001record to yours cuz awesome. What we always do folks is record this and you will find the recording exactly where you saw the registration link within about a week. So the first topic we wanted to talk to you about today, I did put a couple links in the agenda to sped Resource Central which is a website, a location that houses lots of information for special education directors across the state. And within that there's a year at a glance timeline. We really want some information and input from you all on some future topics. So, if you'll take that survey, there's a link or a QR code. You can scan it with your phone to be able to kind of just give us some information on what maybe top of mind topics you would like to see
002us present to you at the April webinar. Um, so utilize those as resources and provide us a little bit of feedback. So with respect to an agenda change that we have today, there is the high-cost fund program application information that's on the agenda. So Julia Ross and her team are going to record create a recording along with a slide deck and they're actually going to post it on the highost funds website so that it's a resource with all along with all the other resources around high-cost funds for you. Um so that should happen in the next few days. So what I can do is when we post the recording, we will give you a date of when that high-cost fund webinar and the link um to the recording will be posted so that you'll have
003that information. So that's the only change in the agenda and then there's another change a little bit later that Ed O'Neal will talk to you about. But back over to you Dana. >> Thanks Anna. Next up on our agenda we have Donna Holmes. She's going to give us some additional information about high weight data strategy and reporting announcements. >> Good afternoon. Uh we wanted to take the opportunity to remind everyone of some information that was shared in the January special education newsletter regarding our legacy SPIL application. It's going to be fully decommissioned and removed from teal effective March 1st. Uh the SP TEL applications no longer used to submit data for indicator 7 preschool outcomes. Indicator 11, timely initial evaluation or child find, uh indicator 12, early childhood transition, and indicator 13, uh secondary transition.
004These indicators are now collected through the new consolidated special education data system or speds summer submission in tsds. And for the current 2526 data collection, the speds uh submission opened this past August and the submission's going to be due on July 30th of this year. Um, if the ELEAS need any help with this new speds uh, summer submission, please reach out to your ESCTSDS champion and they'll be happy uh, to provide assistance. Uh, now at this time this uh, SVP application houses historical data only for indicator 7 and 13. This data includes u uh information from the 2020 through 2021 school year all the way up to the 2324 school year. And for indicators 11 and 12 that data is from the 201819 school year up to the 202021 school year. If uh eleas would
005like to archive any of this historical data, this must be done before March 1st. Uh you can generate reports using the reports tab on the applications main page. Uh in addition, indicators 7 and 13 include a print function on the campus admin screen and indicators 11 and 12 include a print function on the data entry screen. uh if after March 1st you need indicator data, it can be requested through a public information request. Now, we're also going to provide a final reminder about the SP applications decommission in the upcoming February uh special education newsletter. So, back to you Dana. >> Thank you, Donna. Next on our agenda, we have had an agenda change. We have Lori Merrill from special education monitoring review and support and she is going to be giving us an overview of
006the state performance plan and some CAP updates. We are seeing your screen Lori. All right. So yes, as Dana said, I'm just going to go over some updates as they relate to the clarification process and the CAP process related to the state performance plan indicators. So the first part is about the clarification process. So as you all know we collect um data on 16 state performance plan indicators um for eleas across the state. There are four indicators that are submitted in the summer submissions. That's 11 A, B, 12 and 13. And those are the indicators we will be discussing today. The first piece is a reminder of valid, timely, and reliable data. And that is to remind everyone that LEAs must submit valid, timely, and reliable data in that TSDS sped summer data submission for
00711A, B12, and 13 by 11:59 p.m. on July 30th of 2026. ELAs that do not submit data for an indicator are not eligible to participate in the clarification process for that indicator. ELAs that fail to submit data by the published deadline are not eligible for clarifications whether an extension is requested or not. Um there has been some conversations about extensions. So it's important to realize that the extension is just to allow us to get the data from the ELEAS. It does not allow us to extend the timeline. The timeline is July 30th, 2026. ELE's that submit data by the deadline but later request and utilize an extension to correct and resubmit after the deadline are considered to have submitted untimely data. Such submissions do not meet the timely data requirement are inel and are ineligible
008for clarifications. If the LEA is unable to submit due to a TEA systems issue, the LEA must have a TIMS ticket and a TEA confirmation of the issue recorded prior to the submission deadline to be considered for participation and clarifications. This does not include issues originating from the LEA's internal data systems and or software. So, your thirdparty vendors um those are not TEA systems issues. This would have to be an issue with the TEA TSCS system. Um, we review this usually in um the summertime uh right before the submissions um are are posted and finalized, but we thought given some of the updates to the process um and requirements to participate, we would go ahead and get those out to eleas now. Um but this is typically information that you see in a TA TAA
009that goes out in July. Um, but the purpose of the SPI clarification process is to offer eleas meeting certain participation criteria the opportunity to submit clarifications containing evidence of pre-finding corrections for any of the indicators 11A, B, 12, and 13. Um, this process allows eleas an opportunity to evidence data entry errors and or to document the correction of any potential findings of non-compliance for those indicators utilizing the criteria uh spelled out in o in OEP 2301. This has to happen prior to the state issuing a finding of non-compliance. So there's two types of non-compliance findings that we issue. One's child specific and one's systemic. These changes to the clarification process will be captured in a TAA that is scheduled to go out this Thursday. We wanted to go ahead and get on the webinar ahead
010of time. Um provide additional details not found in the TAA, but the the overall participation requirements and and clarification process is is detailed in that TAA. So as we noted there is participation criteria for the clarification process um moving forward. This process is an optional process that the state offers to eleas who report less than 100%. Um to ensure that we are aligning with OIP and um with uh the the compliance process, we have set forth the following criteria. So the LEA must meet the TSDS sped summer submission deadline. They must report 95% or above on the indicator they're wishing to clarify or if they report less than 95% the rate of non-compliance is attributable to a single student. They must also be able to provide evidence that each child specific correction was completed prior
011to the start of the clarification process. We are marking the start of that process as the date that the notification to participate goes out to the eligible ELEAS. ELEAS who meet participation requirements and opt to participate in the 10 business day clarification process are not guaranteed pre-finding correction of non-compliance. So just participating doesn't mean you get cleared to 100%. You still have to demonstrate the child specific corrections and they have to be demonstrated that the actual correction in its entirety was completed. Um, LEAs should begin correcting non-compliance once it's identified regardless of eligibility to participate in the clarification process. Um, and again, just reiterating that participating in it does not automatically mean um a guarantee of pre-finding correction. So, we have many eleas who are currently in a corrective action plan for SP. So for
012eleas who are in that cap process, uh participation in the um clarification process looks a little bit different than the criteria just explained. So if an LEA is currently engaged in the SPI CAP process for one or more indicators at the time of the data submission, um they are eligible to participate in clarification for any indicator currently being monitored by that cap. The LEA still has to provide the evidence that each child specific correction was completed prior to the notification of participation in the clarification process. ELEA's engaged in a CAP who report non-compliance in an indicator not included in the current corrective action plan will need to meet the previous criteria explained on the on the previous slides. After TSDS sped summer submission closes, eligible eleas will receive an email with a link to indicate
013their participation in the clarification process. ELEAS that do not respond will be recorded as opting out and will receive a non-compliance notification at the conclusion of the process. Eleas that elect to participate will be contacted by their assigned TEA clarification reviewer with instructions on evidence submission requirements and due dates. Opting out. ELEAs eligible for the clarification process are not required to participate and may opt out. Those that opt out will receive a non-compliance notification. ELAs that participate in the CAP process in the prior year and choose to opt out will be designated as having uncorrected non-compliance. So, if you're currently in a corrective action plan, let's say for 11A, you report less than um 100% for um 11A uh and you opt out of participating in the clarification process, you will um you will be
014designated as having uncorrected non-compliance because your current cap will not be able to be closed based on um reporting non-compliance. Additional requirements related to uncorrected non-compliance will be communicated at the end of the clarification process. So when participating in the clarification process, there are two levels of documentation that an LEA would engage in with with our with our team. Uh for data entry discrepancies, um eleas's must be able to provide to us. SPI evidence of child specific correction in the verification workbook that we provide. Calendar for the prior and current school year, evidence of compliant data and any PES data related to absences and transfers that support maybe the use of a incorrect code um or a discrepancy in the data that was uploaded versus the data maintained by the LEA. Um for student level
015corrections or child specific corrections, the LEA will complete that SPI verification workbook. uh indicating every student listed on the TSDS uh report of as showing as non-compliant. Then they upload on any IEP documentation that shows those child specific corrections including the AR committee's decision related to the impact of non-compliance on the student's fate and if any need for compensatory services um for each student that was indicated on that TSDS report. Um, in addition, eleas will need to upload their operating procedures and policies related to each indicator. For pre-finding corrections, um, these may occur during that clarification process when the LEA has reported less than 100%. Um, but that, um, prior to TEA issuing a finding of non-compliance, we can verify that the LEA is correctly implementing the specific regulatory requirement. um has corrected each individual
016case of child specific non-compliance and has no existing corrective action under a TEA complaint or due process hearing decision for that child specific um instance of non-compliance. Once each of these requisites are met, then it will be considered a pre-finding correction. The SPI clarification period utilizes data submitted from 11 A, B, 12, and 13 to the TSDS summer sped submission, which is due on July 30th, 2026 by 11:59 p.m. A compliance target for each of those indicators is 100%. After the SP indicator data submission process, eleas that met the submission deadline for each indicator and meet the clarification participation requirements will have the opportunity to make corrections before findings of non-compliance are issued. Um again just to reiterate eleas that do not submit data for an indicator are not eligible to participate in the proc
017in the clarification process. ELAs that fail to submit data by the published deadline are not eligible even if an extension was requested. Eleas that submit data by the deadline but later request and utilize an extension to correct and resubmit after the deadline are considered to have submitted untimely data um which prevents them from participating in the clarifications process. And then again, make sure that if you are experiencing any issues in uploading uh your data um to TSDS. If it is related to a TEA systems issue that you get that TIMS tickets in, you communicate with TEA, get that confirmation of the issue recorded prior to the submission deadline to be considered for participation and clarifications if you meet the um participation requirements. Um compliance termination and non-compliance notifications. Um again it's optional to participate in
018clarification process and does not automatically guarantee a pre-finding correction status uh following data review there are two potential outcomes a pre-finding corrected or an issuance of non-compliance um for eleas with a current corrective action plan who are found to be non-compliant that non that finding of non-compliance will result in uncorrected non-compliance all right so that was everything on the SCP clarifications process um to update you on that um this is just an overview of the SPI CAP and the required steps and the required documentation necessary to close out each element of the corrective action plan as it relates to SP. So on this screen, I'm not going to read each square, but this just kind of provides an overview of when a non-compliance is identified as you work through the process that gets you to
019the corrective action plan and then ensuring that that completion of non-compliance occurs as soon as possible but not greater than 365 days from the notification of non-compliance. and then what happens if it's not corrected within those required timelines. So um as I said there are five steps to the corrective action plan. The first one begins with that evidence of child specific correction. This is where you work with your reviewer to ensure that every instance of non-compliance listed on that TSDS report um is corrected including that AR committee's discussion of the impact of the non-compliance as well as if the FAPE was impacted um if there was need for compensatory services and what the decision decision and discussion of the art committee um resulted in. uh uh below on the screen are the items that would
020need to be submitted to demonstrate evidence of that child specific correction. So it's the first page of that correction art for SPI13. We would need to see all those transition areas inside the IEP corrected and then any deliberations or prior written notice that document the decision and the um determination of that impact on FAPE as well as a signature page that um based on your LEA's um processes and procedures. That could be an IEP or it may be an IEP amendment, but make sure you're following your LEA's procedures. Um, when it comes to evidence of policies and procedures, we're looking to ensure that a review has occurred and that that root cause that was determined for the non-compliance has been addressed in those revised policies and procedures. Evidence of training um is really as it
021reads. So making sure that not only have the required uh team members, staff, anybody involved in the process that could have an impact on that compliance um that they have not only received training and professional development as to the indicators expectations but that any revisions or expectations set forth in updated policies or procedures are also reviewed with the team in a timely manner. Evidence of self-monitoring. This is to ensure that student level corrections occur in real time and not once submission of data um occurs in the summer. So this is a very important step of the corrective action plan process in that um eleas will develop selfmonitoring systems. They will work with their TEA reviewer to ensure that those systems are effective and accurately capturing any instances of non-compliance or potential non-compliance um and that
022if non-compliance occurs that they are correcting those student level corrections in real time um and making sure that the impact of the non-compliance um is addressed and accounted for accurately. When it comes to the implementation activity related to systemic compliance um for this year and moving forward, the evidence of systemic compliance um will be you will be used will be using the TSDS sped summer submission to evidence that systemic compliance. So systemic compliance should show that the LEA is correctly implementing the specific regulatory requirements to better align with OP 2301. It clearly states that to demonstrate systemic compliance uh the state agency should be looking at either monitoring systems or data submission systems to prove that that systemic compliance is occurring which is why we will be utilizing that TSDS sped summer submission now that
023all the indicators are in one collection at one time. This is an easier process for us to do than the previous processes where you were eleas were submitting to us a list of students for us to randomly select or them randomly selecting folders and submitting to us. Um any systemic evidence submitted that contains non-compliance must be addressed through that child specific corrections. So following those five steps in that review of the systemic evidence uh tea will issue one of the following. So if in that summer TSDS bed summer submission um the LEA reports 100% compliance as long as all the other elements of the corrective action plan have been completed we will issue a notice of correction. Um if the LEA does not report 100% um we will issue an invitation to participate in clarification
024where they can prove any student level corrections that have been made prior to that start of the clarification process. Um, we will issue a notice of uncorrected non-compliance. Um, when an LEA is engaged in a corrective action plan, reports less than 100% for the indicators during the TSDS sped summer submissions, and the LEA either does not engage in the clarifications process or engages but does not demonstrate compliant child specific corrections or that the corrections were not completed prior to the start of the clarification process. Um, or the LEA does not uh complete the other remaining items of the corrective action plan. In some instances, we do have ELEAs who self-report non-compliance during the CAP process and during the data submission process. So, that is another area um or another way that an LEA could have
025a notice of uncorrected non-compliance issued. Um on this slide are several resources to help support uh mainly with the data submission and understanding each indicator and what is expected. Um as well as context at your ESC level as well as the agency level. Um for any questions that you may have as you review these slides or review this recording, feel free to reach out to review and support at the email address on your screen. If you have questions about the actual TSDS sped summer submission or need support with um the TSDS uh application, please be sure to reach out to your ESC TSDS uh champion. And I believe that's it. >> Thank you, Lori. Next on our agenda, we have Huck Spear with stakeholder engagement and systems and build supports. He's going to be giving
026us some updates on our PDSCS eligible student lists and the application process. Huck, I'll turn things over to you. We're seeing your screen. >> Hey all, uh, thank you Dana. >> Okay. Hi, I'm Huck Spear and I have served um, I'm the family engagement and outreach coordinator at the office of special populations and student supports at TEA. Uh for the past 5 years, one of my work streams has been the PDSEes grant. Um and so I'm here mostly today to to present to you the new method for answering the key question that leas need to be able to answer which is which of my students have already applied. Um we have a new method for answering that and I will go through that today. Uh I'll be speaking with you for about 15 minutes. But
027first, I want to thank ELEAs. We see it's uh the critical role that Eleas helping families access this program. When we um we you know, we hear from it all the time anecdotally, but also just in the raw data. When school's in session, applications are up and when school's not in session, they plummet. So, we know eleas are making are playing the biggest role in helping families to apply. So, thank you very much for that. Just here's a quick overview or a quick agenda. I'm going to give a quick overview of the program of the LEA requirements. These have not changed. These are just refreshers. I'll go over what you know the the PDSES student list, what we used to do, and then the main reason I'm here, which is the new method, and then
028um I'll show you quickly how to apply for the PDS LEA user role in Teal. and then I'll give you a quick spin through the actual portal. Um, it'll let you let you see what it looks like. Um, so just as a reminder, it's nothing really has changed, but the PDSEs stands for parent directed special education services, and this is a one-time $1,500 grant for the parents of eligible students. To be eligible, the student has to be enrolled in a Texas public school and um receiving special education services. The parents apply and when awarded their account, they they don't get actual money. They get access to money through an online account through the class wallet marketplace. Um and that they use that access to buy educational goods like textbooks and therapy or sorry curriculum or
029a lot of um technological devices or or services like therapy or tutoring. The program is um quite popular and so we've moved to having a an application window system. So, last year was our first year to have an application window. Um, this year the application that's coming up, it opens, it's all of April. So, it opens at 8:00 a.m. on April 1st, Central Standard Time, 8 a.m. and closes April 30th at 5:00 p.m. Um, that's when the windows come. That's when we're advertising. Um, so I threw that in there. What are the requirements for eleas to and basically the requirement is a notification requirement. Um, eleas are required according to Texas Administrative Code uh 102.6001 to um they shall notify families of the program and unless the school district or charter school has verified that
030a parent has already received or applied for a program grant, uh, LEA shall provide the following at the students ARD committee meeting. One, instructions and resources on accessing the online accounts, including the application window established by TEA. and then two, information about the types of goods and services that are available through the program grant. Both of those are fulfilled in a couple of ways, but we have um a program overview document on our outreach materials page. And then some eleas also like to use the customizable letter that's also on our outreach materials page and is linked here. Um I do want to just point out or slow down that that phrase that's bolded. unless the school district or charter school has verified that a parent has already received or applied for a program grant. That's
031really the main um purpose I'm I'm here today is to help you answer that question. How do you verify that that your student has applied for a grant? Um because it is a one-time only grant. And so if the family's already applied or already heard about it, the LEA does not have the responsibility to notify again. In fact, they should not because um the family might be frustrated if they're told to apply again and then they find out they're not eligible a second time. Um really because this program has been in place for several years and assuming um all eleas have been complying with this requirement really this is a requirement that's really focused on any students who are new to special education because theoretically you've already told all of the other students who have
032been in special education in previous years. Um so really this requirement um is is is really focusing on your students that are new to special education. Also I want to point out that um one of the questions we get a lot from eleas is do we have to hold a separate AR for just for this requirement and the answer is no. Um this is a requirement that is to be met just at the next natural AR meeting not a new separate you don't have to host a separate brand new new one just for this purpose. And then lastly, I'll mention that um because there is uh sometimes there is a wait wait wait waiting process for families and families find that they are on a wait list um with this program due to its popularity.
033Um some eleas have requested or asked, hey, do we still need to tell parents about the program if if if our other families who already applied are on a wait list? And the answer is yes. um eleas are still required to notify eligible families so that when the next application window opens um that family has that opportunity to apply. Okay. So how um how are you going to find out the answer to this crucial question of which of your students have applied? So in past years um move this over so it's out of the way a little bit. In past years, the director of special education at each uh received an emailed letter from TEA from me. Um that letter included a link to a secure Excel file. Um and that file contained according to
034PES the fall snapshot of PES all of the LEA's eligible students. Um and then there was a column in that file that showed the the application status of each of those students. Starting this spring today, um eleas's there's a new method. So eleas's can uh LEA representatives who need this access um can now apply for what's called uh the PDSES LEA user portal. And I'll show you that next. Um but using their portal access can search for individual students and they can see their application history in real time. They can also export a file of all students from um from your LEA who have applied. Um so this is a lot more flexible system. Um it gives LEAs ondemand access. Multiple users can request that access and gain that access to view the information and
035the data stays up to date throughout the year. It's not a single static file sent once per year by me. So um a lot better. However, I want to um outline one key difference between our old system and the new one, which is the old, like I mentioned, the old lists had all students who were eligible according to PES, and this new system will only provide you a list of the students who have applied um in your LEA. Um, and then you will need to like export the entire list and then use a process of comparing to your local rosters to determine by process of elimination which of those students are eligible but have not yet applied so that you know who to reach out to. Just really quickly, I'll spin through the application. U
036how do you get this PDSLA user role in Teal? So I think a lot of you probably are quite familiar with this but I will I will go through it. Um start by logging into teal of course and then go to my application accounts. Um from there you can choose request new account and you'll scroll down. There's of course lots and lots of different types of TL accounts. You'll find PDSEes and select add access. And then when you complete the request make sure there's several different roles that you can request. you're going to need to request the LEA user role. Um you none of the others will they will be rejected if you try um request the LEA user role. There's also a comments box and we re recommend that you state your position and
037why you need this access there. This is accessing um you know um student level data across your whole district. So, um, and another thing is, or one tip I'll say is that the approver of this is your your LEA superintendent. So, one thing that, um, might help expedite this is to send your superintendent a quick heads up so they know what's coming and, um, that might expedite your approval. Now, let's take a quick look at what when you do get access to your LEA PDS portal. um what it will look like. There's a lot of blank space here because we're going to have there's some automations coming. Like here's the first one. Um so this is a sort of a a screenshot of what it will look like. I've blurred out the names and the
038data for obvious reasons, but um one thing you're going to want to notice is in this yellow here is that there is an application window drop-down box. Now, um, right now there, like I said, there's every year there will be a different application window. Right now, the default setting should have them all checked. So, if you want to select all your students all time, all application windows, um, make sure that you select all those and it it will come um like the pre the setting that it's uh ready, ready to go is already there all checked. But if you uncheck one, then you might it will only show you the students for the application windows that are checked. So just heads up on that. There's a few different sort of use case scenarios I'll go
039through. One would be um in this green box like you can search for individual students right here using the UID or the student name fields. You type it into the field and it will search for your individual students. So, if you're say an AR coordinator and you're preparing for an AR and you're not sure if the student has applied or not and whether or not to give that student the program overview document I showed you, you can you can log in here and search for that student and and answer that question and then be better prepared for your AR meeting. Um, another use case scenario is just the e is the export button here that's in red. So again, if there are filters on all of these columns, but assuming you have all, you know,
040you you've selected all applications, you don't have any filtered out, and you click export, that will give you an Excel file um of all of those all of your students who have applied all time. Um, and so you can use that to compare against your local roster and um, configure a system to reach out in a more sort of in a in a mass um, letter sort of way about who which of your students' families still need to be outreached for this program. And the last thing I'll mention just all the blue the blue columns here. Um, these provide all the details you need. um application ID, application status, prioritization, funding status, district and campus information, key dates and so forth. Um one thing I'll mention is the application ID column. Um the and there's
041a prefix system. So the first two numbers indicate the year the application was submitted. And I also want to mention um some of them have a letter L also and that stands for legacy. that means that those are applications that were submitted um using the the old system or the old application. So their rows might have a slightly different look to them. Just heads up on that. also want to mention um one area I'm that may be confusing is that the um the students that appear on your list appear because when they submitted their application when their parents submitted their application that student was enrolled in in your LEA. Now sometimes students move from one LEA to another as we know and so let's say you have a student who um moved to your LEA
042you will not be able to see their applica that student's application status in your LEA user portal. So, um, it is possible that just because a student does not show up when you search for them, that student may, if they have moved to your LEA, may have an application already that has been submitted that you can't see. I wanted to take a minute to show you this slide on one of the key columns that you will be able to see, which is the status column. There are six statuses in our application uh system and I they're all listed here and they sort of describe what each means in case that's useful to you as you are if you are happening to be somebody who's logging in and and checking the status for a parent or
043looking into it. Um, and so this slide tells you the meaning of all the different statuses. When you first, if you were to log into your portal, right after the application window closes, you will see that all of the statuses just simply say submitted. But as you look throughout the throughout the summer, as we process application, those statuses will get updated to submitted, eligible, denied, in review, appeal, or cancelled. Um, another quick note about the eligible also the next the column next to it says status details. You will be able to see things like is that student eligible? Is they have they been funded yet or are they on the wait list? So that's a useful column to provide you a little more additional information about um the application status of your students. The last
044thing I wanted to show you um is just a quick side-by-side comparison of what the LEA user portal view looks like versus say the parent portal view from what from the parents who is applying from their point of view. So on the left side is the LEA user portal and this is view is really just for um approved school personnel. Again um approved by the superintendent. It allows eleas to look up students, view application history, but it's really just a view only. Um, on the right side is the parent portal, which is completely different. Well, it's not completed, but it's quite different because parents log in through their they log in and they can do things. They can update their contact information. They can add their students. They can submit applications and file appeals and
045check their application status. So um the parent portal view is a lot more interactive and the LEA user view uh although it does have you know student level data it is more of a view only uh portal and with that I will leave you um if you have any general questions um the grantee for this work is the or the wonderful team at region 10 our email address is pdeshelpre10.org or you can also call sped texts and those folks know uh how to direct your call accordingly. If you have teal issues I um I I recommend you look at at the the link on the screen and if with that I am done. I'll turn it back over to you Dana. >> Thanks Huck for that information. We're going to move into our next agenda
046topic which is over ESAS with Dr. Ed O'Neal. Dr. O'Neal I'll turn things over to you. >> Sure. I can share. All right. So, initially we were going to talk about um I was going to talk a little bit about like some updates related to SSLC's or uh supported living centers um that came out of the most recent legislation, but decided to instead uh re we'll we'll get to that information and we'll address it. Um but wanted to repurpose the time today to kind of give some updates around um ESA documentation for special education. talk, do some reminders, do some follow-ups on some things we found with Apex, provide some uh support related to what we're seeing um in regards to Apex. So, just let me pull up see this work. All right, >> you're
047sharing your screen. We are seeing your slide deck, but it's not in presentation mode just yet. There you go. >> Is it showing correctly now? Not yet. >> Let me try it again. >> There we go. You're set. >> Okay. So, um much of this will be reminders and um just updates from, you know, things we've covered before, existing guidance, materials like that. um some things are um slightly some things are new information and when I get to those I'll I'll highlight that these are things that we've learned or things that we've um addressed. So, what we'll talk through is just, you know, prioritization and funding. That's a reminder. Um, talk through when uploads are necessary. Um, just generally overview and up updates information around the Apex ESA application and submissions. Um, and then kind
048of review again when uh what how IEPs need to be used, what information needs to be included in them. Um, and just general uh support from there. So, again, um there are two processes. There is regarding documentation around students with disabilities or a student having a disability. Uh there is information that families can upload as part of their TEA application through Odyssey and the comproller. Uh that information is used for prioritization and prioritization alone. On the TEA website, you can families can look at what documentation meets those requirements. Those were those documents will be used by the comprollers's office to support prioritization in the event that they need to run a lottery. How to priorities prioritize different accounts. The information that's uploaded by parents and families as part of the prioritization process is not and
049will not be used to generate determinations around special education funding. That is a different process. That process involves tea. We are responsible for reporting to the comprollers's office whether students who apply are in in fact students with an identified disability and their instructional setting code or instructional uh access instruction excuse me instructional setting code. The instructional setting code is what determines funding. Um, TEA will, you know, we've set up an API to bounce information back and forth based on parent submitted applications. As we bounce information back to the comprollers's office, that will include confirmation that a child is a student with a disability and what instructional setting code they had. So, what that requires from us is evidence that the child has a disability. Um, that requires an an IEP that must be available to
050TEA. So we can send that information to the controllers's office. There are a few different instances how we get that information. Most of that information will come from our public education information management system or PES as we most often know it. Um the we are rolling back to the 2324 school year. So students that were enrolled and have an instructional setting code from the 23 24 school year, the 2425 school year or through uh the October snapshot from this current school year would be able we would the agency would pull that information from PES and be able to send that to the comproller. The other exception or the other pathway we'll talk I'll talk through a little bit and remind folks is we also built spun up the Apex ESA application platform where students that
051would not have information pulled from PES districts can load that information so we have it and can uh relay it to the comprollers's office after verification. So getting specifically into the Apex ESA, um there's been questions about the frequency with utilization. Um we do believe that most of the student information is coming from PES and will be coming from PES. Um as of noon today, there were over 500 submissions in the Apex ESA application. Um that is, you know, balancing that against, you know, there's, you know, thousands and thousands that have been um requested for the TEPA application. So again, um much of what we expect is going to be would be routed through uh PES. So when are when are districts and when are school systems expected to use the apex um ESA submission
052system? So the first driver is families. families notifying the school system or the district that they've applied for a TEA account and are seeking, you know, that through the in a private school setting and they're looking to have their information uploaded into Apex. Again, PES for students that were enrolled will get the instructional setting code for the 2324 school year, the 2425 school year or through October snapshot um to the extent possible. There are a few scenarios or these are the most common spaces we've found where that information may not be in PES. So if the child was identified initially or completed the child find process after October 2025, they would not be included in the October snapshot. If a child was newly identified during the 2020 2526 school year but withdrew from the school
053district prior to the octo October snapshot, they would have not have been included in that that cycle of data. um any instance where an IEP or an EFA document was created because the parent requested the document be created as part of a TEA program, that would need to go into Apex. And then if they if a child had an IEP in one of these prior school years but was not enrolled in a Texas public school system, that would also be an instance. So if two years ago a child was in a private school, they went through childf find, uh the district, you know, offered FAPE, you know, did all those things and created an IEP, but that child was never enrolled in a Texas public school or wasn't enrolled in that district, there would not
054be that capture in um instructional setting code from enrollment data because the child was not enrolled. When it comes to the submissions in Apex, there are three options that when we review them, there are basically three options that we have. TA can approve, deny or identify a submission as requiring clarification. So approval is and denial are the easiest. Clarification, I wanted to talk a little bit about clarification. When the when we when we mark a submission for clarification, the user that entered the data into the Apex ESA platform will get an a an automatically generated email from the application system that that submission was tagged as requiring clarifications in the system. there'll we add notes to that submission so that the district or the personnel that are managing that know exactly what we're what needs
055to be addressed for clarification. These are the three most common spaces that we've seen or places where we've seen the need to request for clarification. Um first the uploaded documentation doesn't match the data entered. So, somebody goes in and does the data entry, enters the student profile information, enters the IEP, the instructional setting code, the IEP date, and then uploads an IEP document, but those two documents don't match. So, the submission and the document don't match. Uh, we've seen um the disability code doesn't match. What's on the IEP and what's listed as the disability are not the same. The instructional setting is not the same. Even the dates may not be the same. um the date on the IEP document is not the date listed in the student uh entry of information. So that's a
056space where we will specify what needs to be adjusted, what is needs clarification. Uh the second is the IEP that is submitted or the date that is listed either one. Um that IEP was created prior to the 2324 school year. So prior to August 1st, 2023. um we're only going back those three school years. So if it's prior to that um that just needs to be clarified that there needs to be a more current IEP document uploaded. And then the third example is whatever document is loaded isn't an IEP or doesn't meet the requirements of of an EFA IEP. Uh we've seen um FIES uploaded, not IEPs. We've seen uh ISPs related to proportionate share and things like that uploaded. Those are not IEPs. Um, anything that doesn't meet the requirements, and I'll get to
057those in a few minutes, reminding folks of what those requirements are that needs to be uploaded. There is no specific time frame by which school districts have to address the clarifications. Our data will run regularly to the comproller on through March 17th when the TEA application closes. Um so districts have until March 17th to resolve any needed clarifications that are identified in that system. Um and that's that's our timeline. Another thing we have found is related to shared service arrangements. So districts that are in SSAs um and have a fiscal agent, you know, Apex was built first and foremost as as a as a tool um to do some fiscal management issues u related to other areas of special education. When we built the ESA component on top of that, some of those same design
058elements in the original framework transferred, one of them being the fiscal agent requirements. So in Apex ESA, even though a member district may be able to request and get an account for an LEA in the tool or the application, only the fiscal agents can submit student data for members of the SSA. If you're not in NSSA, don't worry about this. Um if you are and there's questions, I would encourage you to outreach your um ESC because we've had lots of conversations with ESC's and I know they're already uh supporting districts with this. um or you can outreach us at the end with some of the emails that that we have for com comp communication and we're happy to help you. But this is a very specific instance related to SSAs. Um EFA IEPs, you know,
059this is still going through rule, but um EFAs can be used for a child with a disability who's not enrolled in a public school um but has been determined eligible for special education. Um, these are only used as it relates to the the TEA process. They are not IDA or Individuals with Disabilities Act um, IEPs. There's a difference. But we only need one document. Um, if a child or if if you've already had an AR committee or the district has already created an idea IEP, that can be used um, in the Apex process. um if they were previously enrolled that information we will get out of PES um only in instances where you don't have that document that you need an you need to create a document you may want to look at doing an
060EFA IEP versus an IDEA IEP that's a local decision that you can make um but you don't need both um one or the other can be uploaded in those instances that something's required into Apex AE esa um these are the requirements for um what needs to go into uh that document. Um that is, you know, instead of an IEP or a traditional IDEIDA IEP. Um I won't go through these. This hasn't changed since um since November and since with the with everything that's come out. So um these are a process that you can follow instead of going through the entire um IDEIDA IEP if the intent of the document is for the support of a TEPA application um and at the request of families. I'm going to pause for a second. I know another big
061area we've got a lot of questions is around generation of um the UID and the UID process. Um working with folks that's that's not our office but working with folks um in our TSDS and PES to get some more information, get some more guidance, get some more clarity that we can push out to the field to help with that. And as soon as we have that information, we'll push it out both um through whatever means we can ESC's and others other venues to to help clarify that. Um but you know, getting to that as as quickly as possible. Um again, most of these students who have been evaluated in the last few years or have gone through the child find process in the last couple years should have a unique ID. um those students should
062have been reported as part of SP1 11 or 12 and that requires a unique ID. If they were ever enrolled in a public school in Texas, that would have required you unique ID. So the the total um population of students that wouldn't have a unique ID um in this circumstance um should be small, especially related to special education. Um, as far as important dates, as I mentioned before, and I I know it's been put out in a lot of different spaces. Um, the TEA application closes on March 17th, and that was set by the comprollers's office and is administered by their vendor, Odyssey. Um, we will run the Apex process through that same date. You know, we will pull based on March 17th, we'll pull our last data file and load that through the API
063to send to the comprollers's office to support them in making their funding decisions and everything else. That's the that is the last date that any clarifications can be, you know, processed for Apex ESA. Um, anything that is not complete or approved by March 17th will not be relayed in that data set. Um, it will likely be denied because it is incomplete or incorrect. So, um, as you're working through it and you get that clarification notification, if you have questions, please outreach, um, and let us know so we can support that so it can get done. Um, again, just through that March 17th is the deadline. Um, and you know, this is the what we're doing with the Apex ESA and and through PES, that is the data side to support um, the comprollers administration of
064the program. Parents still must apply for the TAPA um to actually secure or get into the lottery if there is a lottery for uh the ESA funds. Um there are two different processes. Um the resources are are remaining the same. This none of this hasn't been updated. Um you know this these are the same as before. Um, if you have kind of what I was mentioning before, if you have uh a submission in clarification and there's a question about why it's in clarification, um, feel free. You can either outright your ESA or excuse me, ESC, excuse me. Um, or the Apex at Apex-ESA email listed here. Um, and we're happy to help provide support and guidance on what may be um, outstanding as far as a question or or providing additional support for that clarification.
065Um, you know, if you're having trouble, you know, with any aspect of um, the Apex ESA platform, same thing. You can outreach us there. Um if you have questions in general um or if you have families that are struggling to outre you know make connections with their school district or or understand the process they can outreach both sped tech or the sped at tea.ex.gov. Um you know we will continue to update our FAQs and our guidance documents um as necessary to you know relay the information that we have um so that we can continue to support families through this process. Um, I know it's a it's a new process and it's all been moving very quickly. Um, so I know that was a lot of information. Hopefully much of it was review and and renewal
066of of information we've talked about before. um we haven't um we haven't generated new information um really beyond just kind of updates on the Apex ESA thing and and discovering the f the fact of what I mentioned about SSAs and then kind of just highlighting how the clarification process will go. Um I'll look really quick to see if there are any open questions that um that are >> Thank you Dr. O'Neal. While you're looking at those questions, I just wanted to remind everybody of a few things. When you register for these webinars on this website that you're seeing here on my screen for the February registration, we will be posting the recording. So, you should see that here within the next few days. We'll also post any additional information that we've shared through PowerPoints in
067this section here. So if you're looking for any of the content or any of the slides that were shared, that information will be posted there. Also, your ESC sped directors are a great source of support when it comes to accessing this information. We know that a lot of the topics that we spoke about today are going to need some extra support and some resources and we will continue to provide those to you through our various means of communication >> with that. >> Go ahead. >> Yeah. So, just to follow up, um, so based on a couple questions, I just want to do clarify. I know we've talked about this before. The TEA process and ESAs do not supplant or remove any requirements under IDEIDA. So, everything that exists under IDA, everything that existed under IDEIDA
068as far as requirements, February 1st, January 1st, that all still remains. So the rules in regarding proportionate share are still in effect. The rules regarding timelines for an evaluation for child find for the determination of initial eligibility all of that remains unchanged. Um this this local this statedriven process does not change that. So um evaluation timelines, eligibility determinations, proportionate share, all of that remains unchanged. Um that's that's yeah that stays the same. And then um there was a question clarifying if we have we only need an IEP that was valid within the last 3 years. So or you know information out of the PES that would demonstrate that same information. So um if you if the student was last enrolled in a Texas public school in the 2425 school year and was not enrolled in
069a public school in 2526 but in 2425 will be reported in PES as a student with a disability in an instructional setting code that is fine. If a child went through childf find in the 2425 school year and and they were enrolled in a private school and the school system went through childf find with that family and they found the child el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el eligible and did the initial IEP doesn't matter that that document was created in 2425. If that child subsequently never enrolled in a public school, we would need that information loaded into Apex um ESA platform so we could get it. But it doesn't need there doesn't need to be another IEP this school year for
070one that was done within the last two years. And all of our obl everything that we're talking about here falls to the local school districts. Um that's you know our eleas are the ones responsible for this because they're who conducted the evaluations. there who are responsible for child find and responsible for the provision of FAPE. So, thanks Dana for giving me a minute. >> Absolutely. Anything else from anybody else on our panel before we close things today? >> We appreciate you spending some time with us this afternoon talking through these various topics. Our team is always here to support. As I said earlier, please reach out with any questions, concerns you have. All of that information is available of how you can access us to get those questions answered through our website. And we look
071forward to seeing you on our April webinar. We will not have a March webinar due to spring breaks across the state being at various times. Also want to remind you that there's a link in that agenda where you can propose future webinar topics for us to be able to address for you all. Thanks for your time today.