When a parent/guardian enrolls a student online or in person, school staff should be aware of federal requirements for registration and follow the district’s guidelines as described on the district’s website (https://www.ccsdschools.com/registration) in regard to processes, procedures, and required documentation for registration.

• Enrollment should not be delayed due to a parent’s lack of literacy. Schools have the option of contacting the Office of Translation and Interpretation Services or using Language Line teleconference interpretation service to assist parents whose preferred written or oral communication is not English.

• Social Security cards and/or numbers are not required to enroll a student. 

• A district may not deny a student enrollment due to immigration status, and a district should not request this information from the parent/guardian.

• The following considerations should be taken into account if a parent/guardian doesn’t have all the necessary paperwork the first time they come to the school to enroll the student: 

  1. It is imperative that the school obtains the parent/guardians’ name, address, and phone number so that someone from the school or an MSO Parent Advocate can follow up with them to assist with the enrollment process. The MSO Parent Advocate Assistance Request Form should be completed in such cases

  2. A Conditional Enrollment form is available but a parent should qualify to use it. It should only be used in extenuating circumstances and sent to the district’s pupil accounting office for review. 

  3. Many of our ML families recently immigrating to the US may be doubled up due to economic hardship and may qualify for McKinney-Vento. Referrals for McKinney-Vento should be sent to the district’s McKinney-Vento office. 

  4. The Office of General Counsel can be a great resource for providing guidance if a family does not have a copy of the birth certificate or any other proof of birth. 

  5. Given the complexity of particular enrollment, placement, and scheduling circumstances, it is challenging to outline every situation and outcome. Schools should complete the CCSD Unique Enrollment Case Support for Multilingual Learners to receive counseling support for the placement/enrollment of a Multilingual Learner that is not addressed in the CCSD Secondary School Counseling Guide to Multilingual Learners.

To fulfill the requirement of ESEA section 3113(b)(2), districts are required to identify students whose home language is one other than English for potential English language development eligibility. The Home Language Survey (HLS) is a legally binding document that is administered once at initial enrollment in South Carolina public schools. The HLS is the first step in the two-part identification process for potential MLs. MSO personnel will use the HLS responses to determine if a student will move to the second part of the process—English Language Proficiency (ELP) screening.  

To achieve the ultimate goal of successfully exiting the ML program, students must master listening, speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in English.  To demonstrate mastery and readiness to exit the ML program, a student must score fluent on the initial ELP screener or state-mandated test for English proficiency (ACCESS for ELLs 2.0). More information can be found in the Title III Multilingual Learner and Immigrant Student Program Guiding Principles.

Purpose

The purpose of the Enrollment Survey (ES) is to consolidate identification tools for the three federal programs housed within the Diversity, Inclusion, and Access (DIA) team within South Carolina’s Office of Federal and State Accountability (OFSA). These programs include Title I, Part C Migrant Education, the McKinney-Vento Education of Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY), and Title III, Part A Multilingual Learner Program (MLP), and Immigrant Children and Youth.

Identification of diverse student subgroups is an imperative first step to increasing equitable access to educational opportunities and providing wrap-around services to the most vulnerable subgroups of students in South Carolina. The ESEA of 1965 and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as amended, authorize specific entitlement funding and rights for eligible migratory, homeless, multilingual learner, and immigrant children and youth. However, in the absence of effective, multi-faceted identification methods, vulnerable subgroups of students may not receive the rights, services, and support to which they are entitled.

Finally, consolidation of identification tools will streamline identification processes as well as data collection, entry, and reporting for DIA federal programs at both the local and state levels. The consolidation of identification tools and improved data collection methods for DIA student subgroups also affords the district a better opportunity to utilize an equity lens when analyzing data to consider students’ needs and compounding areas of concern. 

Completion of the Enrollment Survey

The ES is completed by the parent/guardian (or, in the case of an unaccompanied youth, the youth) when a student is enrolling in a South Carolina school district (3- and 4-year-old preschool program through grade twelve) for the first time (i.e., no previous enrollments in South Carolina). Section II of the ES (HLS) should not be purged and should remain with the student file for the entirety of their educational career in K–12 public schools. It is expected that the form is completed for all students and kept in the student files. 

The student information, Right to Translation and Interpretation Services, Title I Part C Education of Migratory Children & Youth, and McKinney-Vento sections (i.e., Section I) are completed as part of each student’s annual school registration and accounts for potential changes to home communication language, a student’s nighttime residence, or migratory status that can occur beyond the year of initial enrollment in a South Carolina school district. The Title III, Part A section (i.e., Section II), specifically, the Home Language Survey, is only administered upon initial enrollment and is not completed annually.

The ES will be embedded with all enrollment processes, including online registration, at the start of the 2022–23 school year. The ES may be administered both online and on paper. If the student is enrolling in school from another South Carolina district, the Title III, Part A section should not be included in the registration process. Therefore, when printing the online enrollment survey, school personnel should note that Section II will print with blanks, but should not be retained. School personnel responsible for registration should review the student’s records and if the original ES is not included, the receiving school must request the original ES from the previous school/district. 

Students who transfer from a South Carolina school district should have the original ES in the student files beginning at the start of the 2022–23 school year. Before this date, student files should contain the previously used HLS. When a student transfers without the original HLS or ES on file, the school should contact the previous school to request that they send the original document within the first 30 calendar days of school or within 14 calendar days of a later enrollment. The new school should make at least three documented attempts to obtain the original HLS. If the school has not received the original HLS within the designated timeline and at least three varied communication attempts (e.g., phone call, email, fax, etc.) are documented, the receiving school may request that the parent complete a new HLS. The completion of a new HLS should be a last resort and all attempts to obtain the original document should be fully documented (i.e., methods of contact with details, name of person(s) making the attempts, dates and times of attempts, result or communication with the transferring school/district) and kept in the student record. 

Additional Information/Helpful Documents from the SCDE

• Enrollment Survey Memorandum

• Enrollment Survey Documents & Translations

• Enrollment Survey FAQs

• Enrollment Survey Guidelines

CCSD Enrollment Survey (ES) Business Rules/Processes/Procedures

• All students must have Section II of the ES (HLS) in their permanent record.

• Section II of the ES (HLS) should not be purged and should be included in any transfer records coming to and/or from other schools. 

• If Section II of the ES (HLS) has a language other than English listed for questions 1-3, then a copy should be given to the MLPS within 14 days of enrollment and the English Proficiency Level should be coded as AW by the Data Specialist until notified otherwise via the MLP Roster.

• The answers to the Right to Translation and Interpretation Services questions and the HLS questions should be coded in PS by the Data Specialist upon enrollment.

• The HLS should not be included within any application packets for 3k/4k and should only be provided to those 3k/4k students enrolling in our schools.

• The HLS section of the ES should be administered only once during a student's SC academic career. Parents registering their student from another SC school/district should not receive the HLS section of the ES, efforts should be made to acquire the original HLS from the previous school if it is not in the student’s records.

• All questions of the HLS (1-3) should be completed in its entirety.  If an answer is left blank it is the school’s responsibility to contact the parent and have them provide the information for the missing answers. 

• If a parent wishes to amend the answers they provided to questions 1-3 of the HLS they can contact the MSO office (mso@charleston.k12.sc.us)

Other ML Enrollment & Identification Considerations

Students aged 3–21 enrolling in South Carolina public schools must be allowed to do so at all grade levels. Additionally, the United States Supreme Court held in the case of Plyler v. Doe (1982), that a State may not deny access to a basic public education to any student residing in the State, whether present in the United States legally or otherwise. Students with an international diploma must be enrolled if the student meets South Carolina’s age requirements. 

Schools must not discourage MLs from enrolling in a South Carolina public high school, based on age, previous school, academic history, and/or English language proficiency. In addition, schools must communicate all enrollment options to MLs and their families in a language they understand.

Age-Appropriate Placement

Initial grade placement must be with same-age classmates, and MLs must be provided the opportunity to advance with age-level peers. At the high school level, a student must be placed with age-level peers and decisions for coursework should be based on the student’s transcript if available. For high-school-aged MLs without transcripts, students should be placed age-appropriately and provided the current ‘Ninth Grade Code (9GR)’ in PowerSchool. 

Content area teachers must accommodate instruction and assignments to meet the academic and language needs of MLs. Assignment and assessment grades must be reflective of appropriate accommodations based on English proficiency levels and student needs. Additionally, the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 and Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. 563, mandate that MLs are entitled to an equal opportunity to participate in all programs (i.e., Advanced Placement (AP), honors, International Baccalaureate (IB), gifted and talented programs, co-curricular, and extracurricular programs and activities).

In the event of lack of formal schooling, an ML may be placed in a lower grade of no more than one year of the age-appropriate placement level. However, prudence and evidence of communication with the parent/guardian, MLPS, and additional stakeholders to discuss the placement must be documented along with written parent/guardian consent.

Students must not be denied enrollment regardless of the time of year. Students who enroll late in the year or quarter/semester must also be registered and provided the same opportunities as their non-ML peers. 

Given the complexity of particular enrollment, placement, and scheduling circumstances, it is challenging to outline every situation and outcome. Schools should complete the CCSD Unique Enrollment Case Support for Multilingual Learners to receive counseling support for the placement/enrollment of a Multilingual Learner that is not addressed in the CCSD Secondary School Counseling Guide to Multilingual Learners.

Translating and Transcribing International Transcripts

MLs enter U.S. schools with a wide range of educational experiences. They have limited time to adapt to new environments and acquire English. Schools are obligated to provide MLs with an education that allows them to attain the skills outlined in the profile of a South Carolina graduate. MLs should be prepared to meet college entrance requirements or enter the workforce as a high-quality employee. Therefore, MLs must be placed in courses that are appropriate to their level of academic knowledge—which requires evaluating international transcripts. One thing to point out is that core English courses may not be granted to the student as English in a foreign country would be considered a foreign language. Contact the Office of School Counseling Services and the Multilingual Learner Program (MLP) Office to inquire about the most current policies for awarding international credit as the SCDE and CCSD are working towards a more uniform process of translating and transcribing international transcripts. 

See more by visiting MLs and School Counseling

Foreign Exchange Students

Foreign exchange students are held to the same identification screening standard as all other students. If a language other than English is listed on the HLS, the student should be screened for English language development support and coded in PowerSchool according to the results.

Under the ESEA, a foreign exchange student would not be exempt from any Title III required assessment, specifically, the ELP assessment. The legal obligations for foreign exchange students were not changed through the passage of the ESSA. Foreign exchange students who qualify for the ML Program take ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 annually until they meet the reclassification requirements. 

Withdrawal of MLs to Another Country

For grades 9-12,  in order to have acceptable documentation for graduation rate calculation, the principal can document that he/she has had a conversation with the parent and the parent confirmed that the family was moving to another country. This documentation should be dated, signed, and filed appropriately.

For all grades, when a student withdraws to go to another country, the student should be given a stamped, sealed, notarized, and dated copy of the transcript (grades 9-12) or permanent record (grades K-8).  Many foreign countries will not accept documents if they are not prepared in such a way.  

Diversity, Inclusion, and Access (DIA) Enrollment Survey (ES)

To strengthen pre-existing identification processes, the Diversity, Inclusion, and Access (DIA) team within the Office of Federal and State Accountability (OFSA) convened with district stakeholders to develop a consolidated Enrollment Survey (ES). The purpose of the ES is to streamline identification processes for the following federally protected groups of students: migratory, multilingual learner, and immigrant children and youth, as well as students experiencing homelessness.

DIA Enrollment Survey Documents from SCDE

DIA Enrollment Survey FAQs