- 9 with private school representatives as something apart from meetings with advisory committees or parent councils. The consultation with private school representatives would be of a detailed and technical * The maintenance of fiscal effort requirement does not apply * A private school may not contract with the LEA to administer contract. * The prohibition against the use of Federal funds to supplant State or local funds does not apply directly to private schools. -10 However, Federal funds may not be used to provide services which are Lormally provided by the private school. * Ultimately, it is the legal responsibility of the public school agency to determine the needs of, gather data on, and evaluate the progress of the private school children in Title I activities. These tasks are included arong those for which monics may be expended by the LEA. Private school public school agency in the executica of these tasks. Since the private school itself cannot receive funds or services, the act does not make strict demands on the private school or the private school administrator. Administrative services or funds are not received, and, therefore, administrative tasks are not required. An important exception to this general rule lies in the area of civil rights. The private school authorities must sign the civil rights compliance statement before Title I services may be rendered on the private school premises. This prevents Title I services from being performed in schools or academies which are established for purposes of segregation. Involvement of Parents of Private School Participants As regards the involvement of the parents of private school children, the new regulations for Title I [Section 116.17(1)] call attention to the fact that the LEA should take "appropriate measures to insure the selection of parents to the parent council who are 85-871 - 72 - 33 11 representative (a) of the children eligible to be served (including should be organized to give the parents of private school children the opportunity to be members of the council. Care should be taken to avoid an organizational design which would, in effect, exclude the parents of private school children. This could happen in a situation, for example, in which the members of the parent council were selected from the public school PTA groups. At the same time, the regulations do not prescribe that a certain number or percentage of parents of private school children must be included on the council. Delivery of Services Title I services may be provided, within certain limitations, for private school students in the manner that is most effective in the local situation. No one single way of delivering services is mandated by the law or regulations. As a matter of fact, only a few methods of delivery are prohibited by Federal legislation. Both the law and the regulations cite several examples of how services might be provided, but these examples are not meant to be exhaustive of the possibilities available. One of the methods mentioned in the law is dual enrollment. In this case, the private school child, retaining membership in the private school, attends the public school for special educational services on a part-time basis. The major problem encountered with this approach is logistics. Even when the private school is located very close to the public school, there are difficulties in scheduling, space, safety, etc. As distance increases, additional problems of transportation and loss of instructional time are likely to arise. Another method is that of mobile educational services. In this case, the services come to the child, rather than vice versa. This approach may take many forms. The following are some examples: A public school teacher comes onto the private school premises to teach a remedial class; a mobile teaching lab with equipment and a teacher makes regularly scheduled stops at a private school; a speech therapist works with private school children on the grounds of the private school. This type of approach, while not problem free by any means, is generally a more satisfactory method of delivering services than most others. Mobile equipment is also cited as a way to provide services for private school children. However, equipment alone does not constitute a program. The equipment loaned must be in support of a Title I activity and must remain under the supervision and administrative control of the public agency at all times. The equipment may be used and housed on private school premises as long as there is no likelihood that it will be used for purposes other than the carrying out of a Title I activity. Restrictions and Prohibitions Most of the restrictions or prohibitions which apply to services for private school children refer to the manner in which the services are delivered. For this reason, the restrictions and prohibitions are - 13 listed here even through some of the items will not relate directly to the method of delivery of services. Also, some of the items will repeat restrictions and prohibitions mentioned earlier in the text. This is done purposely so that all the restrictions and prohibitions that are contained in the law, the regulations, and the guidelines may be found in this one place. The restrictions or prohibitions are: 1. The services provided with Title I funds must meet 2. the needs of educationally deprived children and not the needs of the private school. In any project where private school students participate along with public school students in public facilities, the classes may not be separated according to school or religious affiliation. 3. Public school personnel may perform services on private premises only to the extent necessary to provide special services for the educationally deprived for whose needs the services were designed. 4. The services which may be provided are limited to special services1 normally not available in the private school. (A service is special if it responds to an identified, special need of the child.) 1. The regulations, in Section 116(e), illustrate what is meant by special services by including several examples of such special services. The examples include, "Therapeutic, remedial, or welfare services, broadened health services, school breakfasts for poor children, and guidance and counseling services. The list is meant to be illustrative and not exhaustive of the possibilities. |