Our mission is to provide technical assistance, service and support to local educational agencies and schools to ensure equitable access to an excellent education for every child.
Our unit is proud to support Arizona’s schools, educators and families. In collaboration with the rest of the Arizona Department of Education, our team members are dedicated to providing prompt, accurate and friendly service to all LEAs with grant applications, approvals and revisions. We are available for training, technical assistance, monitoring
Submitting ESEA (Title I) Income Eligibility 1 and 2 for FY22
The purpose of this memorandum is to clarify the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) requirements and recommendations regarding Income Eligibility1and2and Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) data collection while operating under the Seamless Summer Option (SSO)in response to COVID-19. Thepurpose of thewaiver to allowthe SSO to operatethrough June 30,2022istosupportaccess to nutritious mealswhile minimizing exposure. However, this change means thattheprocess for calculatingthefree and reduced-price percentage reportusing theNational School Lunch Program (NSLP)claimhas also been interrupted.
TITLE I LEA LEVEL ALLOCATIONS
While SAIPE Census Datais the main factor driving Title I eligibility,the calculationalso usesthe income eligibility guidelines to determinean LEA’sportion of that census data. This information is collected both through CNP Web withFRLdata as well as throughAzEDSas indicator 1 and indicator 2. From these two sources, the highest calculated poverty rateis chosenfor each LEA.With the extension of theSSO, HNSisadvisingthattheywillnot haveNSLP claimdata to reportforLEAsoperatingunderSSOorCommunity Eligibility Provisions(CEP). Therefore,thoseLEAs will need to rely onAzEDSpoverty data, entered through their StudentInformationSystem (SIS)for Title I FY23 funding.
Step 1: Free and Reduced Lunch Forms
Enter Free eligibility as indicator 1 and enter Reduced eligibility as indicator 2.
If an LEA has identified Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility, but is operating under SSO or CEP,even though those students may be marked as Free or Reduced within the SIS, they must also be markedwith an Income Eligibilityindicator 1 (free) or 2 (reduced) for that poverty information to be sent toAzEDS.
Step 2: ESEA (Title I) Income Eligibility Forms
Enter as indicator 1 or indicator 2 as selected on form.
The LEA may choose to send homeIncome Eligibility form (English)/Income Eligibility form (Spanish)as an alternative method to collecting poverty data. In the SIS, students are marked as either indicator 1 (free) or indicator 2 (reduced). When entered as indicator 1 or 2, the SIS will communicated with AzEdDS. Update! Electronic signatures can be utilized for income eligibility. See FAQ for more information.
Please remember that ifIncome Eligibilityforms are collected, the cost of the alternate income application disbursal, collection and processingcannotbe paid from the nonprofit school food service account.
Step 3: Direct Certification
Enter as indicator 1.
Direct Certification, accessible through ADE Connect, matches students who are eligible through SNAP, TANF, Foster Care, Homeless, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations and MEPS/Medicare/Medicaid, without families having to submit a form.
If a school chooses to use a combination of Direct Certification and the Income Eligibility Forms, it is important to send the Income Eligibility form to all students so as not to overtly identify students in poverty.
KEY POINTS
LEA level allocations are based on the LEA/District’s overall poverty percentage. Collect poverty data for all your sites, even though some sites may not qualify for site level allocations.
Check your data in AzEDS by running the Oct 1 Enrollment Report: filter for Oct 1 status and ages 5-17 to get enrollment count. Poverty count is those students who haveindicator 1 or indicator 2. Poverty Percentage training can be found here.
Data must be entered and validatedprior to the January 15 deadline.While corrections can still be made to yourAzEDSdataafter the deadline, the Oct 1stTitle I Eligibilitycount willbe locked.
As this data is reported at the federal level as well as the local level and used for multiple allocations and other state and federal activities (e.g.,Accountability subgroup improvement calculations) it is important to supply as much information as possible for this school year.Providing services to students and supporting schools shall remain our top priority aswe move forward.
If you have specific questions regarding the collection of income eligibility data, please contactAaron Tylerby email at[email protected]
FAQs
Will the Dept of Ed be providing any flexibility for the use of alternative data for FY23 funding?
No, at this point, we have not received any indication from the Dept of ED that we will be allowed to use older year data for either the LEA level allocation calculation or the site level allocations (rank and serve).
What is the difference between Free and Reduced Lunch form and Income Eligibility form?
Free and Reduced lunch forms can be used to collect poverty data for Title I and other Federal programs, however, The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has previously released guidance that LEAs are prohibited from distributing and processing applications solely to obtain household income information in order to determine the funding or benefits for programs other than the Child Nutrition Programs (HNS#17-2021). Therefore, Income Eligibility forms provide an alternative method of collecting the same data.
Can Income Eligibility form be used with online registration?
Yes, schools may utilize digital versions of the form to collect information remotely. However, the same data as on the form must be collected and records retention policies apply.
Can electronic signatures be utilized?
Yes, a digital signature collected through platforms such as Google Forms or Microsoft Forms can be used to collect Income Eligibility. This resource from USDA, that describes criteria for electronic signature for SNAP, can also be applied to the Income Eligibility forms. Arizona does allow for electronic signatures through ARS §18-106(C): “An electronic signature shall be unique to the person using it, shall be capable of reliable verification and shall be linked to a record in a manner so that if the record is changed the electronic signature is invalidated.”
An example would be to build a Google Form with the Income Eligibility fillable Pdf as an attachment. The digital signature can be a typed name on the application, or a mouse click of an “I Agree” button on the Google Form. As the Google Forms are submitted, collect the submission email address and time stamp.
Can we continue to collect Income Eligibility data past October 1?
Yes, the Oct 1st Title I Eligibility Count includes students who are enrolled on October 1, but LEAs can continue to add indicator 1 and indicator 2 to those student’s records through the January 15th deadline.
Can Title I enrollment and eligibility data be corrected in AzEDS after January 15th?
No, Data must be entered and validated prior to the deadline. While corrections can still be made to your AzEDS data after the deadline, the Oct 1st Title I Eligibility count will be locked.
What data is used for site level allocations (rank and serve)?
LEAs typically use their 40th or 100th day ADM enrollment. For poverty percentages, Section 1113(a)(5)(A) of the ESEA provides an LEA the option to use the number of students (K-12):
Eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act including children counted through the Community Eligibility Provision
Data from a poverty survey conducted by the LEA to replicate data usually collected under Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (Income Eligibility)
In families receiving assistance under the State program funded under Title IV, Part A of the Social Security Act (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)
Eligible to receive medical assistance under the Medicaid program
Ages 5-17 in poverty as counted in the most recent LEA-level census poverty data approved by the Department; Note: Because census data are generally not available at the school level, if an LEA uses this measure, it would most likely be part of a composite with one or more of the above measures counted by the LEA using a composite of any of the above measures
How do you calculate school site poverty percentage for FY22?
For your FY22 Consolidated Grant Application, USED has given LEAs permission to use old year poverty counts (low-income data) if that year’s data is more advantageous to the LEA, with a goal of providing the most accurate poverty percentage for the LEA given the challenges of COVID-19.
On the School Eligibility Page, LEAs may use EITHER FY21 (SY20-21) OR FY20 (SY19-20) low-income data, whichever is most advantageous to the LEAs poverty percentage. Pay close attention to rank and serve as the poverty percentage will have an impact. *The same year (either FY21 or FY20) must be used to calculate the poverty percentage for each funded site within the LEA.
On the Poverty Criteria Page, LEAs will verify which data they have used to determine their low-income count. If the LEA has chosen to use FY20 (SY19-20) low income data, there will be a document to complete in Title I-A Related Documents.
Private schools have the same option, to use EITHER FY21 (SY20-21) OR FY20 (SY19-20) low-income data, whichever is more advantageous. Private schools do not have to use the same year or poverty criteria as their corresponding LEA.
If an LEA would like to add a funded Title I school site to their School Eligibility Page, that school site (entity) must have had 40% or more poverty in FY21. To have the entity added, the LEA needs to contact Grants Management via a ticket to request this entity be added. Grants Management will research to determine if it is a valid request. Final approval will come through School Finance at ADE.
1 Building Your Grant - Introduction
2 Building Your Grant - CNA RCA IAP
3 Building Your Grant - Set Asides
4 Building Your Grant - Coding and USFR
5 Building Your Grant - Labeling
6 Building Your Grant - Approval and Revisions
The Comprehensive Needs Assessment, Root Cause Analysis, and Integrated Action Plan for all Title I Schools includes Title I, II, III, IV School Improvement and Move on When Reading. Schools will use the 6 Principles, Indicators and Elements to identify strengths and needs in order to increase student achievement and strengthen school systems leading to sustainable improvement. The primary needs identified in the Comprehensive Needs Assessment become the foundation for the Schools Integrated Action Plan. The LEA Integrated Action Plan is based on the Schools’ Comprehensive Needs Assessment findings. It supports the implementation of the School Integrated Action Plan.
The differences between a webinar and a micro-training:
Webinars are longer recorded sessions of meetings that were recorded or held online and often include recorded participant questions. (approximately 30 minutes to 2 hours in length)
Micro-Trainings are short recorded instructional presentations designed to provide information about specific topic. There are no recorded participant question and answers. (approximately 5-8 minutes in length)
Micro-Trainings:
Title Programs Food Policy
Recorded 11/2020
What is Comparability & What Needs to be Submitted
Recorded 10/2020
Planning for Single Site LEAs
Recorded 10/2020
Allocating Funds Part I: Eligibility and Rank & Serve
December's ESE newsletter edition has some extremely important information and resources for reporting accurate poverty data which will impact your funding for next year, FY23. Please take time to review the poverty data articles and resource links.
