COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Department of Education

December 18, 2015

TO:  Division Superintendents

FROM:  Steven R. Staples, Superintendent of Public Instruction

SUBJECT: 2015-2016 Title I, Part A, Comparability Report

To receive Title I, Part A, funds, a school division must verify comparability of services for Title I and non-Title I schools as stipulated in Section 1120(A)(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Virginia school divisions are required to verify comparability of services by completing the Title I Comparability Report on the Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS) portal at: https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/ssws/login.page.do.

As a reminder, the two clarifications below have been made to the comparability report calculations to ensure compliance with ESEA requirements:

1. Although Section 1113(b)(1)(D)(i-iii) allows divisions to elect not to serve an eligible school that has a higher percentage of low-income families than schools being served if the required conditions are met, the “skipped schools” must be included in the comparability calculations.  If your division has “skipped schools,” the schools will appear in the pre-populated list of Title I schools for purposes of calculating comparability.
2. When preparing the comparability calculations for your division, only state- and locally-funded building level staff members who provide direct instruction may be included in the calculations.  Federally-funded staff members may not be included in the comparability calculations.

The 2015-2016 Title I Comparability Report will be available beginning Friday, December 18, 2015, at: https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/ssws/login.page.do. Detailed instructions are provided with the Web-based report. Once the report has been completed, the division superintendent or designee must sign the verification form.  On or before Friday, January 29, 2016, fax the signed verification page to Gloria Torréns-Billings, administrative assistant, at (804) 371-7347 or send electronically to Gloria.Torrens-Billings@doe.virginia.gov.  Maintain a copy of the signed verification report on file locally for audit purposes.

If you have questions related to this report, please contact Dr. Lynn Sodat, Title I coordinator, at Lynn.Sodat@doe.virginia.gov or (804) 371-2934.

SRS/LS/getb