Dear Select County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

Title III English Learner and Immigrant Student Program Subgrant Administration and Eligibility, Fiscal Year 2024–25

Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, Title III, Part A, the California Department of Education (CDE) provides formula subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to provide supplementary programs and services for English learner (EL) and immigrant students. This message is to inform LEAs of the expectations with regards to Title III EL and Immigrant Student Program participation and funding requirements.

Eligibility

Eligibility criteria for Title III EL and Immigrant Student Program participation are as follows:

English Learner Program

• An LEA that reported the enrollment of one or more EL students via the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) October 2023 data collection is eligible to apply for the Title III EL Student Program Subgrant. LEAs are eligible to receive EL funding directly if their preliminary entitlement is $10,000 or greater. If the preliminary allocation is under $10,000, the LEA may still be eligible for funds by applying as a member of a consortium via the Consortium Online Application in addition to the Consolidated Application and Reporting System (CARS) submission.

Immigrant Student Program

• An LEA that reported the enrollment of five or more eligible immigrant students via the CALPADS October 2023 data collection period, and that experienced an increase of one half of one percent (.5%) or greater in the enrollment of eligible immigrant students in the current year compared with the average of the two preceding fiscal years, is eligible to apply for the Title III Immigrant Student Program Subgrant. For fiscal year (FY) 2024–25, eligibility is calculated by averaging the previous two years of immigrant student numbers (FYs 2021–22 and 2022–23), and comparing this average to the third year (FY 2023–24). If there has been one half of one percent growth or more and there are five or more eligible immigrant students enrolled, the LEA is considered eligible for FY 2024–25 Immigrant funding. Please note that LEAs should add the nonprofit private school Student National Origin Report data to calculate and determine if the LEAs meet the one half of one percent growth requirement to qualify for funding, regardless of private school participation.

Title III eligibility determinations are calculated using the most current data collected and certified on CALPADS. For the FY 2024−25, the CDE will use 2023−24 CALPADS data collection, which took place on the first Wednesday of October 2023 (Census Day). The preliminary eligibility per pupil rate for the Title III EL Student Program is $130.25. The preliminary eligibility per pupil rate for the Title III Immigrant Student Program is $125.90.

The Schedule of the EL Preliminary Eligibility for FY 2024−25 is available on the CDE Request for Applications Title III English Learner Student Program Subgrant web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r28/el24rfa.asp. The Schedule of the Immigrant Preliminary Eligibility for FY 2024−25, is available on the CDE Request for Applications Title III Immigrant Student Program web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r28/imm24rfa.asp.

Please note that a consortium is not required for Title III Immigrant Student Program.

The FY 2024−25 preliminary eligibility schedules do not include any student data from nonprofit private schools because data was not yet available. The schedules will be revised after the CARS Spring release closes on June 30, 2024, to include private school student data.

Preliminary entitlements are fluid and may be revised at any time during the fiscal year application process, based on updated information from the U.S. Department of Education, CALPADS, the Pupil Estimates for New or Significantly Expanding Charters, the CARS, late applicants, and the availability of funds.

Consolidated Application and Reporting System

All eligible LEAs may apply annually on the CARS Application for Funding web page regardless of the allocation amount for the Title III EL and Immigrant Student Program Subgrants. Additionally, during the application process, all eligible LEAs are required to:

• Submit a projected budget on the CARS Title III budget page. The projected budget must be aligned with the plans mentioned below and address each required activity.
• Accept assurances to comply with the legal requirements related to state and/or federal programs, and as a condition of funding, must keep a copy of the assurances on file.

Information regarding the CARS application process is available on the CDE CARS web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/co/cars.asp.

Local Educational Agency Plan Requirement

All LEAs applying for ESSA funds must maintain an updated Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) Federal Addendum as the ESSA LEA Plan. LEAs applying for Title III subgrant funds for the first time must complete the LCAP Federal Addendum and submit it through the CDE LCAP Federal Addendum System at https://www2.cde.ca.gov/lcapfas for CDE review and approval. Each LEA and consortium receiving Title III funds for a subgrant year must annually review, monitor, and revise, as necessary, the LCAP Federal Addendum, which serves as the LEA Title III plan. Annual revisions to the LCAP Federal Addendum are maintained locally.

Special Considerations for Consortia

Additionally, LEAs that are designated as the lead of a consortia must annually update and maintain the Title III Federal Addendum Consortium Summary. The consortium lead summarizes information from district-operated programs and provides descriptions of how LEAs in the consortium are meeting or plan to meet each requirement. The Title III Federal Addendum Consortium Summary template can be accessed on the CDE Title III EL Student Program Subgrant Consortium Details web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ml/elconsortium.asp.

Federal Cash Management Data Collection

After the application process, direct funded and consortia lead LEAs must submit cash balances to the Cash Management Data Collections System (CMDC) during the reporting window, and continue to do so every quarter of the subgrant. LEAs must meet the payment threshold in order to receive a payment in the form of apportionment for a particular quarter. The apportionment will be equal to 25 percent of the LEA’s annual program allocation minus the cash balance it reported.

For more information about the CMDC, please visit the CDE Federal Cash Management web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/cm/.

For questions regarding the Title III EL or Immigrant Student Programs, please contact the following staff:

• For program requirements: Geoffrey Ndirangu, Education Programs Consultant, Language Policy and Leadership Office, by phone at 916-323-5831 or by email at Gndirang@cde.ca.gov.
• For fiscal requirements: Annie Abreu Park, Staff Services Analyst, Division Support Office, by phone at 916-319-9620 or by email at AAbreuPark@cde.ca.gov.
• For Title III fiscal allocation: Derrick Andrade, Education Fiscal Services Consultant, Categorical Allocations and Management Assistance Office, by phone at 916-327-5922 or by email at Dandrade@cde.ca.gov

Sincerely,

/s/

Alesha Moreno-Ramirez, Director
Multilingual Support Division

AMR:gn