Section 675.175  Timetable for Implementation of the Program

The requirements of this Section shall pertain to a district's initial enrollment period for SES in each school year.  Districts are strongly encouraged to undertake parental notification and student enrollment in advance of the timelines set forth in this Section.  No provision of this Section shall be construed to limit a district's ability to offer multiple enrollment periods during the course of a school year.  The deadline for each district's initial enrollment period shall be no later than 60 days after the first day of school or 60 days after the district's receipt of notification from ISBE as to its status, whichever occurs later.

a)         In any school year when the performance of a district's schools obligates the district to offer supplemental educational services, the district shall distribute to parents of eligible students a notification to this effect, accompanied by a selection form for use by the parents.  Each district's notification and selection form must be approved by the State Superintendent of Education annually to ensure that it includes the material required by Section 1116(e)(2)(A) of NCLB, is free of unrelated information, and, to the extent practicable, is written in language that will be understandable to parents.

1)         No later than three weeks prior to the date on which the district plans to distribute its notification to parents, each district shall submit to the State Superintendent either:

A)        the intended notification and the intended enrollment form, if separate; or

B)        an assurance that its approved notification and enrollment form from the previous year will not be changed other than with respect to dates or available providers.

2)         Within four weeks after receipt of a district's intended notification materials or assurance, the State Superintendent shall either approve the communication or specify areas of insufficiency that must be corrected before the notification can be released.

3)         This notification shall be distributed in such a way as to reach parents no later than two weeks prior to the close of the district's initial enrollment period, and shall inform parents regarding all the approved providers that will be serving the schools attended by their respective students.

4)         Concurrently with distribution of the notification to parents required under this subsection (a), each district shall post on its website:

A)        the number of students eligible for SES in each school year beginning with 2007-08;

B)        the number of students who participated in SES in each school year beginning with 2007-08, provided that a student is considered to have participated if the district paid a provider for any services performed in connection with that student;

C)        a list of the providers that are approved and have agreed to serve the district in the current school year; and

D)        a list of the locations where each provider will offer services during the current school year.

b)         Prior to negotiating contracts with districts, each provider shall submit to ISBE, in the form specified by the State Superintendent, good-faith estimates of its per-pupil district program costs, as specified in Section 675.240 of this Part and based in each case on the approximate number of students expected to enroll in the provider's program.  The State Superintendent shall make these estimates available to districts without delay.  As soon as reasonably practicable, but in no event later than 45 days after the deadline for a district's initial enrollment period, the district shall submit to each provider a district-approved list of students whose parents have selected that provider, a fully executed contract, and any other information or approvals the provider may need from the district in order to comply with the requirements of this Part.  The district may receive an extension of no more than 10 days' time by establishing to the satisfaction of the State Superintendent that the delay is due to circumstances beyond the district's control. 

c)         No later than 30 days after the district's delivery to the provider of a student list and fully executed contract and any other materials needed pursuant to subsection (b) of this Section, each school district shall verify that each provider with which the district has executed a contract has begun the provision of tutoring to the students whose families chose that provider.  If any provider has not begun to provide services, the provider may receive an extension of no more than 10 days' time by establishing to the satisfaction of the State Superintendent that the delay is due to circumstances that are beyond the provider's control and will be alleviated within 10 days.  Otherwise, at the end of the 30-day period, the district shall notify the parents of the affected students to this effect and offer the parents a one-week opportunity to choose another approved provider.  In any such instance, the district shall conclude any needed contractual revisions within one further week and ensure that the new provider begins serving each affected student no later than two weeks after receiving the applicable contract and the list of students.  The other provisions of this subsection (c) notwithstanding, a district that has collected indications of parents' second choices may assign students to the programs selected and notify parents that this has occurred.

d)         Section 1116(e)(3)(A) of NCLB requires consultation by a district with a student's parents and the student's provider to develop a statement of specific achievement goals for the student, a statement regarding how the student's progress will be measured, and a timetable for improving the student's academic achievement in the subjects tutored.  For any student with respect to whom this consultation has not occurred by the time the provision of tutoring is to begin pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section, the plans for the student shall stand as developed by the district and the provider, and the district shall maintain records demonstrating that reasonable efforts were made to consult with a parent, such as, but not limited to, telephone contact, e-mail, home visits, or contact at school events.

(Source:  Amended at 33 Ill. Reg. 8497, effective June 1, 2009)