PSBA 2003 Charter and Cyber School Survey

Summary
Responses were received from 266 of 501 (53%) school districts. Six of 26 (23%) of urban, 106 of 207 (51%) of suburban and 154 of 268 (58%) of rural districts are included. 

1. Use of a standardized billing format was recommended by 261 respondents. One said no, one thought the question did not apply and three did not respond.

2. Two hundred fifty-seven recommended billing at the same time each month, five did not, one thought the issue did not apply and three had no response.

3. Difficulty determining how many days a student has been enrolled in a charter and/or cyber school was an issue for 225 districts, for 35 it was not a problem and six responded that the issue did not apply.

4. One hundred fifty districts indicated difficulty verifying residency of charter/cyber school students; 108 had no difficulty; there were six who indicated the issue did not apply to their district and two did not respond.

4a. Of the 150 districts that had difficulty establishing residency, 144 indicated that documentation from the charter/cyber school would be helpful, two said no, four left this blank.

5. Difficulty determining if a student had withdrawn from a charter/cyber school was indicated by 235 respondents. Nineteen indicated no difficulty, nine said the issue did not apply and three left it blank. 

6. Ninety-four districts indicated they had been billed for special education services for students for which they had no record as special ed students. One hundred fifty-six indicated they had not encountered this issue, 23 said it did not apply and three did not respond.

6a. Seventy-seven of the ninety-four districts that indicated they had been billed responded that they had requested documentation to verify status of the student, 15 indicated they had not, two left this question blank.

6b.Thirty of those requesting documentation received it, 42 did not and five did not indicate success.

7. Seventy-eight districts indicated that they had been billed for special education services with no documentation to support the delivery of those services. One hundred forty-nine had not been so billed, 29 indicated the issue did not apply at their district and 10 left the question blank. 

7a. Of the 78 billed, 56 requested documentation, 21 did not and one indicated the question did not apply. 

7b. Twenty-one of those requesting documentation indicated that documentation received substantiated the need for special education or related services, 24 indicated it did not, one thought the question did not apply and 10 left the answer blank.

In addition to answering the “yes/no” questions many respondents provided comments and ideas about ways to verify residency of students registered to charter or cyber schools. The method most often cited was to have the student register at the district before registering at the charter/cyber school. Also, some interesting reason were provided for failure of the charter/cyber school to provide documentation of the need for and confirmation of delivery of special education services.

Some respondents replied to the questions in ways that indicated misunderstanding or unusual situations that made “yes, no, does not apply” response inappropriate or difficult to determine the appropriate answer.

Apparent anomalies in answers: 

Question 4
Of 108 answering no to question four indicating that they had not had difficulty determining validity of residency, two answered yes to 4a, indicating that receiving certain documents would have eliminated the difficulty, one answered no, three not applicable and 102 left this blank. Six answered not applicable to question four and then one answered no to 4a, one answered not applicable and four left 4a blank. 

Question 6
Eighteen of those who answered no to question six indicating they had not been billed for special ed students for which they had no record, then answered question 6.a. One answered no to 6a., four answered not applicable and 13 left it blank. Twelve respondents who indicated question six was not applicable also answered not applicable to 6a.

Question 7
Two respondents answered no to question seven, 7a and b; nine that answered no answered not applicable to 7a and b; 138 answered no to the question, and left 7a and b blank. Four answered not applicable to 7, and 7a and b; 25 answered not applicable, and left 7a and b blank. 
   
For more information PSBA Research Services

PSBA 2003 Charter and Cyber School Survey

Comments received
Suggestions/comments on verification of residency
Charter/cyber school should require residency proof.
Do not acknowledge PDE 4605 w/o proof of residency.
Require registration at the district first.
All are former home school students.
There is no accountability -- how much education is taking place?
Parents should register with district before registering with cyber/charter.
Copy of guardianship papers? Affidavit? Sometimes students don't live with parents.
Sent letter to parents to verify enrollment dates
Census info, letter from landlord, copy of lease
Not an electric bill. SD tax bill would help.
Parents should register at district too.
Copy of drivers license or PA ID card may be better than a tax bill since 
a tax bill may only show that property is owned.
Eliminate cyber charters. Justify cost!!
Parents should register at district.
We need a legal document that they are a child of resident.
Require copy of bill and other form of ID for regular students,
why not also charter/cyber?
Cyber school should have PDE 4605 verification of residency before billing.
Must submit to same criteria as regular schools. Billed for non-resident, 
state withheld, which have not yet been refunded.
Residency of parent or guardian.
Would like a standard registration form.
PDE has incorrectly deducted for students.
Applies more to cyber than charters.
Form PDE 4605 should be acknowledged or disclaimed.
Get a statement from the tax collector or local govt. official.
If family not listed on census, send truant officer to verify.
Make all students register at the home district.
Tax records.
Register through home school first.
No spec eds yet.
Require new students to register at district when registering at charter.
Confused with another school district.
Original signed copy of enrollment notification would help.
Calendar should be provided to school.
Research shows cyber school costs should be minimal.
Require PDE Form 4605 like other education providers.
Require at least two items/documents.
Need better proof than an electric bill!
Legal affidavit of proof.
Solicitor provides a list of documents to be used to verify residency.
  
Why was special ed need documentation not provided?
One student and request is in progress.
Just haven't been billed yet.
Only provided cover sheet of IEP.
Not always
Designation changed, parent blamed for misleading cyber officials.
Not yet!
Request to see IEP was denied.
Poor cyber school administration.
No response to request.
One sends front page of IEP; other does not respond.
Student later came to this school and found to not be spec. ed by our criteria.
Don't know if info received.
Not always.
Not yet!
Spec. ed student billed as regular ed (avoiding spec. ed regs?).
Requested but not provided.
Einstein didn't provide documentation and are paid regular rate by PDE deduction.
Unknown.
Concerned that there is no communication with cyber school.
Info recently received.
Unknown.
Billing for spec ed services w/o proper doc is major issue.
Ignored us I guess.
Doc not always provided. Do not pay spec ed rate without it.
None enrolled so far.
Has not happened but potential is great.

Why was special ed delivery documentation not provided?
One student and request is in progress.
No record of spec ed in charter/cyber school.
No spec ed kids in cyber/charter.
Never received documentation.
Small number of cyber students, none ID as spec ed.
Only provided cover sheet of IEP.
Billing mistakes, including double billing for same student.
No psychological was completed.
The charter/cyber school adjusted their records.
Our attorneys told us not to correspond w/cyber schools.
Not yet!
Did not get documents.
Not recd.
Charter did not send documentation.
Not a complete IEP.
Never receive documentation of delivery of service, just days of attendance.
Coord between pupil services, child accounting and bus office not yet addressed.
Cyber school changed designation to "regular student"
Don't know if info received
No special needs students in charter school.
How would you verify that spec. ed services were delivered?
Losing battle. Why waste time.
Never billed for spec. ed services.
Requested but not provided.
Yes and no.
Front page of IEP only states type of placement. Does not substantiate placement.
Never received.
Invoice is only documentation.
Do not feel we have the right to ask.
No documentation provided.
Paying 12k for student getting speech 1X per week.
No spec ed yet.
No spec ed cyber/charter students.
District has no spec ed students reported at this time.
No services were provided.
PDE is still working on the reconciliation.

General comments
No cyber/charter students
Billed for year when students moved out of state in Oct. Had to get refund 
of state withheld money from cyber school.
Do not have cyber/charter students
Especially frustrated by PDE inability/reluctance to resolve deduction problem.
Just got bill and now processing.
Only two cyber students who later became home-schoolers.
To date we have not had charter or cyber students.
Difficulty determining if previously home school or private are actually attending.
Are cyber schools really charters?
Bill PDE directly.
Recommend cyber and charter be recognized as distinct forms.
While both are valuable, cybers require further definition and accountability. 
Basic ed subs should follow student.

Questions and responses