Complying with the Attorney General's Model Policies for K–12 Schools and CALPADS Data Submission
Assembly Bill (AB) 699 (Chapter 493, Statutes of 2018) requires the Attorney General (AG), by April 1, 2018, to "publish model policies limiting assistance with immigration enforcement at public schools, to the fullest extent possible consistent with federal and state law, and ensuring that public schools remain safe and accessible to all California residents, regardless of immigration status." The bill further requires local educational agencies (LEAs) to adopt the model policies by July 1, 2018.
Pursuant to this legislation, the California Attorney General published the document "Promoting a Safe and Secure Learning Environment for All: Guidance and Model Policies to Assist California's K–12 Schools in Responding to Immigration Issues." This document is posted on the Attorney General's website and can be found here: https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/bcj/school-guidance-model-k12.pdf
Section 1 of this document provides model policies for gathering and handling student and family information and addresses the collection of certain student data currently collected in CALPADS. Specifically, this section states:
"While agencies may be required to collect and provide information related to a student's national origin (i.e., information regarding a student's birthplace, entry date into the United States, date of first enrollment in a U.S. school, or departure from the United States after entry) to satisfy certain federal reporting requirements for special programs, to avoid deterring initial school enrollment of immigrants or their children, agencies should collect this information separately from the school enrollment process."
The policy does not prohibit the collection of these data; rather, it states that these data should be collected "separately from the school enrollment process." The CDE recognizes that LEAs typically collect and input these data into their local student information systems (SIS) during the school enrollment or registration process, and that these data are required to be submitted to CALPADS on the Student Enrollment (SENR) and Student Information (SINF) files. While the CDE understands that it may be more difficult to collect these data outside of the enrollment/registration process, it is important that LEAs continue to collect and submit these data to CALPADS for the following reasons:
- Students' birth country generates federal Title III Immigrant Education funding for California overall, and determines the allocation of funding to specific LEAs.
- Students' initial U.S. school enrollment date in a K–12 school is used to determine whether a student needs to be tested with the Smarter Balanced assessments and whether an English Learner's assessment results should be included in a school's academic accountability metric.
- The initial U.S. school enrollment date is also used to measure the length of time students have been English Learners (EL) to determine which (EL) students are Long-Term English Learners (LTEL) or students "At-Risk" of becoming LTEL.
To facilitate compliance with the AG's model policies, the CDE provides the following guidance for how to submit these data:
How These Data Are Collected in CALPADSCALPADS currently collects the following data:
- CALPADS requires the population of Field 1.21 – Student Birth County Code on the SENR because it is used as part of the matching algorithm.
- CALPADS requires the population of Field 2.2 – Student Birth Country Code on the SINF where the LEA can update the student birth country code initially provided on the SENR.
- CALPADS requires population of Field 2.36 – Student Initial US School Enrollment Date K–12 on the SINF for students in grades K–12 who are English Learners (EL). (This is validated via the Fall 1 submission during the certification process by CVR CERT113 – Missing Student Initial US School Enrollment Date.)
- CALPADS requires population of Field 2.37 – Enrolled in US School less than Three Cumulative Years Indicator ("yes" or "no") on the SINF for students whose birth country is not equal to U.S. or Puerto Rico. (This is validated by IVR/SINF0061 – Missing Enrolled in US School less than Three Cumulative Years Indicator.)
Student Birth Country: LEAs are required to populate the Student Birth Country field on the SENR. If LEAs do not know a student's birth country at the time of registration or enrollment, LEAs may populate the SENR with Unknown (UU). (See note below.)
Collecting and submitting accurate birth country data, however, is important for LEAs with immigrant students because it generates additional funding that supports services that benefit these students. Federal Title III Immigrant Education funding is determined based on the count of immigrant students. The fields used to determine immigrant counts are birth country and whether the student was enrolled in a U.S. school for less than three cumulative years. Population of Field 2.37 – Enrolled in US School less than Three Cumulative Years Indicator is required for students whose birth country is not U.S. or Puerto Rico. Therefore, LEAs desiring to receive federal Title III Immigrant Education funding, must implement a process for collecting students' birth country and whether the student was enrolled in a U.S. school less than three cumulative years, following the registration/enrollment process. LEAs might consider collecting these data by including a form in the back-to-school packet that includes an explanation that the data are used to generate additional funding for the LEA. Once an updated birth country is collected, the LEA may update the Student Birth Country field using the SINF. Since certified data from the Fall 1 submission are used for immigrant counts, whatever process the LEA implements should occur in the fall, prior to the end of the Fall 1 submission.
NOTE: Currently the SINF will require population of Field 2.37 – Enrolled in US School less than Three Cumulative Years Indicator for a birth country of "Unknown" (UU). The input validation rule (IVR) that checks for this will be modified to not trigger when the birth country is UU. The modification to the IVR will occur as part of the next CALPADS release (Release 15 - 03.12.19). Until that change is made, LEAs may populate birth country with U.S. if the birth country is not known.
Student Initial US School Enrollment Date: LEAs have typically collected the Student Initial U.S. School Enrollment Date during the enrollment process. When submitting these data to CALPADS, LEAs have typically submitted the SENR, followed by the SINF which includes population of this field. Population of this field, however, is not initially required on the SINF; currently this field is only required during the Fall 1 certification process for students whose English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) is English Learner (EL). It should be noted, however, that LEAs will also be required to populate this field for EL students during the End-of-Year 3 certification process beginning in 2019.
It is important for LEAs to collect EL students' initial U.S. school enrollment date because it is a factor in developing the academic accountability metrics for the California School Dashboard, and to determine which EL students are long-term English Learners (LTEL) or "At-Risk" of becoming LTEL as required by statute. LEAs may consider collecting these data either on a form included in the back-to-school packet, or through a letter sent to parents when students' are identified as English learners.
Questions: CALPADS/CBEDS/CDS Operations Office |
Last Reviewed: Wednesday, March 6, 2019