Student Program as part of the ESSA programs available to them. To ensure timely and meaningful consultation, the LEA must consult with appropriate private school officials to address provision of Title III program equitable services. The LEA in consultation with the private school, together develop a Memorandum of Understanding to include at a minimum, a description of the equitable services (programs, services and/or products) to be provided, the estimated costs, and the dates to be provided. As with other federal programs, LEAs should begin the annual Title III consultation process with the private school officials early to design appropriate equitable services so that those services can begin at the beginning of the school year.

LEAs may not allocate Title III Immigrant Student Program Subgrant funds directly to private schools, but instead, must provide equitable services for use with eligible immigrant students enrolled in the private schools.

Federal guidance on meaningful consultation between private schools and LEAs can be found on the U.S. Department of Education, Non-Regulatory Guidance: Fiscal Changes and Equitable Services Requirements under the ESEA, as amended by ESSA web page at https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/essaguidance160477.pdf.

For Title III Immigrant Student Program notification of allocation, equitable services, proportional share calculations and guidance on meaningful consultation between private schools and LEAs, please visit the CDE Equitable Services Ombudsman web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/sw/t1/ombudsmaneqservices.asp.

Whether the private school accepts or declines to participate in the Title III Immigrant Student Program, documentation of the meaningful consultation, dated and signed by the private school official, must be kept on file at the local level and made available during a federal program monitoring review.

Pursuant to ESEA Title VIII, Section 8506(d), LEAs may not mandate, direct, or control the curriculum of a private school. LEAs are required under Title VIII uniform provisions to consult with the private school officials about how the Title III, Part A services provided to private schools will be assessed, and how the results of the assessment will be used to improve those services (ESEA Title VIII, Part F, Section 8501[c][1][D]), but may not impose additional requirements not authorized by federal law.

If you have any questions regarding the Title III Immigrant Student Program Subgrant, Private School Participation, please contact Geoffrey Ndirangu, Education Programs Consultant, Language Policy and Leadership Office, by phone at 916-323-5831 or by email at GNdirang@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

/s/

Alesha Moreno-Ramirez, Director
Multilingual Support Division

AMR:gn