Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• COE: Certificate of Eligibility

• COS: Continuation of Services

• ID&R: Identification and Recruitment

• IEP: Individualized Education Program

• LEA: Local Education Agency

• MEP: Migrant Education Program

• PFS: Priority for Services

• QAD: Qualifying Arrival Date

• SEA: State Education Agency

• TN: Tennessee

A COE is the official record of the student state’s eligibility. It must be completed to certify a student as migratory. The Arroyo Research Services (ARS) Outreach and Enrollment Team is the only authority in Tennessee that can determine a child’s eligibility for the TN MEP (by the authority granted to ARS via its contract with the state).

The QAD is the date when the Migratory Child and Migratory Qualifying Worker complete their qualifying moves to be together. The QAD is recorded on the Certificate of Eligibility (COE) and designates the beginning of the child’s 36 months of eligibility for the MEP.

Eligibility is for 36 months beginning on the Qualifying Arrival Date (QAD) or until the student turns 22 years old or graduates from high school or obtains a high school equivalency diploma.

• If within the 36 months a new COE is completed for the student based on a new QAD, then 36 months of program eligibility starts again.

For example, for the 2023-2024 School Year, students must have a QAD of 9/2/2020 or later. If the student has a QAD of 9/2/2020, they will have an End of Eligibility (EOE) date on 9/1/2024.

According to sections 1115(c)(1)(A) (incorporated into the MEP by sections 1304(c)(2), 1115(b), and 1309(3) of the ESEA, and 34 C.F.R. § 200.103(a)), the only age requirement for MEP eligibility is “the child is not older than 21 years of age.”

During August to May, school districts will be provided with a monthly migratory student list. An email will be sent out to the LEA migrant liaisons once the migratory lists are available. Please pay attention to the “Action Needed” and “Comments” column as this will let you know if the student has been properly marked as migratory. Please note, if you do not see a migratory student list in your folder, no migratory students have been identified in your district at the moment.

You can view your migratory student count in two ways.

1. During August to May, student lists are uploaded to your folder in the Resources tab in TNMigrant. An email is sent out once this becomes available. Please note, only districts with migratory students will have a list. If your district does not have a student list, there are currently no migratory students identified in your LEA.

2. You can pull a student enrollment report in TNMigrant. To pull a report you will need to go to the Reports tab in TNMigrant, select Student Enrollment report, and enter the start date of 9/01/ year of the current school year. For example, 22/23 school year will look like this: 9/01/23. A report will load with your migratory students. Please note, if your LEA does not have any migratory students the results will be null.

You can review your monthly student list which is uploaded from August to May in your district folder in TNMigrant. The list contains an “Action Needed” and “Comments” column that points out if the migrant classification "I" needs to be added for a student, has been correctly marked, or needs to be removed because it has been incorrectly marked. It is important to classify migratory students correctly with the classification "I" in your SIS/EIS, as this properly marks them as migrant for that school enrollment and identifies them for accountability, funding, reporting, and other purposes. Only mark a student with the migrant classification "I" if they are indicated as migratory on your monthly student list.

No, migratory children are automatically eligible to receive free lunch once they are enrolled in the Migrant Education Program. Please review the Eligibility Manual for School Meals Categorical Eligibility description for more information.

No. Many migratory students were born in the United States and are citizens of the United States. While migratory students may also be immigrants, migratory students are of all races, ethnicities, and from multiple countries of origin.

No. According to T.C.A. § 49-6-3109, No person shall be refused admission into or be excluded from any public school in this state on account of race, creed, color, sex or national origin. No student shall be assigned or compelled to attend any school on account of race, creed, color or national origin, or for the purpose of achieving equality in attendance or increased attendance or reduced attendance, at any school, of persons of one or more particular races, creeds, colors or national origins. LEAs may assign a pupil in the manner requested or authorized by the pupil's parents or guardian.

The federal Migrant Education Program gives Priority for Services (PFS) to migratory children who are failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet the state’s challenging academic content and student achievement standards, and whose education has been interrupted during the regular school year. The information added by LEAs when they complete the Individual Needs Assessment in tn.msedd.com will determine if the student is PFS.

1. Recent Qualifying Arrival Date (QAD): Student has a QAD within one (1) year of enrollment date

2. Academic Risk Factors:

1a. Below proficient on one or more TN assessments

1b. TNReady ELA marked as below or approaching

1c. TNReady MA (math) marked as below or approaching

2. Identified as English learner based on the state’s English language proficiency screener

3. Repeated a grade or course

4. Student has missed ten (10) or more days of school

5. “D” or “F” grades in more than one subject

6. Individualized Education Program (IEP) – student identified as needing special education

7. Missing credits for graduation

8. Student’s age does not match grade level

9. ACT score below 20

For more information about the INA and PFS determination, please review the INA Instructions on tn-mep.net/resources/districts.

Yes. LEAs should follow standard ESEA equitable processes associated with the annual Intent to Participate form, the Non-Public School Survey, and the equitable services section of the Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) to indicate and plan for non-public school participation in Title I, Part C.

Step one: Each fall, send all eligible non-public schools an Intent to Participate form. The form includes a space for non-public schools to indicate that they would like to participate in Title I, Part C.

Step two: If the non-public school indicates on the Intent to Participate form that they would like to participate in Title I, Part C, the LEA should contact non-public school officials to discuss the program and eligibility requirements. This discussion should include an explanation of the Occupational Survey (OS) which is used as a preliminary screener in the identification of migrant students. The most recent Occupational Survey can be found at tn-mep.net/resources/districts.

Step three: If the non-public school indicates that they believe they have eligible migratory students, the OS must be administered to all students of the non-public school.

Step four: As outlined in the OS Protocol, after families complete the OS, forms should be forwarded to the LEA for submission and documentation. See further instructions for the OS at tn-mep.net/resources/districts.

Division of Federal Programs and Oversight

Step five: Once the LEA submits an OS to the state MEP contractor, the Outreach and Enrollment Team conducts an interview with the family to determine student eligibility.

Step Six: The state MEP contractor will issue a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) to certify eligible migrant students, and share the COE with the LEA. If a COE is issued for a non-public school student, the LEA must then consult with non-public school officials to determine the appropriate services and work with the non-public school to complete and submit the required individual needs assessment (INA).

Yes, based on TN MEP protocols, if the non-public school indicates that they believe they have eligible migratory students, the Occupational Survey must be administered to all students of the non-public school. In addition to serving these students, the LEA must screen these students for MEP eligibility. Collaborating with the non-public schools within the LEA is an important strategy to ensure the MEP is recruiting all the eligible migratory children in the state.

LEAs should follow the protocol for submitting completed Occupational Surveys through TNMigrant. The most recent Occupational Surveys and protocol can be found at tn-mep.net/resources/districts

For equitable services questions, contact Brinn.Obermiller@tn.gov. For more information on collaborating with the non-public schools within your district, please reach out to the Outreach and Enrollment Team at idr@tn-mep.net.

A student may continue to receive MEP-funded services according to the below definition from Section 1304 (e) of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Please refer to this document for the complete continuation of services policy.

The US Department of Education Fact Sheet: Information on the Rights of All Children to Enroll in School

• School officials may request proof that you live within the boundaries of the school district.

• LEAs can require proof of residency, but there should be a variety of documents that the LEA should accept.

• School districts typically accept a variety of documents for this purpose such as copies of phone and water bills, lease agreements, affidavits, or other documents.

• School registration forms or procedures may not directly require proof of SSN, State Driver’s License, or birth certificate.

• LEAs may not prevent or discourage a child from enrolling in or attending school because he or she lacks a birth certificate.

• LEAs may not prevent [a] child from enrolling in or attending school if [the parent(s)] choose not to provide [their] child’s social security number.

• Districts must accept alternative documents as proof that a child lives within the district or school boundaries.

• A school district may not ask about a parent or child’s citizenship or immigration status to establish residency within the district.

• A school district may not deny a homeless child (including a homeless child who is undocumented) enrollment because he or she cannot provide the required documents to establish residency.

• While a school district may choose to include a parent’s state-issued identification or driver’s license among the documents that can be used to establish residency, a school district may not require such documentation to establish residency or for other purposes where such a requirement would unlawfully bar a student whose parents are undocumented from enrolling in school.

• The Oregon Migrant Education Service Center produced this video to share helpful information for HS students who arrive with credits from other countries. Watch on YouTube

Dear Colleague Letters:

• English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Patents

• School Enrollment Procedures

• Race and School Programming

OCR Fact Sheets

• Protecting Access to Education for Migratory Children

• Protecting Access to Education for Unaccompanied Children

• Ensuring Meaningful Participation in Advanced Coursework and Specialized Programs for Students Who Are English Learners

• Confronting Discrimination Based on National Origin And Immigration Status

• Information for Limited English Proficient (LEP) Parents and Guardians and for Schools and School Districts that Communicate with Them

Rules vary among states and districts on what forms of documentation can be used to prove residency within a district. Districts typically accept a variety of documents as proof of residency, such as a telephone or utility bill, mortgage or lease document, parent affidavit, rent payment receipts, a copy of a money order made for payment of rent, or a letter from a parent’s employer that is written on company letterhead.

A parent must be permitted to establish residency using any of the alternative methods provided for by state or local law. States and districts cannot apply different rules, or apply the same rules differently, to children based on their or their parents’ actual or perceived race, color, national origin, citizenship, immigration status, or other impermissible factor. All students must be treated equally.

A district should review the list of documents that can be used to establish residency to ensure that the documents required would not unlawfully bar or discourage a student who is undocumented or whose parents are undocumented from enrolling in or attending school.

No. Even where a district has valid proof of residency requirements, it must exempt from those requirements all children and youth who are considered homeless under the Federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. These children and youth have a right to enroll in school, even if their families cannot produce the documents that would otherwise be required to prove residency.

The McKinney-Vento Act defines the term “homeless children and youth” as including, in part, “children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement,” as well as children of migratory agricultural workers.