ESEA/EWEG Training Video Script

SLIDE 1:  Title
(no script)

SLIDE 2:  Purpose
The purpose of this video is to familiarize you with the changes to the 2017–18 online consolidated application for grant funds under ESEA, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as a result of the reauthorization under ESSA, the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Much of the online application in EWEG, the Electronic Web-Enabled Grant system, remains the same. 

This video will highlight the changes you will see in the 2017-18 application. 

SLIDE 3:  Transferability Expanded
Under ESSA, transferability options have been expanded.  Previously, districts could only transfer funds from Title IIA to Title IA.  Now they may transfer funds from Title IIA and Title IVA into any other title in which they already have an allocation.

From Title IIA to Title IA, Title ID, Title III, Title III Immigrant, Title IVA and Title V.  And from the new Title IV to Title IA, Title ID, Title IIA, Title III, Title III Immigrant and Title V. This option appears on the Consolidated Allocations Tab, under Available for Transfer. Locate the row of the title from which the funds will be transferred (Title IIA or Title IV) and then the column for the title to which the funds will be transferred.  Enter the amount of the transfer in the box where the 'transfer from' row and 'transfer to' column intersect.

Previously, districts with Title III allocations under the $10,000 minimum either had to join a consortium or refuse the funds.  Now districts have a third option, transferring funds from Title IIA or Title IV to put them over the threshold.

SLIDE 4:  Nonpublic Affirmation of Consultation
Districts are required to consult with nonpublic schools that are eligible to receive ESEA services for their students. For Title I, Part A, the money follows the students and the district must identify and consult with all nonpublic schools that their resident students attend, regardless of location of the school.  For Title IIA, Title III, Title III Immigrant, and Title IVA, a list of eligible nonpublic schools within the district's geographic area appears in each title under Allocation Detail Nonpublic.  Districts must affirm that they consulted with each of these nonpublic schools and they must indicate if any of these schools have refused the grant-funded services.  In addition, the district must enter a brief description of the services to be provided to each school.

For all titles under ESSA, if a nonpublic school refuses funds, the allocation is redistributed equitably between the LEA and all participating nonpublic schools.    Previously, this applied only to Title IA and Title IIA, and the refused funds in the remaining titles went back to the state.

SLIDE 5:  Nonpublic Affirmation of Consultation – Uploads
The nonpublic affirmation of consultation and refusal information entered under each of the individual titles is summarized on this page under ESEA Consolidated. Previously, if a nonpublic school refused grant funded services, the district was required to upload a nonpublic refusal form into the grant application. This upload will now be done through Homeroom, not in the EWEG application.

In addition, a district is now required to upload in Homeroom an Affirmation of Consultation form for each nonpublic school that is accepting services.  This means that for each nonpublic school with which a district consults, it must upload at an Affirmation of Consultation form, a Refusal of Funds form, or both if a nonpublic is accepting services in one title, but refusing services in another.

SLIDE 6:  Special Conditions
This is a new tab under ESEA Consolidated. Districts will see information on this tab only if they have been contacted by the NJDOE about additional requirements for receiving the grant funds.  If applicable, the district will confirm on this tab that it agrees to the additional conditions. If there are no special conditions, the district will skip this tab.

SLIDE 7:  Unlocking the Application
Previously in EWEG, there were two locking functions and two ways to unlock the application.  One of these functions has been removed. The function that locked individual pages in the application has been removed as has the Page Review Status tab used to unlock individual pages.  The application will still lock globally after you run the Consistency Check successfully.  If you need to make additional changes before you submit the application, go to the Submit tab where you ran the Consistency Check and click Unlock Application.

SLIDE 8:  Title I, Part A Eligibility Step 1
Now we will move into changes in the individual titles.  In Title I, Part A, before you enter any budget information, you must complete the Eligibility section in order to determine which of your schools you will be serving and how much funding each will receive. Under ESSA, there are a number of changes in Eligibility.  The four previous steps are still there, plus a new Served Schools step has been added.  You must complete the steps in order from left to right.  If you go back and make a change in an earlier step, you must redo all the subsequent steps. We will show you the changes in each step.

In Step 1, enter the enrollment, low income and homeless counts as you have in the past.  If you have a middle or high school for which you do not have accurate low-income counts, you may choose to use the feeder method to calculate a low-income percentage for a receiving school based on the low-income percentages of the schools that feed into it.  Beginning in 2017-18, districts using the feeder method must provide additional information about which schools feed into a receiving school and in what proportion.  If you choose Feeder Method for one or more schools, follow the instructions for completing Steps 1b and 1c.  The results of the feeder calculation will appear in Step 1d.  It is important to note here that ESSA guidance requires an LEA to first inform its secondary schools of this option and obtain the approval of a majority of those schools before submitting an application using the feeder method.   If you are not using the feeder method, you will proceed directly from Step 1 to Step 2. 

Another change in Eligibility is that the option for LEA Discretion has been moved from Step 1 to the new Served Schools page.  You will hear more about this page later.

SLIDE 9:  Title I Part A Eligibility Step 2
Based on the information you entered in Step 1, you will see the calculated poverty percentages for each school attendance area in Step 2.  Schools with poverty percentages above 75% must be served with Title I funds.  New under ESSA, if a district has a high school with a poverty percentage between 50% and 75%, it may choose to "promote" that high school to "must serve as 75%" status.  Check boxes will appear next to eligible high schools.  Click in the box if you want to "promote" a high school to "must serve" status.  Then click Proceed to Ranking.

SLIDE 10:  Title I Part A Eligibility Step 3
The ranking methods listed on this page remain the same, but they are now in a different numerical order:

• Option 1 is now Single attendance area (previously option 3)
• Option 2 is now Total enrollment less than 1,000 (previously option 4)
• Option 3 is now At or above district poverty level (previously option 1)
• Option 4 is now Areas with poverty greater than 35% (previously option 2)
• And Option 5 continues to be Grade Span Eligibility

Please read the options carefully before making your selection.  Then click Rank.

SLIDE 11: Title I, Part A, Eligibility Served Schools
This is a new required page between steps 3 and 4.

ESSA specifies that nonpublic schools in served attendance areas must receive their equitable share of Title I grant funds before any reserves are set aside.  The Served Schools page was added so that the district can determine the nonpublic school equitable share percentage before setting aside reserves in Step 4.

Depending on the configuration of your district, the poverty percentages, and selections you made in Steps 1, 2, and 3, your schools will appear on this page grouped into one or more of the following five sections:

• SECTION 1: SCHOOLS ABOVE 75% LOW INCOME – All of these schools must be served.
• SECTION 2: HIGH SCHOOLS PROMOTED TO MUST SERVE AS 75% - All of these schools must be served.
• SECTION 3: OTHER ELIGIBLE SCHOOLS – These schools are eligible but you may choose to skip or not fund them.  If you do not want to fund one of these schools, click the radio box under Skip/Do Not Fund. A school is considered skipped only if it is not served and a school with a lower ranking is served.  For these schools, you must complete the information on the Skipped Schools tab.
• SECTION 4: INELIGIBLE SCHOOLS AVAILABLE FOR LEA DISCRETION – These schools are ineligible based on the ranking method selected but may be served for one additional year if they were eligible and served in the previous year.  If you want to serve one of these schools, check the box under LEA discretion.
• SECTION 5: INELIGIBLE SCHOOLS – These schools are not eligible based on the ranking method.  They cannot be served with LEA discretion this year because in the previous year they were ineligible and they were not served or they were served with LEA Discretion.

Make your selections, if any, then click "Calculate" and "Save."  The Nonpublic Proportional Percentage will appear at the bottom of the page.

SLIDE 12:  Title I, Part A, Eligibility Step 4 (top)
The Title I nonpublic proportional percentage calculated on the previous page will carry over to the top of this page. 

The Reserves appear at the top of the page and are divided into two sections, required and optional.

The required reserves are calculated and prepopulated.  They can no longer be changed.

The LEA Parent and Family Engagement reserve is calculated at 1% for districts with Title 1 allocations of more than $500,000.

All homeless students in the LEA must receive Title I services. Schools that receive a Title IA allocation must provide services to homeless students from their allocation.  The homeless reserve is only for homeless students in schools that are not receiving Title IA allocations.  The reserve is calculated at $250 per student.

SLIDE 13:  Title I, Part A, Eligibility Step 4 (bottom)
Once you have entered any optional reserves, click Save Set Asides.  Then click Calculate Distribution Amount. The system will automatically default to distributing the amounts evenly to each of the schools being served by multiplying the per-pupil amount times the number of low income students in the school. The per-pupil amount for nonpublic students may be different from the per-pupil amount for public students because the nonpublic allocations are being calculated prior to the set-asides, and the public allocations are being calculated after the set-asides.

The school attendance areas will be displayed at the bottom of the page in the same eligibility groupings as they were on the Served Schools page.

If you want to distribute the public allocations manually and enter differing amounts, click the box on the left next to Input Distribution Amount. The Public Allocation fields will become enterable.  Keep in mind that if you selected ranking method 3 (at or above district poverty level), 4 (areas with poverty greater than or equal to 35%), or 5 (grade span eligibility) in Eligibility Step 3, the Per-Pupil Amounts must be either equal or descending order.

SLIDE 14:  Title II, Part A – Allowable Uses
Now we will move on to Title II, Part A.

Previously, each district received a minimum "hold harmless" amount of Title IIA funds.  Starting in the 2017-18 school year under ESSA, the amount a school or school district is eligible for each year will be based on both its overall student population and its population of students from families with incomes below the state poverty line.

Under NCLB, the nonpublic allocation in Title IIA was calculated as a percentage of the amount the district planned to spend for Professional Development, and it had to be at least the calculated "hold harmless" amount.  Now the nonpublic allocation is calculated as a percentage of the total Title IIA allocation with no minimum amount.  If a nonpublic refuses services, the allocation is split equitably between the district and all other participating nonpublic schools.

Previously on the Allowable Uses page, the district was required to enter amounts for Professional Development and/or Class Size Reduction.  An amount for Professional Development is no longer required.  If a district selects Reducing Class Size as an allowable use, they must enter an amount in the box that opens up.

The use of funds in Title IIA must be evidence-based and documented.  Beginning this year, the district is required to go to the District Comments tab and provide additional information regarding the evidence for the use of funds.

SLIDE 15:  Title II, Part A – District Comments
On the Title IIA district comments tab, districts must now enter information in the applicable boxes:

• Box 1 - General Comments are optional
• In Boxes 2 and/or 3, provide evidence supporting the use of funds for Professional Development and/or Class Size Reduction.
• Box 4 is required.  Describe how data and consultations will be used to improve decision-making.
• Box 5 is required.  Describe how the LEA will insure equitable access.

SLIDE 16:  Title IV – New Title
Title IV, Part A is new grant program established under ESSA (it is not the same as the previous Title IV under NCLB). It comprises three key programmatic areas:

• Well-rounded Educational Opportunities,
• Safe and Healthy Students, and
• Effective Use of Technology. 

Each LEA in New Jersey that accepted Title I, Part A funds in the previous year is eligible for a Title IV, Part A allocation this year. 

SLIDE 17:  Title IV– Overview
The amount of money an LEA receives in Title IV will impact how it must spend its funding:
If the LEA receives between $10,000 and $29,999, it may spend its funds on any allowable activities.
If the LEA receives $30,000 or more, it must conduct a needs assessment related to all three programmatic areas.  The district must also spend its funds accordingly:

• At least 20% on well-rounded education activities and programs;
• At least 20% on safe and healthy school activities and programs; and
• A portion on effective use of technology activities and programs.

SLIDE 18:  Resources/Contacts
There are many online resources to familiarize you with the ESEA grant program and the changes under ESSA.   If you have further questions about the grant programs, you may contact your County Education Specialist or the individual grant program offices.  If you have questions about completing your ESEA application online in EWEG, contact your designated grant specialist or the EWEG Help Desk.

SLIDE 19:  Thank You
Thank you for listening to this video about the 2017-18 ESEA application changes.  Please remember that there are resources to help you complete your application.