Summer School Program for English Learners (ELs) in Kindergarten and First Grade

 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §89.1250, Required Summer School Programs, requires Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) to provide a summer school program for English learners who will be eligible for admission to kindergarten or first grade at the beginning of the next school year. LEAs required to offer a bilingual education or special language program during the 2018-2019 school year, including those with approved exceptions, must offer the summer school program. Funding has been appropriated, and reimbursements to LEAs will be processed in the fall of 2019 through the Grants Administration Division.

Reimbursement amounts will be based on teaching units with 18 students or a fraction thereof constituting a unit. Since the appropriation for this program is a fixed amount, it will be necessary to prorate unit allotments if enrollment exceeds projections. Based on 2018 program costs, it is suggested that LEAs plan for reimbursements of approximately $1,100 per unit. Business managers should be informed that the fund code is 289 and that payment to the LEA will be provided through direct deposit.

In accordance with 19 TAC §89.1250(3)(B), LEAs operating a two-semester system are required to offer the program for one-half day for eight weeks while school is recessed for the summer or for a total of 120 hours of instruction on a schedule established by the board of trustees or governing board. LEAs operating year-round schools are required to offer a program during intercessions for a total of 120 hours of instruction.

For students who have not attended school previously and need to be identified as English learners, 19 TAC §89.1225 requirements related to testing and classification of students must be followed. The  2018-2019 List of Approved Tests for Assessment of English Learners will need to be used for this year only for the identification process and can be found on the Bilingual/ESL webpage at http://tea.texas.gov/bilingual/esl/education under the Documents section.

Please note that data will be collected through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) for summer school 2019. “THE-BILINGUAL/ESL-SUMMER-SCHOOL-INDICATOR-CODE” is included in the Student Program Extension as documented in the 2018-2019 Texas Student Data System (TSDS) Data Standards to identify students participating in the Bilingual/ESL Summer School Program. This indicator code is collected in Submission 4 only, and the due date to TEA is August 29, 2019.

If you have any questions regarding requirements, please contact Barbara Kennedy, Director of English Learner Support, at (512) 463-9414. Questions regarding the PEIMS submission should be submitted through the TSDS Incident Management System (TIMS), which is available within the TSDS portal. Funding questions may be submitted to the TEA Help DESK.