Washington laws; Enrichment program, bus, meals???

[tjs_79]

We reside in Washington State. My daughter tested high on OLSAT and we'll be putting her in our district's enrichment program one day a week from 9-2. The principal said that DD will be considered ".2 FTE" (FTE=full time enrollment). She said that DD may be able to take bus in the morning (with the other full time kiddos), but not in the afternoon. I suppose it's because the full time kids get out an hour later. Also, DD has recieved free/reduced lunches in the past as a full time PS student based on our family income. Principal said that this shouldn't be a problem next year. Another thing that she said was that she is doing us a favor in finding a "space" for DD in the gifted program.

 

I'm wondering what you all think of all of this. What difference does .2 FTE make, if any? Is she doing my DD a favor by "allowing" her in the program? Since she will be homeschooled next year, does she still qualify for any transportation services and school lunches while in the enrichment program? Still feeling my way around the Wash. homeschool law, so I hope none of this sounds rehashed.

:bigear:

[EKS]

I don't know about finding space in the gifted/enrichment program, as our district has no such thing. But I'm pretty sure they accommodate enrolled students first, so in the principal's eyes she might feel she's doing you a favor.

 

As for the bus, it sounds like the problem is that you daughter would need to be supervised during that last hour before the bus, not the bus transport itself, but I might be wrong about this. Also, there are certain days in the fall were they do a "count" of students riding the bus and their funding is based on that count. Your daughter might be asked to participate in that count. It's a totally weird policy, if you want to know my opinion.

 

If your family qualifies for free/reduced price lunches, then she should be able to get that.

 

I'm not sure what you mean when with your question what difference being 0.2 FTE makes. It just means that for the school's accounting, your daughter gets a fifth of the funding of a full time pupil. You are still considered a homeschooler under WA law. Even if she were 0.95 FTE, you would still be considered a homeschooler in the sense that she wouldn't be required to take the not-WASL (I can't remember what it's called now).

[MaMa2005]

The school is actually receiving more funding from the state by allowing your daughter to be in their program. FTE reporting refers to the state funding mechanism based on student enrollment and educational services local school systems provide for the students. Gifted students allotments are allocated more money than regular student allotments.

 

Oh, how I do not miss doing my FTE counts when I was a public school SPED teacher!

[tjs_79]

oh okay! Thanks guys... I appreciate the clarification. I wasn't sure what the fte thing meant or if the 0.2 part had any impact on DD riding the bus and getting meals. It seems as though it does not. I wonder about the supervision for an hour before she catches the bus home. Is that a "right" of my daughter's? I'm under the impression from the district that it is NOT a right and the morning bussing would be a favor as well.

[FairProspects]

We will be partially enrolled in WA, and according to our district, you can have access to up to 3 hrs per day of school time (or 0.5 FTE) and still legally be a homeschooler. I'm not sure how much you want to push it, but it sounds to me like legally your daughter should be able to stay at school for the extra hour, but where would they put her? Where do the other kids from the program go for that hour? Back to a regular classroom? I'm not sure if you would accept that, and with partial enrollment it is the assumption that you will work with the school to provide the least disruption to the school day, so it might take some finesse to get a good outcome for all involved.

[Truscifi]

I'm not familiar with the laws in WA, but ds is in a once a week gifted pull out here in FL. In our area the school is required to give him a spot in the program because FL law states homeschool students with special needs are entitled to services through the local school district even though they are not ps students. They are not required to provide transportation for him to get to the services. I take him and pick him up. The school I deal with is very understanding though, and have occasionally let him stay in the library (he just sits and reads and the librarian loves him anyway) if I was running late.