District Of Columbia § 38-2602 - Responsibilities.
Full text of District Of Columbia D.C. Code § 38-2602 — Responsibilities., with citation guidance and answers to common questions.
§ 38-2602. Responsibilities.
38-2602Within one year of the Officer’s appointment, but not later than October 2001, and except as provided in , the OSSE shall assume the responsibilities listed in subsection (b) of this section. The transfer and assumption of responsibilities shall take place in accordance with the short-term plan to be submitted by the Officer to the Mayor for approval by February 15, 2001, or 5 weeks from the establishment of the OSSE, whichever is later.
The OSSE shall:
Have authority for all state functions for federally sponsored child nutrition programs in the District, including those sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture;
Verify annual fall enrollment counts for all public and public charter schools pursuant to and ;
Formulate and promulgate rules for the documentation and verification of District residency for public and public charter school students, pursuant to §§ and ;
Make recommendations for periodic revisions to the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula pursuant to ;
Conduct a study to be submitted to the Mayor and Council recommending additional functions to be assumed by the OSSE and a proposed transition plan meeting the specifications of ;
Oversee the functions and activities of the Higher Education Licensure Commission, established by , including acting as the state portal agency for the purposes of state authorization reciprocity;
Establish and administer licensure requirements for pre-kindergarten programs, pursuant to ;
Issue rules to establish requirements to govern acceptable credit to be granted for studies completed at independent, private, public, public charter schools, and private instruction;
Prescribe minimum amounts of instructional time for all schools, including public, public charter, and private schools;
Prescribe standards for extended learning time beyond the regular school day for public schools, including public charter schools;
Oversee the state-level functions and activities related to early childhood education programs, including the public education of the Early Intervention Services Program, in accordance with ;
Administer pre-kindergarten education, in accordance with ;
Conduct a residency audit, annually, to establish the number of in-District and out-of-District children enrolled in pre-kindergarten pursuant to [ et seq.];
Provide for the education of children in the custody of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services;
Formulate and promulgate rules necessary to carry out its functions, including rules governing the process for review and approval of state-level policies by the State Board of Education under , pursuant to [ et seq.];
Develop and adopt policies that come within the functions of state educational agencies under federal law, subject to the approval of the State Board of Education for those policies that are subject to board approval under ;
Conduct studies and pilot projects to develop, review, or test state policy;
Repealed;
Fulfill any other responsibilities consistent with the performance of the state-level education functions of the District of Columbia;
Promulgate rules for the administration and implementation of the uniform per student funding formula, pursuant to ;
Have the authority to collect and dedicate fees for state academic credential certifications and general educational development testing as well as for any other state-level education function, as established by the Superintendent by regulation;
Have the authority to issue grants, from funds under its administration (including the non-public tuition paper agency), to local education agencies (“LEAs”) for programs that increase the capacity of the LEA to provide special education services;
By August 1, 2013, create a truancy prevention resource guide for parents and legal guardians who have children who attend a District public school, which shall be updated and made available upon request and, at minimum, include:
An explanation of the District’s laws and regulations related to absenteeism and truancy;
Information on:
What a parent or legal guardian can do to prevent truancy;
The common causes of truancy; and
Common consequences of truancy;
A comprehensive list of resources that are available to a parent or legal guardian, and the student, that address the common causes of truancy and the prevention of it, such as:
Hotlines that provide assistance to parents, legal guardians, and youth;
Counseling for the parent (or legal guardian) or the youth, or both;
Parenting classes;
Parent-support groups;
Family psycho-education programs;
Parent-resource libraries;
Risk prevention education;
Neighborhood family support organizations and collaboratives that provide assistance to families experiencing hardship;
Behavioral health resources and programs in schools;
The Behavioral Health Ombudsman Program; and
The resources at each public school for at-risk students and their parents or legal guardians;
Oversee the functions and activities, as required, of [ et seq.], including ensuring the integrity and security of Districtwide assessments administered by a local education agency;
At least 45 days before the start of the first Districtwide assessment of the school year, issue standards to obtain and securely maintain and distribute secure test materials, which shall at a minimum require that:
An inventory of all secure test materials be maintained;
All secure test materials be secured under lock and key, or other equivalent security measures for electronic secure test materials with limited access;
Only authorized personnel have access to secure test materials; and
All authorized personnel are notified of their test integrity and security obligations before being permitted to access secure test materials or assist in the administration of a Districtwide assessment;
Require each LEA to maintain and submit to OSSE at least 15 days before the administration of the first Districtwide assessment of the school year, a separate test security plan for each school and campus under the LEA’s control that at minimum includes:
Procedures for the secure maintenance, dissemination, collection, and storage of Districtwide assessment materials before, during, and after administering a test, including:
Keeping an inventory of all materials and identifying individuals with access to the materials;
Accounting for and reporting to the OSSE any materials that are lost or otherwise unaccounted; and
Accounting for and securing old or damaged materials;
The name and contact information for the test integrity coordinator and the test monitors at each school under the LEA’s control;
A list of actions prohibited by authorized personnel;
Procedures pursuant to which students, authorized personnel, and other individuals may, and are encouraged to, report irregularities in testing administration or testing security; and
Written procedures for investigating and remediating any complaint, allegation, or concern about a potential failure of testing integrity and security;
Approve a school’s test security plan at least 5 days before testing and make recommendations to amend the plan when necessary;
Keep a copy of each school’s test security plan on file, which shall be made available to a member of the public upon request;
Establish a standard for monitoring the administration of Districtwide assessments to ensure compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and policies;
Monitor Districtwide assessment administration procedures in randomly selected schools and in targeted schools to ensure adherence to all applicable laws, regulations, and policies, which may occur one week before the administration of a Districtwide assessment and during the administration of a Districtwide assessment;
Establish a process by which to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations for the administration of Districtwide assessments for LEA students at nonpublic schools;
Develop and distribute a testing integrity and security notification statement;
At least 45 days before the first assessment of the school year, issue standards to train authorized personnel on testing integrity and security and require that attendance be taken at such training;
Provide technical assistance to LEAs regarding testing integrity and security procedures;
Collaborate with LEAs to ensure accurate reporting of any testing violation while preserving the privacy of involved students and staff;
Establish standards for the investigation of any alleged violation of an applicable law, regulation, or policy relating to testing integrity and security, which standards shall:
Identify the circumstances that trigger an investigation;
Require the initiation of an investigation even if only one circumstance is present; provided, that there appears to be egregious noncompliance; and
Require the investigation of any report of a violation of the laws, regulations, and policies relating to testing integrity and security;
Cooperate with any investigation initiated by the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia or the U.S. Attorney’s Office; and
Revoke, for a period of at least one year, any OSSE granted certification or license granted to an individual who is found to have knowingly and willfully violated, assisted in the violation of, solicited another to violate or assist in the violation of, or failed to report a violation of this paragraph, regulations issued pursuant to this paragraph, other applicable law, or other test integrity policy or procedure.
For the purposes of this paragraph, the term:
“Authorized personnel” means any individual who has access to Districtwide assessment materials or is directly involved in the administration of a Districtwide assessment.
“Districtwide assessments” shall have the same meaning as provided in ; provided, that for the purposes of this paragraph, the term “Districtwide assessment” means assessments used only for accountability purposes.
“Local education agency” or “LEA” means the District of Columbia Public Schools system or any individual or group of public charter schools operating under a single charter.
“Secure test materials” means test materials that might contain or provide access to assessment content, such as information about test questions or answers, including test questions, passages, or performance tasks, answer documents, and used scratch paper.
“Test integrity coordinator” means an individual designated by a LEA to be responsible for testing integrity and security for the LEA in its entirety during the administration of a Districtwide assessment.
“Testing integrity and security notification statement” means a notification developed by OSSE that:
Sets forth requirements for ensuring integrity of Districtwide assessments pursuant to District law and regulation; and
Notifies the recipient that knowingly and willingly violating a District law, regulation, or a test security plan could result in civil liability, including the loss of an OSSE granted certification or license.
“Test monitor” means an individual designated by a LEA to be responsible for testing integrity and security at each individual school subject to the LEA’s control during the administration of a Districtwide assessment;
Implement and administer the CTE grant program established by and administer the CTE Grant Program Fund established by ;
Administer the Healthy Schools Fund and fulfill its other responsibilities under [ et seq.];
Administer the Healthy Tots Fund and fulfill its other responsibilities under [ et seq.]; and
Provide supplemental funding for early literacy programs targeting 3rd grade reading success through a competitive grant program for eligible grantees who are early literacy providers that, at a minimum:
Provide a full continuum of school-based, early literacy intervention services for all grades pre-K through 3rd consisting of developmentally appropriate components for each grade;
Deliver the literacy program by professionally coached interventionists;
Provide direct services each day that school is in session;
Collect data on student progress monthly;
Use an intervention model that is comprehensive and has been proven to be effective in one or more empirical studies; and
Are not local education agencies.
There is established as a nonlapsing fund the Academic Certification and Testing Fund (“Fund”). All fees collected by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education for state academic credential certifications, general educational development testing, or any other state-level education function established pursuant to subsection (b)(17) of this section shall be deposited into the Fund.
All funds deposited into the Fund, and any interest earned on those funds, shall be used for the purposes set forth in paragraph (3) of this subsection. Any unexpended funds in the Academic Certification and Testing Fund at the end of a fiscal year shall revert to the unrestricted fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia.
The Fund shall be administered by the State Superintendent of Education and shall be used to support the administration of state academic credential certifications, General Educational Development, and other state-level programs.
Annotations
Applicability of : Section 4 of provided (a) that the act shall apply upon the date of inclusions of its fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan; (b) that the Chief Financial Officer shall certify the date of the inclusion of the fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan, and provide notice to the Budget Director of the Council of the certification; and (c) that the Budget Director shall cause the notice of the certification to be published in the District of Columbia Register and that the date of publication of the notice of the certification shall not affect the applicability of the act.
Sections 4072 to 4075 of added , et seq.
Applicability of : Section 4077 of , as added by , § 7030(c), and codified as , provided that §§ 4071 to 4076 of the act shall apply as of October 1, 2015.
Section 601 of , as amended by , § 4112, provided that §§ 302(b)(1)(A) and (C) and 304(b)(1)(D) of shall apply to public charter schools upon the inclusion of their fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan, as certified by the Chief Financial Officer to the Budget Director of the Council in a certification published by the Council in the District of Columbia Register. Section 302(b)(1)(A) of added ; Section 302(b)(1)(C) of added ; and Section 304(b)(1)(D) of added 5 DCMR § A2103(c)(6).
Section 601 of originally provided that the act shall apply upon the inclusion of its fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Section 601 of , as amended by , § 7004, provided that the applicability of only §§ 302(b)(1), 304, and 502(a) are contingent upon the inclusion of their fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan.
Section 405 of provided: “Sec. 405. Applicability. This subtitle shall apply as of October 1, 2010. ”
Section 4111 of provided that Subtitle K of Title IV of the act may be cited as the “South Capitol Street Memorial Amendment Act of 2013”.
Short title: Section 4030 of provided that subtitle D of title IV of the act may be cited as the “State Board of Education Clarification Amendment Act of 2009”.
Short title: Section 4007 of provided that subtitle D of title IV of the act may be cited as the “State Education Office Establishment Amendment Act of 2008”.
Short title: Section 4011 of provided that subtitle B of title IV of the act may be cited as the “Office of the State Superintendent of Education Special Education Supplemental Funding and Educational Data Warehouse Amendment Act of 2007”.
Short title of subtitle A of title III of Law 15-39: Section 301 of provided that subtitle A of title III of the act may be cited as the Transfer of the Educational Licensure Commission Amendment Act of 2003.
Source: official District Of Columbia text · Last verified 2026-08-27
Frequently Asked Questions About District Of Columbia § 38-2602
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Section 38-2602 ("Responsibilities.") is part of the D.C. Code, the codified statutory law of District Of Columbia. It sets out the legal rule or procedure described in the text above. Statutes are amended regularly, so always verify against the official source.
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