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The Board of Education elects to augment the instructional program of educationally deprived pupils by projects supported by federal funds allocated under Title I - The Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 (IASA) (Public Law 103-382) Part A and Part C Subpart 2.

Purpose

The purpose of Title I is to enable schools to provide opportunities for children served to acquire the knowledge and skills contained in the challenging State content standards and to meet the challenging State performance standards developed for all children.

Title I Grants

The school district is eligible to receive a Basic Grant.  The amount of the grant shall be in accordance with Federal and State Title I guidelines.  The school district may be eligible for the following Title I grants:

A.        Basic Grant - The school district is eligible for a Basic Grant based on State expenditure levels, county poverty levels and number of eligible children in accordance with the Title I guidelines and regulations.

B.        Concentration Grants - The county may be eligible for a Concentration Grant based on the number of Title I eligible children in the county or on the county’s poverty rate.  The school district is eligible for the Concentration Grant if the county does not qualify for the grant and if the school districts where pupil poverty rates exceed those of the county where they live.  Concentration Grants will be distributed to the county and/or the school district in accordance with all Title I guidelines and regulations.

C.        Target Grants - The school district is eligible to receive a Target Grant if it has at least ten formula children and if the number of low-income children is at least five percent of the total school population, aged 5 to 17 years old.  Target Grants will be distributed in accordance with the Title I guidelines and regulations.

Application Procedure

A.        The school district will submit an application and plan for Consolidated Grant funds to the New Jersey Department of Education for approval.  The school district plan and application must describe:

1.         Any additional high quality assessments, if any, other than those described in the State Plan, that the school district and the individual schools will use to;

a.         Determine success in meeting the State’s pupil performance standards;

b.         Provide information on individual pupil progress;

c.         Assist in diagnosis, teaching and learning in the classroom that will enable children served under the Title I to meet the State standards and attain success in the local curriculum; and

d.         Determine that revisions are needed to Title I projects to facilitate the above.

2.         Indicators that will be used to provide information on individual pupil progress toward meeting the State performance standards and to aid in improving instruction;

3.         The professional development activities;

4.         Poverty criteria used to select eligible school attendance areas;

5.         How pupils most in need of services in non school-wide schools will be selected;

6.         How the school district will coordinate and integrate services provided with other educational services, federal programs and programs provided by other State agencies, at the school district or individual school level;

7.         Plans to provide for and include eligible children in private schools;

8.         How school improvement and corrective action will be carried out;

B.        The school district will develop the Title I plan in consultation with parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of children in schools served under Title I.

Program Requirement, Determination and Allocation of Funds

A.        Determination - Title I funds will be used only in eligible school attendance areas as designated in the Title I guidelines and regulations.  In order for a school to be designated as an eligible school attendance area, for Title I purposes, the percentage of children from low-income families in the school attendance area must be at least as high as the percentage of children from low-income families in the school district as a whole.

B.        Ranking Order - The school district may rank its attendance areas by grade-span grouping or for the entire school district.  If funds are insufficient to serve all eligible school attendance areas, the school district will:

1.         Annually rank, without regard to grade-span, eligible school attendance areas in which the concentration of children from low-income families exceeds 75% from highest to lowest according to the percentage of children from low income families; and

2.         Serve such eligible school attendance areas in rank order.

C.        Remaining Funds - If funds remain after serving these eligible school attendance areas, a school district will:

1.         Annually rank such agency’s remaining eligible school attendance areas from highest to lowest either by grade span or for the entire local educational agency according to the percentage of children from low-income families; and

2.         Serve such eligible school attendance areas in rank order either within each grade-span grouping or within the school district as a whole.

D.        Measures of Identification - The school district will use the best available measure for identifying children from low-income families to identify eligible school attendance areas, determine the ranking of each area and to determine allocations.  This measure shall be the number of children ages five through seventeen in poverty counted in the most recent census date, the number of children eligible for free and reduced-price lunches under the National School Lunch Act, the number of children in families receiving assistance under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, the number of children eligible to receive medical assistance under the Medicaid program, or a composite of such indicators.  This requirement is not applicable if the school district has a total enrollment of less than 1,000 children.

E.         Waiver for Desegregation Plan - The U.S. Secretary of Education may approve the school district’s written request for a waiver of the eligible attendance area requirements in accordance with Title I guidelines and regulations.

F.         School District Discretion - In general the school district may:

1.         Designate as eligible any school attendance area or school in which at least 35% of the children are from low-income families;

2.         Use Title I funds in a school that is not in 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 such agency;

3.         Elect not to serve an eligible school attendance area or eligible school that has a higher percentage of children from low-income families if:

a.         The school meets the comparability requirements;

b.         The school is receiving supplemental funds from other state or local sources; and

c.         The funds expended from other sources are equal to or exceed the amount that would be provided under Title I.

4.         SPECIAL RULE:  If a Local Educational Agency (LEA) chooses not to serve an eligible school attendance area, the number of children attending private elementary and secondary schools who are to receive services, and the assistance such children are to receive under this part, shall be determined without regard to whether the public school attendance area in which such children reside receives Title I funds.

G.        Allocations:  In general:

1.         The school district will allocate Title I funds to eligible school attendance areas or eligible schools, in rank order, on the basis of the total number of children from low-income families in each area or school.

2.         The per-pupil amount of funds allocated to each school attendance area or school shall be at least 125% of the per pupil amount of funds the school district received for that year under the poverty criteria described by the school district’s plan.  This will not apply if the school district only serves schools in which the percentage of such children is 35% or greater.

3.         The school district may reduce the amount of funds allocated for a school attendance area or school by the amount of any supplemental state and local funds expended in that school attendance area or school for programs that meet the requirements for school-wide or target assistance schools.

4.         The school district will reserve Title I funds as necessary to provide services comparable to those provided to children in schools funded with Title I funds to serve:

a.         Where appropriate, eligible homeless children who do not attend participating schools, including providing educationally related support services to children in shelters;

b.         Children in local institutions for neglected or delinquent children; and

c.         Where appropriate, neglected and delinquent children in community day school programs.

H.        Children Enrolled in Private Schools - The school district will offer Title I services to eligible children enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools.  The services and benefits will be equitable in comparison to services and benefits for participating public school children.  The school district will contact the private school in writing and consult with private school officials before the school district makes any decision that affects the private school children.  This consultation shall include the following:

1.         Criteria for low income;

2.         How the children’s needs will be identified;

3.         What services will be offered;

4.         How and where the services will be provided; and

5.         How the services will be assessed and the size and scope of equitable services to be provided to the eligible private school children and the proportion of funds allocated for such services.

The school district will keep records of the consultation with the private school officials and funds will be allocated to private schools in accordance with Title I guidelines and regulations.

I.          Coordination Requirements - The school district will provide the State Department of Education assurances that it will provide the maximum coordination between the Title I program, the regular school program and services provided by other programs for specialized populations.  The Title I program will consider the special needs of homeless children, migrant children, disabled children and Limited English Proficient (LEP) children.  Title I funds will be reserved so that migrant children who are otherwise eligible to receive Title I service, even if they arrive in the school year, are served.

J.          Application Procedures - The school district may apply for Title I funds under Basic Grants, Concentration Grants and Local Neglected or Delinquent (N or D) Grants either individually or cooperatively with other school districts in accordance with Title I guidelines and regulations.

K.        Submission of Application - The school district will submit its Title I application and supporting information in accordance with Title I guidelines and regulations.

L.         Application Review - The Department of Education will review the school district’s application in accordance with Title I guidelines and regulations.

Fiscal Requirements

A.        The amount of funds the school district may be entitled to is based on the school district formula count as indicated in the Title I guidelines and regulations.  The school district will use Title I funds for projects designed to provide supplemental services to meet the special educational needs of educationally deprived children at the preschool, elementary and secondary school levels.  Title I funds will only be used to pay for authorized activities as indicated in the school district’s application and plan and as provided for in the Title I guidelines and regulations.

B.        Utilization - The school district may use Title I funds for projects designed to provide supplemental services to meet the special education needs of educationally deprived children at the preschool, elementary and secondary school levels.  Funds will be used and the funds will only pay for Title I activities in accordance with Title I guidelines and regulations.

C.        Maintenance Of Effort - The school district may receive the full Title I allocation if the State Department of Education determines that either the school district’s per pupil expenditures or aggregate expenditures of State and local funds for free public education in the preceding year were not less than 90% of the expenditures for the second preceding year.  The school district’s allocation will be reduced by the exact percentage that the school district failed to meet the 90% level.

D.        Comparability of Services - Title I funds will be used only to supplement the district’s regular programs and will not be used to supplant state and local funds received by this district.  The school district will use state and local funds to provide educational services in schools receiving Title I assistance that, taken as a whole, are at least comparable to services being provided in schools that are not receiving Title I assistance.  Moreover, state and local funds will be used to provide comparable services in all schools receiving Title I assistance.

In order to achieve comparability of services, the Board directs the Superintendent to assign teachers, administrators, and auxiliary personnel and to provide curriculum materials and instructional supplies to schools and classes in such a manner as to ensure equivalence throughout the district in professional services and educational materials.

Title I services provided to private school pupils will be equivalent to those provided to public school pupils.

E.         Supplement - The school district will use Title I funds to supplement, and to the extent practicable, increase the level of funds that would, in the absence of such funds, be made available from non-federal sources for the education of pupils participating in Title I programs and projects. 

F.         Capital Expenses - The school district may apply to the State Department of Education for costs associated with capital expenses incurred to provide equitable services for eligible private school children.

G.        Property - Property acquired through Title I funds for use in public or private schools will be acquired in accordance with the Public School Contracts Law, will be held in title by the Board of Education, and will not be used for other purposes so long as it is required in the Title I program.  Property no longer required for Title I purposes will be used for other, similarly funded projects or disposed of in accordance with state and federal guidelines.

20 U.S.C.A. 3801 et seq.

34 C.F.R. Part 200

20 U.S.C.A. 6301 et seq.

Title I Program Guidelines, New Jersey Department of Education

Issued:  27 May 2008