Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP)

Information on Registering and Enrolling Scholarship Students

Timeline and Action Items

• Timeline and other specific information on enrolling Louisiana Scholarship Program awardees in your school

• Responsibilities of schools in this process

• Documentation requirements related to the enrollment process

• Department of Education contact information for questions/help going forward

• After this webinar, schools will know:

• How to register and enroll new students• What documents are required to be copied and kept• How to make a records request

TimelineDate Action Details

24 Hrs After Receving Rosters

Deadline to contact the Department with concerns regarding match

Week of April 22nd Student award letters will be mailed out the week of April 22nd

We anticipate families will begin reaching out to your schools (in person or over the phone) immediately.

April 26th Deadline for Schools wishing to be on the print material for RSD’s One App to submit their interest to be in Round 2

Please visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1DRsGHWdVb5I3RK17MzCIeClnAUYJU4akVXRekiftdX0/viewformto indicate your intent to participate

May 3rd Deadline for Schools to indicate intent to participate in Round 2.

Please visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1DRsGHWdVb5I3RK17MzCIeClnAUYJU4akVXRekiftdX0/viewform to indicate your intent to participate

May 6th Round 2 Application Process Opens for Public Orleans residents will still apply through RSD’s One App, just like Round 1

Non-Orleans residents will apply online or in person and confirm their eligibility at schools, just like Round 1.

May 10th Deadline for Round 1 matched families to register at schools

Department will send form to ask schools for Round 2 seat targets

May 24th Deadline for Round 2 Applications

Week of May 29th Round 2 Rosters Sent to Schools

Week of June 10th Award letters sent to families

• Reach out to your roster of matched students

• Verify eligibility and other information for new Scholarship students (and keep copies of documentation)

• Income• Residency

• Continuing Scholarship Students are automatically eligible and therefore do not need to prove their eligibility again.

• As you are the keeper of the enrolling student’s official record, you need to make a records request for existing academic records, and maintain copies of eligibility records

• Obtain assurances and keep copies of assurance statements

What you need to do as an enrolling school

What documents do parents/guardians need to bring when enrolling their child?

In order to enroll at your school, the family will need to present information and documents to satisfy the following requirements:

• Award letter notifying the family of their scholarship (optional, if you can confirm the student has an award based on the roster we will send you)

• Basic student and parent or guardian information (Name, DOB, Gender, Ethnicity, Address)

• Eligibility Information (Resident of Louisiana; Income guidelines)

• Standard enrollment information, including:• An official birth certificate • A record of immunization• An official Social Security card

• If no Social Security is available, the student shall be assigned a state identification number

• Other documentation that you require of all new students

Keep copies!

Keep copies of everything the family provides you with.

Unlike the application process, you are now required to keep copies of this documentation!

These are the documents the audit team will need to see when they visit your school.

Verify eligibility of the applicant

• We are requesting that you verify the eligibility of the applicant for the program along the following guidelines:

• Income

• Residency

• We have attempted to ensure only eligible families were matched with your school, but it is up to you to verify this information is accurate.

• You are now required to keep a copy of this verification information and maintain this documentation in your files. This information will be needed during future audits.

Income eligibility

• Below is a list of Federal Assistance Programs. If the parent/guardian participate in any one of these programs, they meet the income requirement of the program.

• Louisiana Purchase Card• SNAP Benefits• Social Security Benefits

• Eligibility is established by the parent or guardian producing documentation showing that they participate in one of these programs.

• Make a copy of this information and maintain this documentation in your files.

Income eligibility

• If the parent/guardian does not participate in a Federal Assistance program, they will need to provide proof of income for every member of their household. This can consist of any one of the following:

• Federal Tax Return• W-2s from all employers for the period ended December 31, 2012• Unemployment compensation statement for the period ended December

31, 2012• 1099s and/or statements from banks or other institutions showing interest

earnings for the period ended December 31, 2012• Alimony as shown in court decree or agreement• Social Security benefits statement for the period ended December 31, 2012• Pension statements for the period ended December 31, 2012

Income eligibility

• The family will indicate their household size in the application. Using the documents provided by the family, ensure their income does not exceed 250% of the federal poverty level (see the next slide).

• When you have verified the family income is less than the maximum amount, the family may participate in the program.

• If not, the family is not eligible to participate in the 2013-2014 scholarship program. Please contact the Department of Education immediately if you find anyone who is ineligible to participate.

• General information on income eligibility can be found at:• http://www.louisianabelieves.com/docs/school-choice/louisiana-scholarship---

application-guide.pdf?sfvrsn=2

• Make a copy of this information and maintain this documentation in your files.

Scholarship income eligibility maximums

Persons in Family/Household Yearly Income Monthly Income Bi-Weekly Income Weekly Income

1 $28,725.0 $2,393.75 $1,104.81 $552.40

2 $38,775.0 $3,231.25 $1,491.35 $745.67

3 $48,825.0 $4,068.75 $1,877.88 $938.94

4 $58,875.0 $4,906.25 $2,264.42 $1,132.21

5 $68,925.0 $5,743.75 $2,650.96 $1,325.48

6 $78,975.0 $6,581.25 $3,037.50 $1,518.75

7 $89,025.0 $7,418.75 $3,424.04 $1,712.02

8 $99,075.0 $8,256.25 $3,810.58 $1,905.29

Add this amount for each additional person $10,050.0 $837.50 $386.54 $193.27

Residency eligibility

• Only Louisiana residents are eligible for the program. When you receive an application, please verify the family’s residency by viewing any one of the following and making sure it matches the student address on the application:

• Rental lease or mortgage statement• Homestead Exemption notice for calendar year 2012• Property tax notice for calendar year 2012• Electricity/Gas bill• Telephone bill• Cable or internet service bill• Sewage/water bill

• Make a copy of this information and maintain this documentation in your files.

Making a records request

• You will need to make a records request to transfer student academic information from their previous school to your school for any student above Kindergarten.

• This process is identical to your existing procedures.

Student roster

• Attached to the e-mail which included this guide is your student roster.

• In the roster letter, we included links to assurance statements. You will need to obtain assurances from enrolling students. Please keep signed assurance statements on file.

• If a family shows up at your school before you receive this roster, you can confirm they have received a scholarship to your school by reviewing the award letter that we sent to the family.

• See the next slide for an example of this award letter.

Next Steps

• Contact the Department of Education immediately, if you have any questions or concerns about your roster

• Please reach out to families once you receive the confirmation from the Department that letters have gone out.

• Verify eligibility (income, residency), obtain assurances and enroll these students

• Make sure you keep copies of enrollment information

Contact information

For more information, feel free to call the Louisiana Department of Education at 1-877-453-2721 or e-mail studentscholarships@la.gov