Contact: Beverley Wheeler, (202) 741-0884
The DC State Board of Education (DCSBOE) unanimously voted to approve the new Residency Verification Regulations [PDF] at a public meeting held last night. The most notable change in the regulations is to the date at which local education agencies can begin their residency verification process. It is being moved from July 1 to April 1 annually. As part of its decision making process, the State Board had received updates on the changes to the existing regulations from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education at previous public meetings and received input at a public hearing on February 18, 2009.
State Board President, Lisa Raymond stated “these new regulations will enable school leaders more planning time for the coming school year. We have heard overwhelmingly from leaders at the district and the school level that this will be helpful for parents by allowing them sufficient time to enroll their children and for schools, by providing more preparation time and having real numbers to prepare for.”
Also at the meeting, representatives from the Higher Achievement Program along with one student participant gave a presentation to the State Board members. Their program works with five hundred students from across the DC metro region. It is a research based program whose mission is centered on developing the academic skills, behaviors, and motivation of middle school children to prepare them for acceptance to college preparatory high schools.
In addition, Micki Freeny, coordinator of children’s and youth services for the DC Public Libraries (DCPL) presented on the DCPL children’s programming and its work with the District's youngest learners. The research-based program offers 40 preschool reading programs a week at local libraries. Ms. Freeny also noted that an outreach program has been instituted to reach parents who may not currently visit the library programs. The outreach program teaches parents techniques on how promote their child’s literacy regardless of the parent’s literacy level.