Public comment sought on Kentucky’s request for temporary waiver on identifying TSI schools for 2022

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education (USED) on Oct. 1.

(FRANKFORT, KY) – Public comment is being sought on a request by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) for a temporary waiver on the annual identification of schools for targeted support and improvement (TSI).

The request, which would waive the requirements in section 1111(d)(2)(A) of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education (USED) on Oct. 1.

The public comment period on the TSI waiver request will be held from Sept. 24 to 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 30.

Kentucky’s approved Revised Consolidated State Plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act states that a school will be identified for TSI status if “one or more of the same subgroups are performing as poorly as all students in any of the lowest performing 5% of Title I schools or non-Title I schools (by level – elementary, middle, or high school) based on the school performance, for three consecutive years.”

This federal classification is to be identified annually, beginning with the 2021-2022 school year. This definition also is in Kentucky state statute KRS 160.346.

In the spring of 2020, Kentucky received a waiver from federal testing and accountability requirements due to the extraordinary situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, including extended and widespread school closures.

This previous waiver also waived the requirements for the identification of federal classifications, including TSI, in the fall of 2020. Due to this waiver, Kentucky is unable to identify schools for TSI status in the fall of 2021 because it does not have three consecutive years of accountability data.

Additionally, in January 2021, Kentucky submitted to USED the “Addendum to the ESEA Consolidated State Plan due to the COVID-19 Emergency.” This addendum allows Kentucky to roll forward the dates of identification for Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) and Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools. Neither of these classifications will be identified in the fall of 2021.

The unprecedented challenges of administering a statewide assessment during the 2020-2021 school year during the ongoing pandemic are likely to cause the results of the state assessment to be incomplete and unreliable, Commissioner of Education Jason E. Glass wrote in a letter to USED requesting the waiver.

Therefore, Kentucky is requesting a waiver of the requirements to identify TSI schools due to the current lack of data posed by the previous year’s accountability waiver and to align the next TSI cohort with future identification cycles. Under this waiver, TSI schools would next be identified in the fall of 2024, following three consecutive years of accountability data (2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024).

Section 8401(a)(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the ESSA, allows the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education to waive, with the exceptions outlined in Section 8401(c), “any statutory or regulatory requirements of this Act for which a waiver request is submitted.”

The waiver seeks to exempt Kentucky from the requirements under 20 U.S. Code § 6311(c)(4)(C)(iii) to “include differentiation of any such school in which any subgroup of students is consistently underperforming, as determined by the state, based on all indicators” in the state’s accountability system.

While new TSI schools would not be identified in 2021 under this waiver, Kentucky’s commitment to equity and service will continue to ensure that students from traditionally underserved backgrounds have their physical, emotional and instructional needs met during the 2021-2022 school year.

“This waiver supports the advancement of student academic achievement by maintaining the integrity of Kentucky’s accountability system,” Glass wrote in the letter to USED. “Due to the lack of testing data collected during the 2019-2020 school year and the unprecedented challenges posted by testing during the 2020-2021 school year, the good-faith identification of TSI schools is not possible.”

“By waiving the identification requirement until Kentucky can faithfully execute the expectations outlined in its state plan and state statutes, Kentucky is able to maintain a high-quality accountability system that promotes equity and trust.”

Kentucky will continue to collect and monitor relevant data related to school quality and student performance.

Currently, Kentucky does not have any actively identified TSI schools. Kentucky maintains a robust system of support for low-performing schools or schools with consistently low-performing subgroups.

Schools that are at risk of falling into TSI status in the future may voluntarily opt for early intervention from KDE.

The full request for the waiver can be accessed online on KDE's website.

Public comments must be received by 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 30. Comments may be emailed to kdecommunications@education.ky.gov or submitted to Todd Allen, General Counsel, Kentucky Department of Education, 300 Sower Blvd, 5th Floor, Frankfort, KY 40601. Comments also may be submitted via fax at (502) 564-9321. All comments that are received during the window will be considered before submission of the waiver request to USED.