Best practice of Private School Enrollment is to check in with your SELPA for local procedures and guidelines.

 

Private School Resource Links:

• How to find private school candidates in SIRAS
• CALPADS Data for SWD in Private Schools and Proportionate Share (PPT)

 

District of Location Eligibility Establishment without FAPE

 

District of Location request or create SIRAS record

1. Update MIS summary, providers and contacts
2. Open Initial Evaluation
3. Use Secondary Purpose: Eligibility Only (No Plan)

Student is found eligible

 

Next step:

Getting family to sign off on initial provision of eligibility and equitable services.

 

 

• Signature(s) obtained

        Typically things are signed within a week or two, we can move forward with Accepts Eligibility.

 

• Signature(s) not yet obtained

        After initial attempt(s) at response, the team doesn't get response, we can choose Awaiting Response.

 

        If Awaiting Response is set, that flags the record.

        It flags us to ensure local due diligence procedures on communication attempts are being done and documented.

• Timed out on signature attempts

        Once attempts at communication have ceased due to continued no response, we would choose Does not accept Eligibility.

        Even if the team did find the student eligible. 

 

 

Click Meeting Complete

Select Parent Response

 

 

 

Parent Response = Accepts Eligibility

 

Click Finalize Meeting

 

 

 

 

 

Student is found not eligible

Parent response

• Awaiting Response
• Accepts with ineligibility
• Disagrees with ineligibility

 

District of Residence Plan Establishment (Determining FAPE)

FAPE Accepted

 

DOR request transfer from DOL

Update MIS page and contacts

Create Annual Review IEP manager event to develop offer of FAPE.

 

 

FAPE Denied

 

Private School Follow Up meeting

Student record should already be inactive with non participation inactive reason. Make record pending. Create meeting. Assuming parents don't accept plan to begin on IEP or ISP. MEET only will be reported.

 

As of Fall 2025, CDE is giving updated guidance on private school scenarios. See PPT above.

The context is to get better data for Proportionate Share funding models.

 

TIPS:

Just because a student is 'enrolled' in private school in your district doesn't mean we need a 'Private School' enrollment in CALPADS.

What matters is if the student is eligible for SPED.

Students who are not eligible for IEP and are enrolled in a private school do NOT need CALPADS Private School enrollment.

Only candidates for proportionate share should have Private School enrollment.

 

But what if this student who is eligible for SPED attends a private school within your district boundaries but the student does not live in your district? Then the other district typically would enroll.

 

How to decipher what to do

 

These are the factors we need to contend with.

 

DOR:  District of Residence (of the student)

DOL:  District of Location (of the private school)

 

The nuances of how to deal with:

1. Students who live in your district but attend/referred to in district private school DOR and DOL
2. Students who live in your district but attend/referred to out of district private school DOR not DOL
3. Students who don't live your district but attend/referred to a private school within your district DOL not DOR

 

Then what 'onboarding' (at the time) of scenario do we have:

• Is the student currently not eligible but being referred?
• Is the student currently eligible but not participating?
• Is the student currently eligible and participating?
• Is the student currently enrolled at a public school?
• Is the student currently enrolled at a private school within your district?
• Is the student currently enrolled at a private school outside your district?
• Is the student not currently enrolled at all?
• Is there a settlement agreement with your district?

 

===============

 

If you have a student on or eligible for IEP already living in your district that leaves the public school to then enroll at a private school:

 

If the student enrolls in a private school, this does not mean there should be private school enrollment in CALPADS.

We have to determine if your district is the district of location, the district that the private school is located in.

If your district is the DOL, then yes we would want Private School enrollment in CALPADS.

Not if your district is district of residence only DOR.

 

It doesn't matter if the student is participating on ISP or not, CALPADS is suggesting Private School enrollment mirror public school enrollment start and end dates.

 

 

Private School School Type:

 

• School Type: Any religious Private School - Parochial School 80
• School Type: Secular Private School - Private Day School 75
• Program Setting: Parentally Placed in Private School - 403

 

 

 

If the student is Eligible but not participating in IEP services or ISP services.

Then we assume the student is not enrolled.

 

If the student is living in the district and won't start participating on IEP or ISP

AND

The student has SWDS 1 in CALPADS, we need add a new SWDS 2 with non participation reason of Cessation of services as of the date it was confirmed by the PWN process that the student would not be participating. This can be done by making the student inactive in SIRAS as of that date, type of inactive is exit/withdrawal, non participation reason is Cessation of Services. Archive this inactive reason and report to CALPADS.