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SDLA Compliance Resource

Use Optional Summer Pre-Enrollment Initial ELPAC Carefully

A voluntary early-testing pathway that may reduce fall delays without converting anticipated enrollment into a confirmed enrollment record.

  • ELPAC
  • English Learners
Date(s)Up to 60 calendar days before first enrollment, but never before July 1 of the school year
Applies toLEAs choosing to test an eligible pupil before the pupil’s first California public-school enrollment

In Plain Language: An LEA may use the state pre-enrollment process during the permitted period when enrollment is reasonably expected, parent notice is complete, and the required CALPADS/TOMS workflow is followed.

Why this matters

Early results can support day-one placement and services, but an improper enrollment record, duplicate identity, cancelled enrollment, or uncommunicated result can damage statewide data.

Primary ownership

Primary owner: LEA ELPAC coordinator. Handoff partners: enrollment, CALPADS, examiner, EL program, family, and the school expected to receive the pupil.

From expected enrollment to a reconciled pre-enrollment ELPAC: the SDLA ITO workflow

Early testing is allowed only when enrollment is reasonably expected, and the result is protected until the pupil actually enrolls. This SDLA ITO (Input, Transformation, Output) graphic shows how the expected enrollment, Home Language Survey eligibility, and the pre-enrollment procedure become the enrollment basis, the parent notice, the authorized records, and the reconciliation at enrollment.

SDLA ITO: eleven steps from the expected enrollment, Home Language Survey eligibility, and the pre-enrollment procedure, through eligibility checks, notice and permissions, authorized records, testing, and reconciliation, to the enrollment basis, the parent notice, the authorized records, and the reconciliation at enrollment.
Read down each column, then move to the next: Input identifies what to collect; Transformation covers eligibility checks, notice and permissions, authorized records, testing, and reconciliation; Output covers the enrollment basis, the parent notice, the authorized records, and the reconciliation at enrollment. Test up to 60 days before first enrollment, but never before July 1.

Open the full-size workflow graphic

Operational workflow

  1. Confirm likely first-time California enrollment, HLS eligibility, expected date, and absence of prior ELAS.
  2. Obtain the information/permissions required by the current pre-enrollment procedure and give parent notice.
  3. Create only the authorized CALPADS pre-enrollment records and confirm TOMS registration.
  4. Administer and score with trained staff; protect the result pending actual enrollment.
  5. At enrollment, reconcile identity, date, ELAS, result, notification, placement, and services—or follow CDE correction instructions if enrollment changes.

Implementation pathway

Expected enrollment
Eligibility check
Authorized pre-enrollment data
Test
Enroll and reconcile—or correct

Evidence to retain

  • Expected-enrollment basis/date
  • Prior-status search
  • Parent notice
  • Authorized CALPADS/TOMS record
  • Result and enrollment reconciliation

Official guidance and help

Source review completed August 30, 2026. Verify current federal and California requirements, CDE and ELPAC manuals, local policy, pupil records, and live CALPADS/TOMS status before acting.