A description of the poverty and school eligibility criteria that will be used to select attendance areas for schools eligible for funding through Title I, Part A and school eligibility for grant opportunities through Title II, Part D.
LEA Narrative Description 11:
The Savannah-Chatham County Public School District uses the percentage of students who qualify for free/reduced meals (FRM) as the poverty criteria to determine if schools are eligible for Title I services and to determine rank order schools for funding. Schools with 75% or higher free/reduced meal status are addressed first in rank order. Then remaining schools are ranked using grade span grouping to determine eligibility for service. Based on the free and reduced lunch data from the October, 2014 report the system is comprised of 38,123 (Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade) students of which 23,032 are served free lunch and 2,562 are served reduced price lunch. This translates to a 67.14% free and reduced lunch status, and 27 out of 53 schools were at or above the 75% FRM benchmark. However, the system serves 32 school wide Title I schools of which 20 are elementary ranging in free and reduced lunch percentages from 98.05% to 62.05%, 2 are K-8 schools with percentages from 91.78 to 81.60, 6 middle schools with percentages ranging from 94.94 to 67.86, and 4 high schools ranging in poverty percentages from 87.14 to 76.89, 6 private schools in a targeted assistance model, 1 targeted assistance charter school, and Coastal Harbor Treatment Center.
The School Nutrition programs served 2,923,330 breakfasts, an average of 16,177 per day in the 2015 school year. An average of 22,617 lunches was served daily for a total of 4,125,659. The district goal for lunch participation is 70%, which would be and average 26,686 students choosing a school lunch each day. Also, since all students are served breakfast at no cost, many students are not taking advantage of the program. The school nutrition program is not part of the district’s general fund and receives 84% of funding from federal reimbursement of meals served, 3.2% in USDA foods, 8.6% from local meal sales, and 2.2% from the Georgia Department of Education.
Is Plan Descriptor Revised?
12. Title I, Part A; Title I, Part C; Title IV
A description of how teachers, in consultation with parents, administrators, and pupil services personnel, will identify the eligible students most in need of services in Title I targeted assistance schools.
LEA Narrative Description 12:
For the 2014-2015 school year, one charter school: (Savannah Classical Academy), seven private schools: (Ash Tree, Grace Ashtin, Notre Dame Academy, Ramah Junior Academy, St. Frances Cabrini, , Memorial Day School, and Bethesda Day School) and Coastal Harbor Treatment Center served in the Targeted Assistance model. In the coming school year (2015-2016), Savannah Classical Academy, six private schools: (Ash Tree, Bethesda Day School, Grace Ashtin, Memorial Day School, Ramah Junior Academy, and St. John Academy) and Coastal Harbor Treatment Center will continue to be a Title I Targeted Assistance school as well as Savannah Classical Academy. As a general rule, teachers, in consultation with parents, administrators and other support personnel, will use multiple selection criteria to identify and rank eligible students most in need of services in our Title I Targeted Assistance school. These criteria include the following:
To be eligible for Title I services, students must meet the requirements in 1115(b) of Title I, which requires the LEA to use multiple, educationally related, objective criteria in selecting students to participate in the Title I program.
The principal and targeted assisted committee members will collect and disaggregate multiple sources of data (quantitative and qualitative) to identify the grade levels and content areas to target. The data will be used to determine areas of priorities and identify students most in need. A priority list which ranks core content areas and grade levels from the highest to lowest needs will be developed. This list will be used to determine the core content area and grade level to serve.
The Title I Program Manager works with each school’s principal to determine the criteria for Title I student selection. Two or more of the following data is used as appropriate by the grade level and content area that is being served, to determine eligibility: ITBS, Terra Nova, Stanford 10, SRI, Georgia High School Graduation Test and Georgia Writing Tests, Grades K-2—DIBELS, Teacher Recommendation, Parent Recommendation and Student Retention. When the GMAS scores are made available (October, 2015), the data will be used as additional data points for consideration. After the data has been collected, students are ranked in priority order according to greatest need for services using a point value. A ranking score is required for all students listed.
The principal works with Title I Program Manager to determine the point value for selected data. For example:
Georgia Milestones Assessment System (GMAS)– point values will be determined as more information is made available
GHSGT – Passed = 0, Failed = 4 (to be replaced with the GMAS)
EOCT – Passed = 0, Failed = 4 (to be replaced with the GMAS)
Parent Recommendation = 4
Teacher Recommendation = 4
Student Retention = 4
A score is assigned to each student to indicate level of need. This information is used to determine the subject area and grade level of the identified students to be served. All students in highest ranks based on point value must be served before service is extended to any students in lower ranks regardless of grade levels.
The students are ranked by each content area served according to multiple, educationally related, objective selection. Students that are selected for Title I services are recorded on the student selection worksheet. The students’ names, grade levels, subject areas and criteria that are used are outlined on the worksheet. Students that are not served are placed on a waiting list.
The LEA will maintain a copy of the rank order charts and work closely with the school principal to ensure that students are not skipped without parental consent. Letters will be sent to parents notifying them that their child is eligible to receive Title I services. Parents will be given the opportunity to waive services if they do not want their child to receive Title I services. The Savannah-Chatham County School District and the school will maintain copies of the “Parent Waived Services Letter” to justify skipping students in rank order. Signed letters will serve as documentation for students to be skipped. Schools will not be allowed to skip students without parental consent. The Senior Director of Compensatory Programs, Title I Program Managers and the School’s Principal will be responsible for maintaining the documentation.
Is Plan Descriptor Revised?
13. All Programs
A general description of the instructional program in the following:
Title I school wide schools,
Schools for students living in local institutions for neglected or delinquent students, and
Schools for students receiving education in neglected and delinquent community day programs, if applicable.
LEA Narrative Description 13:
The purpose of a school wide Title I program is to improve the educational programs at the school for all students. The goal of the program is to assist students in becoming proficient at meeting state academic standards, especially those who are farthest removed from it. Each Title I school will use various resources to help participating students meet state performance standards. Instructional strategies are designed to provide an accelerated, high quality curriculum, which includes the Georgia Standards of Excellence/Georgia Performance Standards (GSE/GPS), system goals and objectives, and locally developed grade level standards. In Grades Pre-K through eight, the focus is in the academic areas of reading and mathematics; however, all academic subjects will be addressed.
Before & After-school Programs
Before/After-school tutorial classes are held regularly to assist students with homework assignments and to strengthen basic skills in reading and mathematics. Additionally, Instructional Extension Funds provide money for after-school tutorial and/or summer school at all schools in the district. Title I funds supplement these funds at Title I schools.
21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant (21st CCLC): The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System in partnership with the YMCA of Coastal Georgia has established sixteen 21st Century Community Learning Centers which serve students in 10Title I elementary, 2 K-8, 2 Title I middle schools, and 2 high schools. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers provides opportunities for academic enrichment and tutorial services to help students meet state and local performance standards in core academic subjects. Expanded learning opportunities are provided for students through the grant, such as daily after-school sessions, intercession-spring break, cultural activities and events, career connections, and engaging summer activities held for four weeks. The comprehensive program also offers opportunities to the families of the 21st CCLC students for literacy development of their students, Parent sessions, Saturday field trips, interactive activities, and other opportunities for related educational development. For the 2015-2016 school year, the following sites will be served by the 21st Century Community Learning grant:Rice Creek School, Shuman Elementary, Thunderbolt Elementary, White Bluff Elementary, DeRenne Middle, Hubert Middle, Groves High, Jenkins High, Butler Elementary, East Broad Street School (Elementary/Middle), Gadsden Elementary, Godley Station School, Gould Elementary, Haven Elementary, Hodge Elementary, Juliette Gordon Low Elementary, and Pooler Elementary.
Twilight for High School Students – credit recovery and credit enhancement
A summer reading and math session for Grades 2-5 is available for all elementary schools. The selected students are provided an opportunity to remediate and retake the Scholastic Reading Inventory which calculates a Lexile score that determines promotion/retention. Students also take the MAP assessment in Math. Students are assigned learning paths based on identified power standards and work on completing these paths during the summer sessions. Since class sizes are reduced during the summer session, teachers use the blended learning model to instruct and maximize their time with each student based on their individual needs. Funds are also provided to support the Grades 6-8 At-Risk Program at Title I middle schools, giving students the opportunity to recover credits lost during the school year. Additionally, credit recovery sessions are run in the summer for high school students. All initiatives operate during the summer months.
Support Personnel: The following personnel provide additional support at the Title I school-wide schools
Content Area Program Managers (Curriculum Specialists, Literacy Coaches, Mathematics Coaches, and Professional Learning Coaches) will assist the regular classroom teachers with instructional techniques and strategies focused on improving student achievement.
Instructional Specialists and Instructional Technology Coaches provide training, support and expertise in using a wide range of instructional strategies to enhance student engagement and understanding.
Classroom teachers to reduce class sizes (as determined by individual schools per their Title I allotment) is utilized as an overall school reform strategy. Class size reduction grade levels are determined based on academic trend data to address to low academic achievement as reflected on GMAS, SRI, and MAP. All teachers are provided with prescriptive PLCs based on walkthrough and student achievement data that correlate with key identified target areas concerning our most at-risk learner populations. Specific emphasis has been placed on effective differentiated instructional practices as well as questioning techniques that promote higher-order thinking skills. Additionally, the class size reduction model supports the blended learning model, which allows teachers to individualize instruction, intervene when learning problems are evident, to ultimately narrow the achievement gap among the traditionally disadvantaged students, particularly minorities and students with limited English proficiency. A reduction in class size will allow for teachers to deliver instruction tailored to students needs though meaningful formative assessments completed on a daily/weekly basis to ensure students learning targets are being met.
Title I funds are used in a supplementary manner to provide additional support services to identified students at Title I schools.
The Local Educational Agency provides funds for supplemental educational services to Neglected/Delinquent facilities. Title I funds are used to hire teachers, purchase academic materials and computers for student use and to provide professional development for the teachers. The teachers work after school with students at each facility providing instruction to ensure these students have every opportunity for academic success. Supplemental services are provided in the evenings, after the regular school day. Title I teachers will provide supplemental services at three identified sites: Greenbriar Children’s Center, Park Place Outreach, and Coastal Harbor Treatment Center. Extended year instruction (summer) is also provided to students in the areas of reading, language arts, and mathematics.
To ensure continuity of services in the most appropriate setting, the Local Educational Agency has a written process in place to ensure continued equity in class size for all students. Class sizes are comparable in all schools, regardless of the demographics of the students being served, thus increasing the opportunity for students to achieve success.
Is Plan Descriptor Revised?
14. Title I, Part A; IDEA; EHCY
A description of the services the LEA will provide homeless students who are eligible to receive services under applicable federal programs. The description should include the following:
An assessment of the educational and related needs of homeless students and youth;
A description of the services and programs for which assistance is sought to address the needs identified;
A description of policies and procedures, consistent with section 722(e)(3), that the LEA will implement to ensure that activities carried out by the agency will not isolate or stigmatize homeless students and youth.
LEA Narrative Description 14:
The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) is a part of the Chatham Savannah Authority for the Homeless (CSAH) Community Continuum of Care. CSAH coordinates all activities in Chatham County. Eighteen different organizations are direct certified homeless provider members of the authority and over fifty additional organizations provide indirect or partial support to the homeless.
The Homeless Liaison, School Social Workers, CSAH Outreach Worker and CSAH Case Managers work together to identify homeless students and youth and provide assistance with school enrollment and community referrals.
Posters, pamphlets, brochures, flyers and parent folders with information pertaining to the rights of homeless students and youth are provided to schools, community agencies, homeless shelters, parents and unaccompanied youth to promote awareness. The Homeless Liaison also attends monthly CSAH case conferences and board meetings to share updated information regarding the education of homeless students and youth.
On the school district’s Website, parents and students are also able to find information regarding the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act, contact information for the Homeless Liaison and school board policies related to homeless students and youth.
Listed below are the SCCPSS policies related to homeless students and youth.
Annually, the Homeless Liaison completes a needs assessment to identify the educational needs of homeless students and youth. The needs assessment is disseminated to parents, school personnel and community partners to gather the best data on how to address the needs of homeless students and youth. The data is then compiled and used to determine the services to be provided for the following school year, such as after-school programs, transportation, professional development and parent trainings.
With the assistance of each shelter’s staff, the Homeless Liaison coordinates after-school programs. After-school/tutorial services are provided in emergency shelters and transitional housing programs. Highly Qualified (HiQ) Teachers work with students at each of the sites for 2 hours per day, 3 days per week providing small group and one-on-one instruction to students in reading, mathematics, science and social studies.
Professional development is provided on an ongoing basis to ensure school and district personnel, as well as the community, are provided up-to-date information on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act to ensure compliance with the law.
Is Plan Descriptor Revised?
15. Title I, Part A; Title I, Part C; Title II, Part D; Title III; Title IV; IDEA
A description of the strategies the LEA will use to implement effective parental involvement in all programs. The description must include the following
How the LEA included state and local government representatives, representatives of schools to be served, parents, teachers, students, and relevant community-based organizations in the development of the Comprehensive Plan for Improving Student Academic Achievement.
How the LEA will provide the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement activities.
How the LEA will build school and parents capacity for strong parental involvement including how the LEA builds capacity to support a partnership among the school, parents, and community.
How the LEA will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies under NCLB with other community based programs such as Head Start, Reading First, Even Start, State operated preschool programs, etc.
How the LEA will conduct an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of parental involvement.
How the LEA will use data from the annual evaluation to design strategies for a more effective parental involvement policy.
How the LEA will involve parents in school wide activities.
LEA Narrative Description 15:
The LEA will include state and local government representatives, representatives of schools to be served, parents, teachers, students, and relevant community-based organizations in the development of the Comprehensive Plan for Improving Student Academic Achievement by:
The Comprehensive Plan for Improving Student Academic Achievement (CLIP) is annually shared and feedback is requested from department heads and interested personnel at the Board of Education Central Office in July.
The CLIP is shared with local school board members with a request for feedback.
Principals attend a Technical Assistance Meeting where the CLIP is shared and feedback is requested. The expectation is that school principals convey information from the CLIP that is relevant to their local School Council Members, PTA, teachers and students. Feedback is requested and relayed back to the central office for inclusion or amendments to the CLIP.
Four public community meetings are held at various times and located throughout the school district to discuss the elements of the CLIP and to see feedback. Flyers, press releases and website postings will be used to advertise these meetings.
The LEA will provide the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement activities by training parents on how to access their students’s grades by using Parent Connect—an online computer system that provides daily feedback on students’ academic achievement. Additional training on the special education process with emphasis on specific subjects such as inclusion, transition, early intervention, home to school communication, diploma options and vocational programs, will be given throughout the year. All full-time Parent Facilitators will complete a district sponsored orientation prior to beginning work in the school’s parent resource center. Each Parent Facilitator and/or Parent Contact will attend five professional development sessions during the school year to support effective parent involvement activities at the school site. Principals along with Parent Facilitators and/or Parent Contacts will attend three District Technical Assistance meeting per year for instructions on coordinating, supporting and building parent engagement capacities at their school sites. Additional assistance will be provided to principals and school personal on creating a strong home/school connection through posts on the intra-district Website; ACORN, emails.
The LEA will build school and parents capacity for strong parental involvement by working to build a partnership among the school, parents, and community.
Family Academic Strategy Time ( FAST) taking place three times per year will include district content area specialist and coaches, technology coaches, community representative and PTA personnel all coming together to build parent capacity. Three district parent workshops will take place at various locations to provide support to parents in the areas of Math and reading in grades K-8. Each school will host their own events and workshops throughout the year to build strong school/parent/community bonds. Parent University will be held three times per year to allow parents to seek a diploma from classes attended related to parenting and life skills.
Technical Assistance in the form of a workshop (including a parent panel) and handouts will be provided by the district to principals and Parent Facilitator/Contacts on the value of working with parents as partners. Each school will provide multiple trainings to staff members on working with parents as partners. Additionally, resources to support schools working with parents as partners will be emailed and posted on the intra-district website.
Each school will be provided with the GADOE Parent Handbook as a reference guide.
A combination of parent, community and LEA staff will work as a team in visiting schools to assess the level of Family Friendliness at sites requesting assistance. Each professional learning workshop provided for Parent Facilitators/Contacts throughout the year will have a component related to building school, community and parent partnerships.
Professional learning participants will receive an overview of parental involvement requirements as set forth in the Elementary & Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and have the opportunity to seek clarification and discuss issues of concerns as they relate to these requirements. Appropriate documentation requirements and use of Title I funding will be discussed. This course will also demonstrate practices and models for effective parent centers. Finally, participants will receive information on how to collaboratively plan exciting, family-friendly school events that are focused on increasing student achievement. Best practices for parental involvement will also be discussed.
As part of its parental involvement professional development training for staff, East Broad K-8 School participated in two training sessions for rollout of the Academic Parent Teacher Team (APTT) model in the 2014-2015 school year. East Broad K-8 School implemented the APTT model at their school in school year 2014-2015 with three parent meetings and one parent conference session. In May, 2015 two additional schools (Hodge Elementary and Brock Elementary) sent a core group to be trained to roll out APTT at their school for the 2015-2016 school year. Both Hodge Elementary and Brock Elementary are the new sites that will roll out APTT Year 1 for school year 2015-2016. East Broad K-8 School will implement Year 2 of APTT at their site.
Professional Learning Courses will also be offered through Parent University and participants will have the opportunity to receive PLC credits.
To provide guidance to schools that have Parent Resource Centers, quarterly meetings will convene at various site-based Parent Resources Centers. The Title I Parent Involvement Coordinator will provide training to sites on best practices and models for effective implementation of Parent Resource Centers.
To ensure that each Title I school increases involvement of parents in the school’s needs assessment process, all Title I schools are required to have a minimum of 2 parents participate in writing the school’s Title I plan. The LEA will provide the following templates to ensure that parents are involved in the planning process: Parent Letters of Invitation to Participate, Response Letters from Parents to Participate, minutes from Title I Meetings and a Sign-in Sheet verifying attendance and meeting dates. Title I schools are required to submit flyers or meeting invitations, agendas, sign in sheets (sign in sheet must clearly distinguish between parent, teacher, community member, etc.), copies of any materials distributed, parent feedback and meeting minutes.
The LEA’s Parent Involvement Policy is reviewed and revised in conjunction with parents of students attending Title I schools. A meeting notification is placed on the school district’s Website informing parents of the date, location and purpose of the meeting. In addition, a press release is sent to various media outlets, to include radio, television and newspapers.
Early childhood development, reading and math workshops will be held at schools and at other district locations to provide training for parents, enabling them to become full partners in the education of their children. Early Learning College is a birth – age five series of workshops being provided for parents as community collaboration which includes district participation at various sites. Title I Program Managers and resource personnel from Mathematics, Reading /Language Arts, Science, ESOL, Pre-K, and 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) will collaborate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement training to the extent that is feasible and appropriate for community agencies. The Department for Exceptional Students employs two part-time Family and Community Liaisons (parent mentors) who are available to work with individual parents or to provide training to groups of parents, administrators and/or teachers on topics of interest and concern. These parent mentors, who are parents of students with disabilities, are also part of the Babies Can’t Wait Interagency Council and will continue to work with its transition committee to provide training and information that will prepare parents of students with special needs transitioning into our public schools. Parent Advisory Council (PAC) members and parent mentors will collaborate with the Childcare Resource and Referral Agency to provide training on inclusion as needed for child care providers. District Family Academic Strategy Time (FAST) will offer invitations to agencies such as Even Start, Head Start, IDEA preschool, and other preschool programs in an effort to engage parents in academic learning strategies prior to students enrolling in school and to discuss the transition of participants in such programs to local elementary school programs. Elementary schools will offer invitations to families who attend local preschool programs to use the school Parent Resource Center and to attend academic workshops held throughout the school year to build strong relationships with parents prior to students beginning public school. Elementary, Middle, K-8 Schools, and High Schools will offer transition meetings for parents of students who are moving from PreK to K, 5th to 6th grades, 8th to 9th grade and 12th to college and career. The district will include school grade level transition meetings conducted by counselors at the FAST events held during the school year.
The LEA will conduct an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of parental involvement by each school conducting annual spring program evaluation of parents which is reviewed by the School-wide Plan Committee and other stakeholders. The district Title 1 Website page will continually be collecting survey data by school to inform and assist with an annual evaluation of parental involvement. Additionally, all schools conduct an annual parent and stakeholder Climate Survey to evaluate the effectiveness of all programs. Data will be collected by the district and schools through feedback and minutes from all Title 1 parent meetings and Parent Advisory focus groups. Additionally, each year the Georgia Department of Education Division for Special Education Services and Supports collects information from parents as to how schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for students with disabilities. This information is collected through Parent Satisfaction Surveys completed by a sample of parents of students with disabilities. Information from the surveys is reported in the state’s Annual Performance Report to the United States Department of Education.
Once the data has been collected both Title I and non-Title I schools will analyze the results of the surveys to create meaningful parent involvement policies both at the school and the district level. This will include meeting times, content, locations and how information is disseminated to parents and the community. Parents are given opportunities to give input in the decision of how each school spends their 1% parent set aside budget in the following ways: Each school conducts a Parent Forum in the spring of the year where parents are informed of the 1% parent set aside budget and asked for input; As part of the Annual Parent Evaluation Survey sent out by each school in the spring, parents are asked how they would like the 1% set aside used related to parental involvement actives to be allocated; Parents at each school receive a survey during the month of August explaining the projected 1% set aside budget for the upcoming school year and are asked to give additional input or suggestions.
Parents will be involved in school-wide activities through orientation meetings, conferences, workshops, handbooks, flyers, newsletters, fact sheets, media coverage, and mail merge. Parents will be provided with information in a language and format that is understandable to them. Parent mentors and Parent Advisory Council members will provide one-on-one training and meetings with parents on special education issues upon request. Parents of eligible private school students will also be informed of district parent activities to encourage attendance.
