Additional Programming

Blended Learning

Curriculum For Content Areas (Electronic Learning)

The Office of Teaching and Learning, in collaboration with the Acceleration division, plans to purchase and provide schools with resources to support instruction in various content areas. OTL will be providing principals a SY22-23 (FY23) OTL-Provided Resources document which outlines materials that were thoroughly reviewed and selected based on school implementation needs, quality, and alignment to the standards. Schools should budget for any other digital curriculum using their flexible dollars budget in collaboration with their content cluster instructional teams.

Budgeting & Procurement Guidance

Follow these guidelines to budget for Blended Learning Curriculum by budgeting funds into “Electronic Learning.”

• Schools determine which programs they want to use based on recommendations from the specific content teams and with Instructional Superintendents. If schools do not budget and procure the program(s) on time, the program will be turned off for that school.
• Advance Funds: If the program start date is BEFORE 10/1/2022, use FY23 Advance Funds. We recommend using advance funds whenever possible to ensure students can begin day one.
• Electronic Learning is a subscription and may cross fiscal years
  • Programs with new contract start date of 10/1/2022 or later CANNOT use advance funds.

Points of Contact

• Scott Abbott, Director, Secondary Social Studies, Abbott@k12.dc.gov
• Gabriel Cartagena, Director, Secondary Math, Cartagena@k12.dc.gov
• Mawuena De-Souza, Manager, Secondary Interventions, De-Souza@k12.dc.gov
• Emily Hammett, Director, Elementary ELA and Social Studies, Hammett@k12.dc.gov
• Kaiulani Ivory, Director, Elementary Math and Science, Ivory@k12.dc.gov
• Jason Moore, Manager, Elementary Interventions, Moore3@k12.dc.gov
• James Rountree, Director, Secondary Science, Rountree@k12.dc.gov
• Elizabeth Sauler, Director, Language Learning, Sauler@k12.dc.gov
• Abby Welsheimer, Director, Secondary ELA, Welsheimer@k12.dc.gov

School Partnerships

Purpose

DCPS defines a partner as an organization or group that is committed to work with DCPS to make sustainable impact on a shared goal around student success. Partners may include community organizations, afterschool providers, corporations, donors, and/or vendors that collaborate with schools throughout the year (e.g., curriculum or professional development partners).

While many partner organizations are free to schools, they may still incur additional costs like security or custodial fees. There are also several partner organizations that do charge a fee. As such, schools should consider all potential budget implications related to working with external partners as schools develop their budget.

Restrictions

• All partners** must register with the DCPS Partnerships Database. For information on how to do that as well as the other necessary steps partners must take (including the clearance process and executing an MOA), click here.
• Only the Chancellor or his designated deputy has the authority to sign a legal Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with partner organizations. If a partner approaches a school asking to sign a legal document that engages the school in promises and programmatic responsibilities, please refer the organization to the DCPS Office of the General Counsel.
• For partners that charge a fee, the procurement process must be completed before programming can begin. Partners cannot be paid for services rendered before the PO is in place.

**Mental health providers should register here instead of using the link above.

Specific Partnership Reminders

Below is a reminder on how schools should budget for the following partnerships:

City Year implements a Whole School Whole Child model through a group of carefully selected, highly trained AmeriCorps members who provide individualized support to at-risk students, while establishing an overall positive learning environment throughout the schools they service. All participating schools are required to allocate $40,000 – $130,000 for City Year in contractual services from their school budget. The amount allocated is associated with the number of corps members agreed upon with City Year. Due to the current contract with City Year, which is negotiated by the Contracts & Acquisitions Division, schools should not advance any funds for services in August and September 2022 nor should the Principal or any school staff members sign a partnership agreement.

Communities in Schools (CIS) is a nonprofit organization that supports schools by implementing the model of Integrated Student Supports (ISS), a data-driven, evidence-based solution to remove barriers to student success. ISS improves the delivery of services by enabling students to be linked to a broad set of community resources that address numerous needs in a coordinated way. CIS places a full-time site coordinator in each school to assess the needs at the school and develop an annual school support plan that outlines three tiers of supports. All participating schools should allocate the cost-share for CIS in professional services from their school budget (price should be negotiated with the partner).

Literacy Lab provides effective targeted reading intervention for students, helps students develop relationships with caring and literacy-trained adults and are less expensive than many alternatives. For these reasons, Literacy Lab are a recommended component of our reading acceleration strategy at DCPS. There is a strong correlation between students enrolled in Literacy Lab and accelerated growth towards proficiency on objective measurements (such as DIBELS). All participating schools are required to allocate funds for Literacy Lab in contractual services from their school budgets.  Returning school partners typically budget $10,000 towards their services but the specific price of the partnership is negotiated with the partner based on the number of tutors provided. New partnerships should plan to spend $15,000 but the specific cost of the partnership is negotiated with the partner based on the number of tutors provided. Some schools may need to advance a portion of their funding for services in August and September 2022. Please reach out to Jason Moore (Jason.Moore3@k12.dc.gov) to determine if this applies to your school.  

Reading Partners provides effective targeted reading intervention for students, helps students develop relationships with caring and literacy-trained adults and are less expensive than many alternatives. For these reasons, Reading Partners are a recommended component of our reading acceleration strategy at DCPS. There is a strong correlation between students enrolled in Reading Partners and accelerated growth towards proficiency on objective measurements (such as DIBELS). All participating schools are required to allocate funds for Reading Partners in contractual services from their school budgets. School partners typically allocate $15,000 towards their services but the specific price of the partnership is negotiated with the partner based on the number of tutors provided. Schools should not advance a portion of their funding for services in August and September 2022.

SAGA Education provides high impact math tutoring to 9th and 10th grade students enrolled in Algebra 1 and Geometry through a combination of small group individualized instruction and an adaptive learning platform. SAGA partners with school administration and teachers to provide math support to students during the school day as an independent class that is aligned to the standards and objectives being covered in their math class. All participating schools should allocate $20,000 in contractual services from their school budget. Schools should not advance funds for August or September 2022. Price may be subject to change. If you are interested in forming a new partnership with SAGA please reach out to Gabriel Cartagena (gabriel.cartagena@k12.dc.gov) to confirm capacity. 

Budgeting Guidance

The following is a list of the most common costs associated with partner organizations. This is not an exhaustive list and we strongly encourage all schools to work directly with partners to identify all costs. To budget for partnerships, use contractual services funds.

• Service Fees: Partners may require payment for services directly from the school and/or Central Office team supporting the work. If the school and/or Central Office team intends to pay the partner, they must budget funds in contractual services and complete the procurement process before services begin.
• Custodial Fees: It is likely either the school or the partner will need to budget for custodial overtime if the partner requires building access after-hours or on weekends.
• Security Fees:It is likely either the school or the partner will need to request security overtime if the partner requires building access after-hours or on weekends. School Program Providers that offer programs free of charge to DCPS students and families between dismissal and 6:30pm on school days should not be charged security fees if other DCPS-operated programming is happening at the same time.
• Supplies: While partners typically cover these costs, it is important to discuss who will fund supplies. This may range from office supplies (student journals, pencils etc.), to student athletic gear/uniforms.
• Fees for Families/Students: Some partners, especially after school programs, require enrollment fees for individual families. While this does not impact school budgets, it is important to know the implications for the school community.
• Funding Reliability: Many partners are funded by grants or other funding sources that are not consistently available or are not confirmed until after the school year has begun. On occasion, partners commit to serve a school but unexpectedly lose funding and must stop services mid-school year, which can be a challenge for the school community. To ensure continuity of the partnership throughout the school year, schools must have direct conversations with key partners to clearly identify funding reliability for the full breadth of services provided. Central Office is not able to fill funding gapsto ensure continued services.
  • Ask the partner to confirm that all necessary funding is secured to cover the full scope of partnership for the upcoming year.
  • If the partner is waiting on future grant awards or other allocations, gain clarity from your partner on what will happen if those funds are not secured and identify by what date the partner will know if they are awarded funds.
  • If the school decides to proceed with the partner, even if funding is not fully confirmed, the school and partner should develop an alternative plan if funding does not come through.
  • If this situation arises with a partner, schools are encouraged to contact the DCPS Partnerships Team for guidance at partnerships@k12.dc.gov.

Note on DCPS Operated Afterschool Programs: Title I elementary schools and education campuses that are part of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Out-of-School Time Grant receive an afterschool programs allocation from the Out of School Time Programs division in the Office of Teaching and Learning. This personnel allocation cannot be reprogrammed to contractual services for an afterschool provider. These schools may budget for additional afterschool programing with partners using flexible funding.

Additionally, if a school is considering engaging with a partner to provide “fulltime” afterschool programming (Mon-Fri, 3:30-6:00pm) as a supplement to the OSTP 21stCCLC afterschool program, please reach out to the manager of OSTP afterschool programs, Daisy Hicks, daisy.hicks@k12.dc.gov to discuss it before establishing any agreement. The added partnership may have an impact on DCPS’s ability to meet the obligations of our 21stCCLC grant.

Points of Contact by Program

For general, afterschool, and summer partnerships:

• Abby Cohen, Manager, Partner Engagement, Cohen@k12.dc.gov

For City Year:

• Michael Lamb, Deputy Chief, Learning and Development Sciences, Lamb@k12.dc.gov

For Communities in Schools

• Carla Mike, Manager, Connected Schools,  Mike@k12.dc.gov

For Literacy Lab and Reading Partners

• Jason Moore, Manager, Elementary Assessments & Interventions, Moore3@k12.dc.gov

For SAGA Education

• Gabriel Cartagena, Director, Secondary Math, Cartagena@k12.dc.gov    

Helpful Resources

• DCPS Partnerships Database (Search 400+ registered DCPS partners)
• DCPS School Partnership Toolkit
• School Program Provider Policies and Procedures

ANET

ANet Interim Assessments and Professional Development

Purpose

In SY22-23, all schools are provided with ANet interim assessments in ELA for students in Grades 3-10 and Math for Grades 3-8, Accelerated 6^th, Accelerated 7^th, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. Any school wishing to purchase ANet coaching, including current partnership schools, must contact the Director of Academic Acceleration, Lola Odukoya (Lola.Odukoya@k12.dc.gov), to discuss.

Budgeting Guidance:

Schools can budget for additional ANet support using their contract dollars.

Point of Contact

Lola Odukoya, Director of Academic Acceleration, Lola.Odukoya@k12.dc.gov

Flamboyan

Purpose

Supported by the Flamboyan Foundation, the Family Engagement Partnership (FEP) helps school leaders and teachers engage families in ways that benefit student success.  Participating schools receive coaching, training, and ongoing support in the following areas:

• Relationship-Building Home Visits: Teachers and families form trusting relationships through home visits. In order to be compensated for home visits, teachers must enter home visit information into Flamboyan’s online database and school-based timekeepers will be responsible for using this information in order to enter home visit hours in PeopleSoft.
• Academic Partnering: The Flamboyan Foundation provides training for three different types of academic partnering to enable families to support academics at home: 1) Academic Parent Teacher Teams (APTT); 2) Parent Teacher Conferences (PTC); and 3) Student Led Conferences (SLC).
• Ongoing Communication: Teachers receive training and support to help them establish regular and ongoing communication with students’ families.

The FEP is designed so that schools’ autonomy increases over time while Flamboyan’s coaching, direct professional development, and technical assistance reduces over time.

Program Guidance

To ensure that DCPS has a sustainable approach for effectively embedding family engagement practices in school communities, and to enable Flamboyan to fund effective family engagement across more schools, Flamboyan asks partner schools to contribute a small amount to help with the overall costs of the partnership program.

How to budget for this partnership:

Schools will receive a quote for their minimum possible contribution in early February. The contribution guidance below applies for elementary and secondary partnership schools.

The funding for Flamboyan must be budgeted in Contractual Services.

NOTE: If schools have limited Contract funds in their local budget, it is allowable to use Title I Parental Involvement funds or ESSER instead of local dollars. However, federal and local dollars cannot be combined to reach the total school-level contribution.

Central Office Supports

Financial

The Family Engagement Division provides financial support to schools for academic partnering. Partner schools receive funds from central budget to purchase learning supplies for each round of academic partnering.

The Family Engagement Division compensates teacher leads who take on additional responsibility to support staff and ensure the quality of family engagement at their schools. Teacher Leads receive a stipend paid out bi-annually. The Family Engagement Division compensates 2 teacher leads for Elementary Schools, and 3 teacher leads for Secondary schools.

• The Family Engagement Division also provides staff compensation for home visits from central budget.

Non-Financial

After budgets are finalized, the Family Engagement Division works with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer to encumber, or freeze, the minimum contribution from each school’s budget to facilitate procurement and payment to Flamboyan. If a school owes more than their minimum possible contribution, the Family Engagement Division will work directly with the school to procure the remaining balance from the school’s Contractual Services object code.

Flexibilities and Restrictions

• Participation in this partnership is entirely voluntary. Schools are issued an updated Expectations Agreement (sample linked below) from the Flamboyan Foundation every year. Principals should review this sample agreement before budgeting for their contribution.
• Once partnership with Flamboyan is committed to and budgeted for, funds are swept from school budgets and cannot be reprogrammed or repurposed.

Helpful Resources

To learn more about this partnership’s supports and expectations, please refer to this sample School Expectations Agreement from Flamboyan.

Point of Contact

Sophie Hagan, Family Engagement, Sophie.Hagan@k12.dc.gov

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Positions

Program Purpose

The Science of Learning and Development tells us the context in schools, meaning the learning context (environment, relationships, experiences.), drives development in positive and negative ways. School Culture and Climate Team supports all DCPS schools in working to apply the whole child lens student behavior and discipline aligned to Chapter 25 of the DCMR and the DCPS Student Behavior Tracker, Bullying Prevention, Restorative Practices, and proactive approaches to establishing and building a safe and positive school environment. This team supports schools in determining behavior support and responses to behavior. Along with student support staffing models to best meet the needs of the school’s student population.

Program Guidance

Schools are not allocated Deans, Restorative Justice Coordinators, or Behavior Techs, or; however, Principals have been provided the flexibility to hire a dedicated staff member for these positions or assign the duties to other staff in the building.

The behavior staff within a school will report to the Principal who will determine the staffing plan to include protected time for the work listed below. Typically, this team is made up of Deans, Behavior Techs, Restorative Justice Coordinators. These positions focus on creating and maintaining a safe and positive learning environment and student behavior, with the shared common goals of:

• Creating and maintaining an intentional Safe and Positive School Culture/Climate,
• Working with all school resources to provide comprehensive student supports,
• Having an instructional approach to behavior and discipline which focuses on positive skill development, and
• Ensuring the consistent implementation of discipline responses that minimize disruption to Instructional time.

In compliance with the Student Fair Access to Schools Act and DCPS’ behavior/discipline philosophy, schools should structure their staffing with the goal of working to keep students in the building and using exclusionary disciplinary practices for only severe issues.

Recommendations on How to Budget for this Program

The School Culture Team provides staffing recommendations for schools based on overall enrollment, special education programming, behavior and suspension data, in-school suspension programs, and other relevant factors. Schools should intentionally fill these roles with staff members who can build positive relationships and support students’ academic success while working to develop positive Social and Emotional Learning skills to help minimize the occurrence of negative behaviors moving forward.

• Dean: Schools are recommended to have 1.0 dean of students for populations of 200 students.
• Supporting Dean/Behavior Techs: Schools are recommended to have supporting deans and/or behavior techs for each additional 200 students
  • Note that Restorative Justice Coordinators and Behavior Techs may assist the Dean, but cannot complete duties assigned to a Dean alone, as outlined in the Dean position description.
  • Schools should regularly monitor their student behavior data to see if additional support is needed.

Restorative Justice Coordinator: All middle and high schools are recommended to have at least one Restorative Justice Coordinator. Effective RP programs can help students experiencing challenges develop positive affiliations with schools and a sense of belonging, while not falling behind on their academic work. A full-time RP Coordinator is strongly recommended for schools who have the following suspension days per 100 students:

• 20 for middle and high schools
• 5 for elementary schools; and

Personnel Staffing Recommendations

Based on the table of descriptions above, schools should use the following data to drive their school staffing:

• Panorama Data (LCPI)
• Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
• Student Behavior Tracker (Student Discipline Data)
• Trauma Responsive Schools Model Action Plan Survey

If unable to staff one of the positions above, please reach out to the Learning and Development of Science (LeaDS) team via email LDS@k12.dc.gov  to advise on how to best staff schools.

Menus of Options

In addition to the below specifics, Deans, Behavior Techs, and Restorative Justice Coordinators must be:

• Knowledgeable on Student Fair Access to School Act and Chapter 25
• Trained in Student Behavior Tracker
• Able to implement and incorporate Restorative Justice measures in their work

School Culture Staff Responsibilities

Central Support

The School Culture Team will build school level capacity by providing ongoing professional development in the following areas:

• Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI)
• Restorative Practices
• Student Behavior Tracker (SBT)
• Bullying Prevention

Points of Contact

Justin McClain – Manager, School Culture (Justin.Mcclain@k12.dc.gov)

Helpful Resources

• Bullying Prevention
• Student Fair Access to Schools Act
• Turnaround for Children Toolkit Summary

Teaching Residency

Program Purpose

In collaboration with the DCPS Office of Leadership Development, two residency partners, Urban Teachers and Relay, will train residents in DCPS classrooms alongside high-performing mentor teachers for an entire academic year to prepare residents to assume a lead teaching role in the second year of the program. DCPS’ teacher residency partnership programs prepare recent college graduates, career changers, and outstanding paraprofessionals to be highly effective teachers in DCPS schools.

These programs are an effective way to develop instructional aides and paraprofessionals already employed with DCPS into Highly Effective Teachers within our district. Over the last 3 years, at least 75% of teachers completing either of these residency programs have earned either effective or highly effective on IMPACT, raising student achievement outcomes and positively impacting our schools.

Program Guidance

Schools are required to budget Urban Teacher or Relay Resident Positions, are a net neutral replacement for an Ed Aide position. Interested schools must have the same number of exceptional teachers who would be committed to serving as mentor teachers, co-planning, and co-teaching with residents, so they can develop into strong novice teachers. Mentor teachers must have at least three years of teaching experience and be at the Established Teacher stage of LIFT (Leadership Initiative for Teachers), and preferably would be at the Advanced Teacher stage or above. Urban Teachers prefers for residents to change mentor teachers in the spring to broaden their experience.

Urban Teacher Preferences:

Urban teachers strongly prefer schools host at least two residents. Urban teachers also prefer that residents change mentor teachers in the spring to broaden their experience.

Budgeting Recommendations

When budgeting for the position, we recommend Principals budget for the number of residents they want to have in the building. Whether these residents are current aides applying into the program or new residents that the school will select, we recommend budgeting for those positions during budget development. In the case that no residents are hired, Principals will work with the School Finance Team to reprogram the position.

The Teacher Pipeline team cautions against having too many residents in one school at a time. Some schools have taken on six or more. Since the central idea of this program is for residents to become full time teachers at the school they are placed into and have the continuity translate into a successful first year of teaching, we urge Principals to forecast if they will have enough teaching position vacancies to hire the residents the following year.

Central Support

Central Office provides a point of contact (Sean Elliott) to assist with placement, communication, and relationships with both Urban Teachers and Relay GSE.

Point of Contact

Sean Elliott – Specialist, Teacher Pipelines – Sean.Elliott@k12.dc.gov

Strategy & Logistics

Purpose

The School Strategy & Logistics (SSL) program allows participating schools to budget non-instructional staff differently. The program increases operational efficiency, which leads to instructional gains. Schools have already received communication from Cinthia Ruiz about applying to the program.

Budgeting Recommendations

Continuing Schools

For schools who are already part of the SSL program, Principals can budget for positions using discretionary dollars.

New Schools

 Principals will have the Director of Strategy & Logistics (DSL), Manager Strategy & Logistics (MSL), Coordinator Strategy & Logistics (CSL), and Assistant Strategy & Logistics) positions as options in their budgets. Operations work must be led by a DSL or MSL based on student enrollment and other factors. The Central Office SSL team will advise each Principal which is appropriate.

Candidates for the DSL/MSL roles are accepted through a centralized selection process managed by the SSL Team. Principals will then make final decisions about which candidates to hire from a recommended applicant pool. To petition for this position, Principals should meet with their Instructional Superintendent and the SSO Manager.  

Menus of Options

Participating schools may also choose to add Coordinators (CSL) and/or Assistants (ASL) of Strategy & Logistics. These two positions will hold a broader and more flexible range of responsibilities than the previous, more narrowly defined traditional operations roles (i.e., Registrar, Administrative Aide, Attendance Counselor, and Data Clerk). These roles will address current challenges in the following ways:

• More flexible position descriptions will allow Principals to design front office and other operations roles that best meet the needs of their schools; and
• Operations staff will be trained on all office duties to ensure appropriate capacity during the natural ebbs and flows of different seasons.

Since the DSL and MSL positions are made to hold a broader and more flexible range of responsibilities, Principals are encouraged to design the roles to fit their schools’ unique needs. They may take on logistical roles that are traditionally associated with other operations positions (such as managing enrollment or attendance), and/or they may take on additional responsibilities (such as emergency response and reporting). See below for examples of responsibilities that are commonly assigned to SSL program staff.

Central Support

Schools that participate in the SSL program will continue to receive support and guidance from Central Office’s Operations Specialists, including streamlined communication, resources, and emergency support through their SSL staff. As part of the SSL program, DSLs and MSLs will also have regular opportunities for professional development on pertinent topics throughout the school year.

Point of Contact 

• Cinthia Ruiz, Deputy Chief, Strategic School Operations, Cinthia.Ruiz@k12.dc.gov
• Dedra Adams-Johnson, Manager, Strategic School Operations, dedra.adams-johnson@k12.dc.gov
• Claire Lin, Analyst, Strategic School Operations, Lin@k12.dc.gov

Guidance on Budgeting NPS – Historical Spending & Reprogramming

Budgeting Recommendations Using Historical Spend Data

Principals and finance professionals should look through their historical spend data and identify the appropriate amount of non-personnel funding they need to budget for in the different spending categories. Typically, non-personnel funding is the last to be budgeted and often what is sacrificed. While various Central Office teams related to the initiative have been able to support some of the time, Central Office does not have the ability to supplement school budgets during the year when they do not have sufficient non-personnel funding. Schools must ensure an adequate NPS budget for their needs throughout the year. Additionally, planning with historical data can reduce the need for reprograming during the summer or throughout the school year.

Reprograming

Schools can reprogram non-personnel dollars throughout the year but may only reprogram personnel dollars during the summer reprograming window. When Principals develop budgets in, they budget funds into specific line items. When it comes time to procure goods and services, there may not be sufficient funding loaded in the correct budget line. Principals and finance professionals request to reprogram NPS funds into the needed budget codes to make the procurement. This process is done with the OCFO budget analyst using a 76-1 form.

The most common reasons for Non-Personnel reprogramming are:

• During budget development, funds were budgeted in the wrong place
• During budget development, not enough funds were budgeted for needed goods/services

When building the NPS budget for the upcoming year, Principals should not just budget the same amount as the prior year. To minimize the need for reprogramming, the Finance team recommends that Principals consult their finance professionals and look at historical NPS spending along with projected end of year spending.

Commonly Re-Programmed Goods and Services

The tables below display examples of goods and services commonly requiring reprogramming and the correct line to budget them in. The first table outlines goods/services that are typically entered in the incorrect budget line. The second table illustrates goods/services that often do not have enough money budgeted in their budget requiring Principals to reprogram money from other funding lines into the depleted one.

Points of Contact

School Finance Team, dcps.schoolfunding@k12.dc.gov 

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