Equitable Services and Proportionate Share
Equitable Services
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), reauthorized as Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), provides benefits to private school students, teachers, and other education personnel, including those in religiously affiliated schools.
In accordance with ESEA, Local Education Agencies (LEAs) are required to reach out annually to private schools regarding the provision of equitable services. This includes consultation and planning prior to the start of the next school year.
- For Title I, Part A LEAs must invite private schools (located within or outside of the LEA and the state) with students residing within the LEA’s geographical boundaries.
- For Title VIII (Title I, Part C; Title II, Part A; Title III, Part A,; Title IV, Part A; and Title V, Part B), LEAs must invite private schools located in the LEA’s geographical boundaries.
The process of consultation spans two years and begins annually in October, at which time notifications are sent to all private schools that serve Rabun County students through the ES4PS platform inviting them to participate in the Equitable Services Program. If the private school chooses to participate in the program for the following year, the Director of Federal Programs provides ongoing consultation throughout the year.
For questions regarding equitable services for private schools, please visit the Georgia Department of Education's Private School State Ombudsman webpage.
For more information, contact Dr. Amy Pruitt, Director of Federal Programs.
Proportionate Share
In Georgia, all references to “parentally placed children in private schools” also include children with disabilities who are home schooled by their parents. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), local school districts have the responsibility to identify all private schools and home schools within their jurisdiction and conduct Child Find activities with them to identify eligible children. Once the children are located, the district must conduct timely and meaningful consultation with representatives of the private and home school entities in an effort to determine what services will be provided to the identified children based upon a formula that represents a proportionate amount of federal funds attributable to those students. A worksheet for determining the proportionate share amount is provided annually with the comprehensive plan. Districts must annually report the number of children evaluated under Child Find who are either parentally placed in private schools or are home schooled, the number of those children found eligible for special education and related services and the number of children who are actually served under this provision of IDEA.
A Service Plan will be developed for each parentally placed private school student or home school student for whom it is decided special education services will be provided. Service Plans will describe the specific special education and related services the student will receive. Personnel who provide services under a Service Plan must meet the same certification/licensure standards as those providing services in the public schools. Local school districts may not use Federal IDEA Part B funds to finance existing levels of instruction in private/home schools nor to otherwise benefit a private/home school.
The local school district must consult with private schools within their district, representatives of parents of students with disabilities who attend those schools and representatives of parents of home school students with disabilities as the district defines and designs the mechanisms for Child Find, and for identifying the services to be provided with the proportionate Federal Funds. In so doing, districts must:
- Identify the child find process for private schools and for home schooled children who may be children with disabilities and explain this process to parties involved.
- Explain the amount of federal funds to be used for special education and related services for these children with disabilities who are in parentally placed private schools or are home schooled and how that amount was determined.
- Explain how the consultation process will be an ongoing process throughout the year so that as students are identified as children with disabilities, they can access services if available.
- Explain what services will be provided, where they will be provided, and how these decisions were reached or when the school district will make the decision and why the district determined to expend funds in this manner.
- When the parents or the private schools disagree with the decision of the local school district, the district must provide a written explanation to the private schools and the parents of children who are home schooled of the rationale for the decision made.
The local school district must conduct Child Find activities so that students who are either home schooled or are parentally placed in private schools can be referred, evaluated and identified as students with disabilities. The private schools and parents of home schooled children must be provided information on how to access Child Find services. The Child Find activities must be conducted in a timely manner and must meet the state required timeline for completing evaluations (60 calendar days). In addition, the costs of conducting the Child Find activities for students who are parentally placed in private schools or home schooled are not included in determining the expenditures for the proportionate share obligation.
Child Find information can be found here.
For further information, please contact Meadow Krockum, Director of Students Services, at 706-212-4350.
Private School Enrollment Reporting
Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690) provides that “within 30 days after the beginning of each school year, it shall be the duty of the administrator of each private school to provide to the school superintendent of each local public school district which has residents enrolled in the private school a list of the name, age, and residence of each resident so enrolled. At the end of each school month, it shall be the duty of the administrator of each private school to notify the school superintendent of each local public school district of the name, age, and residence of each student residing in the public school district who enrolls or terminates enrollment at the private school during the immediately preceding school month."
Instructions for enrollment reporting are listed below:
- Download the state's private school enrollment report form (DE1111)
- Enter all of the student information into the requested fields.
- Email your completed form to Dr. Amy Pruitt, Director of Federal Programs.
Annual Equitable Services and Proportionate Share Meeting
TBA: Fall 2025