NON-REGULATORY GUIDANCE

Local Educational Agency Identification and Selection of School
Attendance Areas AND SCHOOLS and Allocation of Title I Funds to Those
Areas AND Schools

![](media/image1.png)

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

August 2003

**Local Educational Agency Identification and Selection of School
Attendance Areas and Schools and Allocation of Title I Funds to Those
Areas and Schools**

# 

# CONTENTS

+------------------------------------------------------------+---------+
|                                                            | Page    |
+------------------------------------------------------------+---------+
| Introduction.............                                  | 3       |
| .......................................................... |         |
+------------------------------------------------------------+---------+
| General Selection                                          | 4       |
| R                                                          |         |
| equirements............................................... |         |
+------------------------------------------------------------+---------+
| LEA Discretion in Selecting Participating Areas and        | 5       |
| Schools............                                        |         |
+------------------------------------------------------------+---------+
| Allocating Title I Funds to Participating Areas and        | 6       |
| Schools..............                                      |         |
+------------------------------------------------------------+---------+
| Questions and                                              | 7       |
| Answer                                                     |         |
| s......................................................... |         |
+------------------------------------------------------------+---------+
| Application of "35 percent"                                | 7       |
| rule............................................           |         |
|                                                            | 7       |
| Skipping an eligible school attendance area or             |         |
| school...................                                  | 8       |
|                                                            |         |
| Carryover of                                               | 9       |
| funds..                                                    |         |
| .......................................................... | 9       |
|                                                            |         |
| Consideration of factors other than poverty in allocating  | 9       |
| funds........                                              |         |
|                                                            | 11      |
| Reservation of funds by the                                |         |
| LEA...........................................             | 11      |
|                                                            |         |
| Maximum amount an LEA may                                  | 12      |
| reserve................................                    |         |
|                                                            | 12      |
| Applicability of section 6123 transferability              |         |
| provision...............                                   | 15      |
|                                                            |         |
| Variations in personnel cost in allocating                 |         |
| funds..........................                            |         |
|                                                            |         |
| Services to preschool                                      |         |
| children..............................................     |         |
|                                                            |         |
| Flexibility in counting poverty children in middle and     |         |
| high schools                                               |         |
|                                                            |         |
| Private                                                    |         |
| schools.....                                               |         |
| .......................................................... |         |
+------------------------------------------------------------+---------+
| Examples...............                                    | 18      |
| .......................................................... |         |
+------------------------------------------------------------+---------+

**Local Educational Agency Identification and Selection of School
Attendance Areas and Schools and Allocation of Title I Funds to Those
Areas and Schools**

**INTRODUCTION**

This guidance outlines how local educational agencies (LEAs) identify
eligible Title I school attendance areas and schools and allocate funds
to those attendance areas and schools. This guidance reflects the
requirements in Title I, Part A, section 1113 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind
Act, and §§200.77 and 200.78 of the Title I regulations published in the
[Federal]{.underline} [Register]{.underline} on December 2, 2002.

This guidance is nonbinding, but compliance with it will be deemed by
the Department, including the Inspector General, as compliance with
applicable statute and regulations. Although this document outlines
specific steps in the allocation process and provides examples
illustrating how certain procedures may be carried out, the examples
provided should not be regarded as exhaustive or limiting. LEAs may
develop alternative approaches that are consistent with the Title I
statute and regulations, but are more in keeping with their particular
needs and circumstances.

**LEA IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION OF SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AREAS AND
SCHOOLS AND ALLOCATION OF TITLE I FUNDS TO SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AREAS AND
SCHOOLS**

The following points summarize the requirements of Section 1113 of the
Title I statute and §§200.77 and 200.78 of the Title I regulations for
identifying eligible school attendance areas and selecting those
eligible areas that will participate in Title I, Part A, and allocating
Part A funds to participating areas:

[General Selection Requirements]{.underline}

1.  An LEA must rank [all]{.underline} of its school attendance areas
    (the geographic area from which a public school draws its children)
    according to their percent of poverty.

-   An LEA must use the same measure of poverty for:

    -   Identifying eligible school attendance areas.

    -   Determining the ranking of each area.

    -   Determining the allocation for each area.

-   The LEA must select a poverty measure from the following options:

    -   Children ages 5-17 in poverty as counted in the most recent
        census data approved by the Secretary.

    -   Children eligible for free and reduced-priced lunches under the
        Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.

    -   Children in families receiving assistance under the State
        program funded under Title IV, Part A of the Social Security Act
        (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families).

    -   Children eligible to receive medical assistance under the
        Medicaid program.

    -   A composite of any of the above measures.

-   An LEA must rank school attendance areas based on the
    [percentage]{.underline} (not the number) of low-income children
    counted.

2.  After an LEA has ranked all of its school attendance areas by
    poverty, the LEA must first serve, in rank order of poverty, its
    areas above 75 percent poverty, including any middle schools or high
    schools.

3.  Only after an LEA has served [all]{.underline} of its areas with a
    poverty rate above 75 percent may the LEA serve lower-ranked areas.
    The LEA has the option to (1) continue on with the district-wide
    ranking or (2) rank remaining areas by grade span groupings.

-   The same district-wide poverty average must be used if the LEA
    selects option (1).

-   For ranking by grade span groupings, the LEA may use (1) the
    district-wide poverty average or (2) the district-wide grade span
    poverty averages for the relevant grade span grouping.

-   If an LEA has no school attendance areas above 75 percent poverty,
    the LEA may rank district-wide or by grade span groupings.

-   An LEA\'s organization of its schools defines its grade span
    groupings. For example, if an LEA has elementary schools serving all
    elementary grades, middle schools, and high schools, the grade span
    groupings would be grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. To the extent an LEA
    has schools that overlap grade spans (e.g., K-5, K-8, 6-8), the LEA
    should include a school in the grade span in which it is most
    appropriate.

4.  An LEA with an enrollment of less than 1,000 students or with only
    one school per grade span is not required to rank its school
    attendance areas.

[LEA Discretion in Selecting Participating Areas and
Schools]{.underline}

5.  An LEA may\--

-   Designate as eligible any school attendance area or school in which
    at least 35 percent of the children are from low-income
    families\--i.e., the \"35 percent rule.\"

-   Use Part A funds in a school that does not serve an eligible school
    attendance area if the percentage of children from low-income
    families enrolled in the school is equal to or greater than the
    percentage of such children in a participating school attendance
    area of the LEA.

-   Elect not to serve an eligible school attendance area or school that
    has a higher percentage of children from low-income families (than a
    school that is served) if \--

    -   The school meets the Title I comparability requirements;

    -   The school is receiving supplemental funds from other State or
        local sources that are spent according to the requirements of
        Sections 1114 or 1115; and

    -   The funds expended from such other sources equal or exceed the
        amount that would be provided under Title I, Part A.

-   For one additional year only, designate and serve a school
    attendance area or school that is no longer eligible but was
    eligible and served in the preceding year.

[Allocating Title I Funds to Participating Areas and
Schools]{.underline}

6.  An LEA must allocate Part A funds to participating school attendance
    areas or schools, in rank order, based on the total number of
    children from low-income families in each area or school. An LEA
    with an enrollment of less than 1,000 students or with only one
    school per grade span is not required to allocate funds to areas or
    schools in rank order.

7.  If an LEA serves any areas or schools below 35 percent poverty, the
    LEA must allocate to [all]{.underline} its participating areas or
    schools an amount for each low-income child in each participating
    school attendance area or school that is at least 125 percent of the
    LEA\'s allocation per low-income child.

-   An LEA\'s allocation per low-income child is the total LEA
    allocation under Title I, Part A, subpart 2 divided by the number of
    low-income children in the LEA as determined using the poverty
    measure selected by the LEA to identify eligible school attendance
    areas. The LEA then multiplies this per-child amount by 125 percent.

-   An LEA calculates 125 percent of its allocation per low-income child
    before the LEA reserves any funds.

-   An LEA must allocate at least this amount for each low-income child
    in every school the LEA serves, [not]{.underline} just for those
    schools below 35 percent poverty.

-   If remaining funds are not sufficient to fully fund the next ranked
    eligible school attendance area or school, the LEA may serve the
    area or school if it determines the funds are sufficient to enable
    children to make adequate progress toward meeting the State\'s
    challenging performance standards.

8.  An LEA serving only areas or schools at or above 35 percent poverty
    must allocate funds in rank order, on the basis of the total number
    of low-income children in each area or school but is not required to
    allocate 125 percent of the LEA\'s allocation per low-income child
    (described in 7. above). However, in determining what per-child
    amount to allocate, the LEA should bear in mind the purpose of such
    funding\--to enable children who are most at risk of not meeting the
    State\'s challenging student academic achievement standards. The
    per-child allocation amount must be large enough to provide a
    reasonable assurance that a school can operate a Title I program of
    sufficient quality to achieve that purpose.

9.  An LEA is not required to allocate the same per-child amount to each
    area or school. However, the LEA must allocate a higher per-child
    amount to areas or schools with higher poverty rates than it
    allocates to areas or schools with lower poverty rates.

10. An LEA that opts to serve schools below 75 percent poverty using
    grade span groupings may determine different per-child amounts for
    different grade spans so long as those amounts do not exceed the
    amount allocated to any area or school above 75 percent poverty.
    Per-child amounts within grade spans may also vary so long as the
    LEA allocates higher per-child amounts to areas or schools with
    higher poverty rates than it allocates to areas or schools with
    lower poverty rates.

**QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS**

1.  **If an LEA applies the \"35 percent rule,\" must all school
    attendance areas with at least 35 percent poverty be served?**

**A.** No. However, school attendance areas to be served must be
selected in rank order.

2.  **Section 1113(b)(1)(D)(ii) allows an LEA to skip an eligible school
    attendance area or school that has a higher percentage of poverty if
    the area or school is receiving supplemental funds from other State
    or local sources that are "spent according to the requirements of
    section 1114 or 1115." What is meant by \"according to the
    requirements of section 1114 or 1115?\"**

**A.** Under §200.79 of the Title I regulations, a supplemental State or
local program meets the requirements of Section 1114 if the program\--

-   Is implemented in a school that meets the minimum 40 percent poverty
    threshold required to operate a schoolwide program;

-   Is designed to promote schoolwide reform and upgrade the entire
    educational operation of the school to support students in their
    achievement toward meeting the State\'s challenging academic
    achievement standards that all students are expected to meet;

-   Is designed to meet the educational needs of all children in the
    school, particularly the needs of children who are failing, or most
    at risk of failing, to meet the State\'s challenging student
    academic achievement standards; and

-   Uses the State\'s assessment system described in §200.2 of the Title
    I regulations to review the effectiveness of the program.

A supplemental State or local program meets the requirements of Section
1115 if the program\--

-   Serves only children who are failing, or most at risk of failing, to
    meet the State\'s challenging student academic achievement
    standards;

-   Provides supplementary services designed to meet the special
    educational needs of the children who are participating in the
    program to support their achievement toward meeting the State\'s
    student academic achievement standards; and

-   Uses the State\'s assessment system described in §200.2 of the Title
    I regulations to review the effectiveness of the program.

3.  **How does an LEA handle funds that are carried over from one year
    into the next when allocating funds to school attendance areas?**

**A.** Although an LEA may not use carryover funds to provide services
in an ineligible school, an LEA has considerable discretion in handling
carryover funds. Some of these options include:

-   Add carryover funds to the LEA\'s subsequent year\'s allocation and
    distribute them to participating areas and schools in accordance
    with allocation procedures that ensure equitable participation of
    non-pupil school children.

-   Designate carryover funds for particular activities that could best
    benefit from additional funding. (Examples: parental involvement
    activities; schools with the highest concentrations of poverty.)

Regardless of the option an LEA elects, the LEA may not carry over more
than 15 percent of its allocation from one year to the next. This
percentage limitation does not apply, however, to an LEA that receives
an allocation of less than \$50,000 under subpart 2 of Part A. An SEA
may, once every three years, waive the percentage limitation if it
determines that the request of an LEA is reasonable and necessary or if
supplemental appropriations become available.

Note that, if an LEA transfers funds from another Federal education
program into Title I, Part A under the transferability provision in
section 6123 of ESEA, then the additional amount transferred is added to
the LEA's Title I, Part A allocation and the combined amount becomes the
base for calculating the 15 percent carryover limitation.

4.  **May an LEA allocate a greater per-pupil amount, for example, to
    schoolwide program schools than to targeted assistance schools since
    schoolwide programs serve all children in the school?**

**A.** The Title I statute requires allocations to be based on the total
number of low-income children in a school attendance area or school.
Therefore, poverty is the only factor on which an LEA may determine
funding. In other words, an LEA may not allocate funds based on the
instructional model, educational need, or any other non-poverty factor.
Because Part A places the responsibility for selecting participants and
designing programs on schools rather than on the LEA, the LEA will not
necessarily be in a position to know in advance the instructional model
or educational need when determining allocations.

5.  **May an LEA reserve funds from its Part A allocation before
    distributing funds to school attendance areas?**

**A.** Yes. Before allocating funds, an LEA must reserve funds to\--

-   Provide services comparable to those provided to children in
    participating school attendance areas and schools to serve\--

    -   Children in local institutions for neglected children; and

    -   Eligible homeless children who do not attend participating
        schools, including providing educationally related support
        services to children in shelters and other locations where
        homeless children may live.

-   Provide, if appropriate, services to\--

    -   Children in local institutions for delinquent children.

    -   Neglected and delinquent children in community day school
        programs.

-   Provide, where appropriate under section 1113(c)(4) of the Title I
    statute, not more than 5 percent of its Part A allocation for
    financial incentives and rewards to teachers who serve students in
    Title I schools identified for school improvement, corrective
    action, and restructuring, for the purpose of attracting and
    retaining qualified and effective teachers.

-   Meet the requirements for choice-related transportation and
    supplemental educational services in section 1116(b)(10) and
    1116(e)(6) of the Title I statute and §200.48 of the Title I
    regulations unless the LEA meets these requirements with non-Title I
    funds. The statute and regulations require that, unless a lesser
    amount is needed, an LEA spend an amount equal to 20 percent of its
    Title I, Part A allocation for this purpose. Of this amount, 5
    percent must support choice-related transportation, 5 percent must
    support providing supplemental educational services, and the
    remaining 10 percent may support the costs of providing either
    choice-related transportation or supplemental educational services.

-   Meet the professional development requirements of---

    -   Section 1116(c)(7)(A)(iii) of the Title I statute and
        §200.52(a)(3)(iii) of the Title I regulations if the LEA has
        been identified for improvement. An LEA must reserve at least 10
        percent of its Title I, Part A allocation for this purpose; and

    -   Section 1119(l) of the Title I statute and §200.60 of the Title
        I regulations to meet the needs of teachers who are not highly
        qualified. An LEA must reserve an amount for this purpose that
        ranges from at least 5 to no more than 10 percent of its Title
        I, Part A allocation for school years 2002-03 and 2003-04 and at
        least 5 percent in subsequent years.

-   Meet the requirements for parent involvement. An LEA that receives
    more than \$500,000 under Title I, Part A, subpart 2 must reserve at
    least 1 percent of its allocation for parental involvement
    activities. The LEA must distribute not less than 95 percent of the
    amount reserved for parent involvement to schools receiving Title I
    services.

-   Administer Part A programs for public and private school children,
    including special capital expenses, if any, incurred in providing
    services to eligible private school children such as---

    -   The purchase and lease of real and personal property (including
        mobile educational units and neutral sites);

    -   Insurance and maintenance costs;

    -   Transportation; and

    -   Other comparable goods and services, including non-instructional
        computer technicians.

-   Conduct other authorized activities, such as preschool programs,
    summer school and intersession programs, additional professional
    development, school improvement, and coordinated services.

Because the reservation of funds by an LEA will reduce the funds
available for distribution to participating areas and schools, the LEA
must consult with teachers, pupil services personnel (where
appropriate), principals, and parents of children in participating
schools in determining, as part of its LEA plan, what reservations are
needed. This issue must also be part of the consultation with private
school officials before an LEA makes any decisions that affect the
opportunities of eligible private school children to participate in Part
A programs.

An LEA must also ensure that it provides equitable services to private
school children from Title I funds reserved "off the top" for
district-wide instructional programs. See question 12 in this guidance
for more discussion.)

6.  **Is there a maximum amount that an LEA may reserve?**

**A.** No. An LEA must bear in mind, however, that the goal of Part A is
to enable participating children to make adequate progress toward
meeting the challenging student achievement standards that all children
are expected to meet.

7.  **How do funds that an LEA transfers into Part A of Title I under
    the transferability provision in section 6123 of ESEA affect the
    specific percentages an LEA must reserve for choice-related
    transportation and supplemental educational services, professional
    development, and parent involvement?**

**A.** If an LEA transfers funds from another Federal education program
into Title I, Part A under the transferability provision in section
6123, then the additional amount transferred is added to the LEA's Title
I, Part A allocation, and the combined amount becomes the base for
calculating the specific reserves required for choice-related
transportation and supplemental educational services, professional
development, and parent involvement.

8.  **May an LEA consider variations in personnel costs, such as
    seniority pay differentials or fringe benefit differentials, as
    LEA-wide administrative costs, rather than as part of the funds
    allocated to school attendance areas?**

**A.** Yes, this is an allowable option for the LEA. The statute
requires that Part A funds be allocated to school attendance areas and
schools on the basis of the number of children from low-income families
in each area or school. This provision assumes, for example, that two
schools with the same number of poor children need similar amounts of
funds to provide comparable educational programs to participating
children. An inequity may occur, however, if schools with similar
allocations offering similar instructional programs need to spend
different amounts because of the salary and fringe benefit costs of the
staff providing the instruction. To address this situation, an LEA may
consider variations in personnel costs, such as seniority pay
differentials or fringe benefit differentials, as LEA-wide
administrative costs, rather than as part of the funds allocated to
school attendance areas or schools. The LEA would pay the differential
salary and fringe benefit costs from its administrative funds taken off
the top of the LEA\'s allocation. This policy would have to be applied
consistently to staff serving both public and private school children
throughout the LEA.

9.  **How may preschool children be served under Part A?**

**A.** There are several ways in which preschool children may be served
under Part A. For example\--

-   A participating school may use part of its Part A funds to operate a
    preschool program.

-   An LEA may reserve an amount from the LEA\'s total allocation to
    operate a Part A preschool program for eligible children in the
    district as a whole or for a portion of the district.

10. **Is there any flexibility in how an LEA may count children from
    low-income families in middle and high schools?**

**A.** Of the four measures of poverty the statute permits an LEA to use
for identifying eligible school attendance areas and allocating funds to
those areas, eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch is by far the
measure most frequently used. Yet, we know from experience that high
school and middle school students are less likely to participate in free
and reduced-price lunch programs than are elementary school students.
Hence, those schools often may not be identified as eligible for Title I
services or, if eligible, may not receive as high an allocation as their
actual poverty rate would require. In order to address the situation, an
LEA may use comparable data collected through alternative means such as
a survey. Also, an LEA may use the "feeder pattern" concept. This
concept allows the LEA to project the number of low-income children in a
middle school or high school based on the average poverty rate of the
elementary school attendance areas that feed into that school.

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| #### EXAMP           |                       |                       |
| LE OF FEEDER PATTERN |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **[DIS               | ##### ENROLLMENT      | ##### LOW-INCOME \#   |
| TRICT]{.underline}** |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **(Elementary)**     | 568                   | 364                   |
|                      |                       |                       |
| School A             | 329                   | 163                   |
|                      |                       |                       |
| School B             | 588                   | 262                   |
|                      |                       |                       |
| School C             | [836]{.underline}     | [277]{.underline}     |
|                      |                       |                       |
| School D             |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ###### Total         | 2,321                 | 1,066                 |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **(High School)**    | 2,000                 | 918                   |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      |                       | (Estimated)           |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Calculate average    |                       |                       |
| percentage of        |                       |                       |
| poverty for the four |                       |                       |
| elementary school    |                       |                       |
| attendance areas by  |                       |                       |
| dividing the total   |                       |                       |
| number of low-income |                       |                       |
| children by the      |                       |                       |
| total enrollment     |                       |                       |
| (1,066 ÷ 2,321). The |                       |                       |
| average percentage   |                       |                       |
| of poverty is        |                       |                       |
| 45.92%.              |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| Because these four   |                       |                       |
| elementary schools   |                       |                       |
| feed into the high   |                       |                       |
| school, the poverty  |                       |                       |
| percentage of the    |                       |                       |
| high school is       |                       |                       |
| projected to be      |                       |                       |
| 45.92%.              |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| To calculate the     |                       |                       |
| number of low-income |                       |                       |
| students in the high |                       |                       |
| school, multiply the |                       |                       |
| total school         |                       |                       |
| enrollment by the    |                       |                       |
| average percentage   |                       |                       |
| of poverty for the   |                       |                       |
| four elementary      |                       |                       |
| feeder schools       |                       |                       |
| (2,000 x 45.92%).    |                       |                       |
| **This is the number |                       |                       |
| used for allocating  |                       |                       |
| Title I funds to the |                       |                       |
| high school.**       |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-------------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
| #### EXAMPLE      |                   |                             |
| OF FEEDER PATTERN |                   |                             |
+-------------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
| **[DISTRI         | ##### ENROLLMENT  | ##### LOW-INCOME \#         |
| CT]{.underline}** |                   |                             |
+-------------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
| **(Elementary)**  | 512               | 360                         |
|                   |                   |                             |
| School A (1)      | 322               | 142                         |
|                   |                   |                             |
| School B (1)      | 450               | 100                         |
|                   |                   |                             |
| School C (2)      | 376               | 201                         |
|                   |                   |                             |
| School D (1)      | 504               | 221                         |
|                   |                   |                             |
| School E (2)      | 610               | 307                         |
|                   |                   |                             |
| School F (2)      | [416]{.underline} | [202]{.underline}           |
|                   |                   |                             |
| School G (1)      |                   |                             |
+-------------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
| ###### Total      | 3,190             | 1,533                       |
+-------------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
| **(Middle School  | 1,599             | 890                         |
| 1)**              |                   |                             |
+-------------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
| Calculate average |                   |                             |
| percentage of     |                   |                             |
| poverty for       |                   |                             |
| elementary        |                   |                             |
| attendance areas  |                   |                             |
| A, B, D, and G by |                   |                             |
| dividing the      |                   |                             |
| total number of   |                   |                             |
| low-income        |                   |                             |
| children in       |                   |                             |
| schools A, B, D,  |                   |                             |
| and G by the      |                   |                             |
| total enrollment  |                   |                             |
| of schools A, B,  |                   |                             |
| D, and G (905 ÷   |                   |                             |
| 1,626). The       |                   |                             |
| average           |                   |                             |
| percentage of     |                   |                             |
| poverty is        |                   |                             |
| 55.66%.           |                   |                             |
|                   |                   |                             |
| Because these     |                   |                             |
| four elementary   |                   |                             |
| schools feed into |                   |                             |
| Middle School 1,  |                   |                             |
| the poverty       |                   |                             |
| percentage of     |                   |                             |
| Middle School 1   |                   |                             |
| is projected as   |                   |                             |
| 55.66%            |                   |                             |
|                   |                   |                             |
| To calculate the  |                   |                             |
| number of         |                   |                             |
| low-income        |                   |                             |
| students in       |                   |                             |
| Middle School 1,  |                   |                             |
| multiply the      |                   |                             |
| total school      |                   |                             |
| enrollment by the |                   |                             |
| average           |                   |                             |
| percentage of     |                   |                             |
| poverty for the   |                   |                             |
| four elementary   |                   |                             |
| feeder schools    |                   |                             |
| (1,599 x 55.66%). |                   |                             |
| **This is the     |                   |                             |
| number used for   |                   |                             |
| allocating Title  |                   |                             |
| I funds to Middle |                   |                             |
| School 1.**       |                   |                             |
+-------------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
| **(Middle School  | 1,325             | 532                         |
| 2)**              |                   |                             |
+-------------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
| Calculate average |                   |                             |
| percentage of     |                   |                             |
| poverty for       |                   |                             |
| elementary        |                   |                             |
| attendance areas  |                   |                             |
| C, E, and F by    |                   |                             |
| dividing the      |                   |                             |
| total number of   |                   |                             |
| low-income        |                   |                             |
| children in       |                   |                             |
| schools C, E, and |                   |                             |
| F by the total    |                   |                             |
| enrollment of     |                   |                             |
| schools C, E, and |                   |                             |
| F (628 ÷ 1,564).  |                   |                             |
| The average       |                   |                             |
| percentage of     |                   |                             |
| poverty is        |                   |                             |
| 40.15%.           |                   |                             |
|                   |                   |                             |
| Because these     |                   |                             |
| three elementary  |                   |                             |
| schools feed into |                   |                             |
| Middle School 2,  |                   |                             |
| the poverty       |                   |                             |
| percentage of     |                   |                             |
| Middle School 2   |                   |                             |
| is projected as   |                   |                             |
| 40.15%.           |                   |                             |
|                   |                   |                             |
| To calculate the  |                   |                             |
| number of         |                   |                             |
| low-income        |                   |                             |
| students in       |                   |                             |
| Middle School 2,  |                   |                             |
| multiply the      |                   |                             |
| total school      |                   |                             |
| enrollment by the |                   |                             |
| average           |                   |                             |
| percentage of     |                   |                             |
| poverty for the   |                   |                             |
| three elementary  |                   |                             |
| feeder schools    |                   |                             |
| (1,325 x 40.15%). |                   |                             |
| **This is the     |                   |                             |
| number used for   |                   |                             |
| allocating Title  |                   |                             |
| I funds to Middle |                   |                             |
| School 2.**       |                   |                             |
+-------------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+

+------------------+--------------------+------------------------------+
| **Feeder Pattern |                    |                              |
| Example          |                    |                              |
| (continued)**    |                    |                              |
+------------------+--------------------+------------------------------+
|                  | ##### ENROLLMENT   | ##### LOW-INCOME \#          |
+------------------+--------------------+------------------------------+
| **(High          | 3,000              | 1,422                        |
| School)**        |                    |                              |
+------------------+--------------------+------------------------------+
| Calculate        |                    |                              |
| average          |                    |                              |
| percentage of    |                    |                              |
| poverty for all  |                    |                              |
| elementary       |                    |                              |
| attendance areas |                    |                              |
| by dividing the  |                    |                              |
| total number of  |                    |                              |
| low-income       |                    |                              |
| children by the  |                    |                              |
| total enrollment |                    |                              |
| (1,533 ÷ 3,190). |                    |                              |
| The average      |                    |                              |
| percentage of    |                    |                              |
| poverty is       |                    |                              |
| projected as     |                    |                              |
| 48.06%.          |                    |                              |
|                  |                    |                              |
| Because all      |                    |                              |
| elementary       |                    |                              |
| schools          |                    |                              |
| eventually feed  |                    |                              |
| into the high    |                    |                              |
| school, the      |                    |                              |
| poverty          |                    |                              |
| percentage of    |                    |                              |
| the high school  |                    |                              |
| is also 48.06%.  |                    |                              |
|                  |                    |                              |
| To calculate the |                    |                              |
| number of        |                    |                              |
| low-income       |                    |                              |
| students in the  |                    |                              |
| high school,     |                    |                              |
| multiply the     |                    |                              |
| total school     |                    |                              |
| enrollment by    |                    |                              |
| the average      |                    |                              |
| percentage of    |                    |                              |
| poverty for all  |                    |                              |
| the elementary   |                    |                              |
| feeder schools   |                    |                              |
| (3,000 x         |                    |                              |
| 48.06%). **This  |                    |                              |
| is the number    |                    |                              |
| used for         |                    |                              |
| allocating Title |                    |                              |
| I funds to the   |                    |                              |
| high school.**   |                    |                              |
+------------------+--------------------+------------------------------+

######## When an LEA elects to use the feeder pattern, the LEA\--

-   Determines the district-wide average of poverty based on all of the
    schools for which the district is using actual poverty data; and

-   Uses this district-wide average to rank all of the attendance areas
    or schools in the district.

######## If an LEA serves attendance areas or schools below a 35 percent poverty rate, the district\'s allocation per low-income child must be based on the actual number of low-income children in the feeder schools, and the projected number in the feeder pattern receiving schools.

11. **How are funds made available to provide services to eligible
    private school children?**

**A.** Title I continues the requirement that an LEA provide equitable
services to eligible children enrolled in private schools. Section
1113(c) of Title I requires an LEA to allocate funds to a participating
school attendance area or school on the basis of the [total]{.underline}
number of children from low-income families, including low-income
children attending private schools. Thus, the LEA, in consultation with
private school officials, must obtain the best available poverty data on
private school children who reside in participating attendance areas.
Because private school officials may have access to some sources of
poverty information not easily accessible to public school officials, it
is very important that public and private school official cooperate in
this effort. An LEA may count private school children from low-income
families every year or every two years.

> In collecting poverty data on private school children, the Title I
> statute gives an LEA flexibility to calculate the number of children
> who are from low-income families and attend private school. To obtain
> a count of private school children, an LEA may use:

1.  The same poverty data it uses to count public school children.

2.  Comparable poverty data from a survey of families of private school
    students that, to the extent possible, protects the families'
    identity. The LEA may extrapolate data from the survey based on a
    representative sample if complete actual data are not available.

3.  Comparable data from a different source, such as scholarship
    applications so long as the income level for both sources is
    generally the same.

4.  Proportional data based on the poverty percentage of each public
    school attendance area applied to the total number of private school
    children who reside in that area.

5.  An equated measure of low income correlated with a measure of low
    income used to count public school children.

> Although funds are allocated based on the number of poor children,
> private school children eligible to be served are children who reside
> in a participating public school attendance area and who are failing,
> or most at risk of failing, to meet student academic achievement
> standards based on the criteria in section 1115(b) of the Title I
> statute . To provide equitable services to eligible private school
> children, an LEA must reserve the amounts generated by poor private
> school children who reside in participating public school attendance
> areas. In consultation with private school officials, an LEA may
> choose one, or a combination, of the following options for using the
> funds reserved for private school children:

-   Provide equitable services to eligible children in each private
    school with the funds generated by children from low-income families
    who reside in participating public school attendance areas and who
    attend that private school.

-   Combine the funds generated by poor private school children in all
    participating areas to create a pool of funds from which the LEA
    provides equitable services to eligible private school children who
    reside in participating public school attendance areas and are in
    the greatest educational need of those services. Under this option,
    the services provided to eligible children in a particular private
    school are not dependent upon the amount of funds generated by poor
    children in the school.

12. **Must an LEA ensure that equitable services to private school
    children are provided from Title I funds reserved "off the top" for
    district-wide instructional programs?**

**A.** Yes. If an LEA reserves Title I funds "off the top" for
district-wide instructional programs, the equitable services requirement
applies. Section 200.64(a)(2)(i)(A) of the Title I regulations requires
that, if an LEA reserves funds for instructional activities for public
elementary or secondary school students at the district level, the LEA
must provide equitable services to eligible private school children. The
LEA bases equitable services from the reserved funds on the proportion
of private school children from low-income families residing in
participating public school attendance areas.

13. **How does an LEA determine the amount of funds to be used for
    parent involvement activities for parents of participating private
    school students?**

**A.** Section 1118 of the Title I statute requires an LEA to reserve
funds off the top of its Title I allocation to carry out required Title
I parental involvement activities. Section 200.65 of the Title I
regulations requires the LEA to calculate the amount of funds available
for parental involvement activities from the reserved funds based on the
proportion of private school children from low-income families residing
in participating public school attendance areas.

14. **How does an LEA determine the amount of funds to be used for
    professional development activities for teachers of private school
    Title I participants?**

**A.** If an LEA reserves funds under section 1119 off the top of its
Title I allocation for carrying out Title I professional development
activities, the LEA must provide equitable services to teachers of
private school participants from this set-aside. As required under
§200.65 of the regulations, an LEA calculates these equitable services
from the reserved funds in the proportion to the number of private
school children from low-income families residing in participating
public school attendance areas. Activities for the teachers of private
school participants must be planned and implemented with meaningful
consultation with private school officials and teachers.

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