sagepolicy - school eligibility

school eligibility

The statutes (s. 118.43(2)(b)) provide that the school board of a district eligible to participate in the SAGE program may enter into a five-year achievement guarantee contract with the department on behalf of one school in the district as long as that school had an enrollment that was at least 30% low income in the previous school year and the board is not also receiving a Preschool through Grade 5 (P-5) grant for that school. The Milwaukee school district may contract for up to 10 schools.

The statutes (s. 118.43(2)(d)) also require that, in a school district with more than one eligible school, the school board must contract on behalf of the school with the largest number of low-income pupils in grades K-1.

For districts starting the SAGE program in 1998-99 schools will be defined as those separate educational units within each public school district named on the PI1290 fall enrollment report for the 1996-97 school year.

1. Changes in School Structure - The district may contract on behalf of a school that did not exist as a separate organizational unit on the 1996-97 fall public school enrollment report in circumstances such as the following:

An eligible public school that existed in 1996-97 is renamed or restructured (by modifying grade ranges or arrangements or adopting a new mission or curriculum focus, for example) and continues to operate in the building where it was located during the 1996-97 school year, with at least the grade range served by the SAGE program, and while maintaining a poverty rate of 30% or more.
The eligible public school moves to a new facility.
The district builds or acquires a new school facility or expands an existing facility into which are moved or consolidated one or more existing public schools, at least one of which was eligible for SAGE based on the 1996-97 poverty percentage, and the district will continue to have at least one school with a poverty rate of 50% or more and anticipates that the newly-consolidated school will have a poverty percentage of 30% or more.
The district closes an existing eligible school and opens a new school in the building where the existing school operated, the new school contains the grades eligible for the program, the district continues to have at least one school with a 50% poverty rate, and the district anticipates the newly-created school will have a poverty percentage of 30% or more.
The district converts an existing eligible public school to a charter school that will contain the grades eligible for the program, the district anticipates the charter school will have a poverty percentage of 30% or more, and the district agrees the charter school will comply with all the statutory requirements of the SAGE program.

In all cases, information for the school for which the district contracts must be included in the district's 1998-99 and subsequent fall enrollment reports submitted to the department. Districts will be asked to document any structural or major programmatic changes in eligible schools occurring between the year used to determine eligibility for the program and the end of the SAGE contract period.

2. Low-Income Enrollment Totals - For districts eligible to begin participation in SAGE in 1998-99 the department will use the information provided on form PI-1471-A to determine the low-income rate for eligible schools and apply that rate to the kindergarten and first-grade enrollment in those schools as reported for the 1996-97 school year in order to estimate the total number of low-income children in those grades. The department will consider a waiver of the requirement related to the schools with the largest number of low income K-1 pupils if a district wishes to contract on behalf of another school with fewer low-income children in these grades that the board determines to be a more appropriate location for the SAGE program. A school board requesting a waiver of this requirement must follow the waiver procedure under s. 118.38. The department has determined that this requirement does not apply to Milwaukee Public Schools.

3. Limitations Regarding P-5 Schools - The department will permit a school board to enter into an achievement guarantee contract starting in 1998-99 on behalf of a school for which it is receiving a P-5 grant in 1997-98 if the district, as part of the contract, removes that school from participation in the P-5 program for the duration of its participation in the SAGE program and files a revised P-5 grant application with the department. If P-5 funds are freed up by such an occurrence, the department will reopen the P-5 application process to all eligible districts.

4. Grade Range - The SAGE program is designed to operate in schools serving at least grades K-3, and the law directs districts with more than one eligible school to enroll the one with the largest number of low-income pupils in grades K-1. The department will consider granting a waiver to permit a district to enter into a contract on behalf of a school that does not have the complete grade range (K-3) anticipated by the SAGE program (a school with only grades K-2 or 1-5, for example) if such a school is the only one with 30% or more children in poverty, if none of the district's eligible schools has the full grade range, or if the district documents that such a school is the only appropriate location for the SAGE program.

5. Separate Locations - The SAGE program may exist in a school that is operated in more than one building or location if all the children in the grades covered by the program are reported on the DPI fall enrollment report (PI-1290) as enrolled in the school for which the SAGE contract has been developed.