1615 Poydras Street, Suite 400 New Orleans, LA 70112 1 -877-343-4773 October 4, 2017 Rhonda Kalifey-Aluise KIPP New Orleans Schools 1307 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., #302 New Orleans, LA 70113 RE: Enrollment Policy Violation – Misconduct in Submitting Enrollment Forms and Enrollment of Ineligible Children in Kindergarten Dear Ms. Kalifey-Aluise, This letter serves as notice to KIPP New Orleans of a violation of enrollment policy at KIPP Leadership, regarding misconduct in submitting enrollment forms, by way of “completing, editing, altering, or writing on a parent’s application for any reason other than to fill out the portion specifically for staff use,” and the falsification of children’s’ dates of birth for the enrollment of ineligible children into kindergarten. This letter summarizes the family and school accounts of these events, subsequent conversations between myself and KIPP New Orleans staff, as well as any corrective action required on the part of the school. The mother of student visited the EnrollNOLA Family Resource Center (FRC) at Crocker Elementary on August 1, 2017. During her visit, she alleged to EnrollNOLA staff that a KIPP Leadership staff member had submitted an on-line application on her behalf, altering the birth month of student in order for the child to meet the eligibility cutoff to attend kindergarten. On August 3, 2017, I participated in a conference call with KIPP New Orleans and the KIPP Leadership staff member to discuss these allegations. During this phone call, the KIPP Leadership staff member confirmed that he had submitted an application on the family’s behalf and amended the child’s date of birth in order to meet the date cut-off for kindergarten. On August 15, 2017, you and I spoke on the phone where you said that you would be reviewing all of KIPP Leadership’s records to confirm that this was an isolated incident. On September 15, you confirmed that there were a total of five instances where dates of birth had been altered in order to allow students to apply to enter kindergarten for the 2017-18 school year. Enrolling under-aged children into kindergarten is a violation of EnrollNOLA policy, as is completing, editing, or altering OneApp applications on behalf of a parent / guardian. Further, Louisiana Revised Statute 17:151 maintains that the year that a child is eligible to enter kindergarten “shall be one year younger than the age required for that child to enter first grade as provided by R.S. 17:222(A).” Per R.S. 17:222(A), “the age at which a child may enter the first grade of any public school at the beginning of the public school session shall be six years on or before September thirtieth of the calendar year in which the school year begins.” In order for a child younger than this prescribed age to be eligible to enter kindergarten, “the child must have been evaluated and identified as gifted in accordance with the regulations of the State Department of Education.” www.EnrollNOLA.org 1615 Poydras Street, Suite 400 New Orleans, LA 70112 1 -877-343-4773 Per guidance from the Louisiana Department of Education, these students can remain enrolled at KIPP Leadership as kindergarten students but KIPP Leadership will not receive MFP funding for them for the 2017-18 school year. Next year, the students can remain enrolled in kindergarten and KIPP Leadership will resume receiving MFP funding for them. In order to resolve this Enrollment Violation, KIPP Leadership administration and staff responsible for student enrollment, as appropriate, agree to the following: 1. Written declaration of having read and understood EnrollNOLA policies and manual, by 10/20/17. 2. Submission of a copy of the gifted evaluations for any four year old students attending kindergarten in any KIPP schools, or a letter indicating that no such evaluations have been completed, by 10/20/17. 3. Submission of the list of the students whose dates of birth were altered that includes each student’s LASID, first and last name, and date of birth, by 10/20/17. If submitted electronically, this list shall be password protected. 4. Additional action as identified by the Louisiana Department of Education. Please do not hesitate to reach out to EnrollNOLA with questions. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Gabriela Fighetti Assistant Superintendent of Student Enrollment www.EnrollNOLA.org