Assessment/Accountability No Child Left Behind
Title I

Fiscal Information

• How the Federal Government Allocates Funds to States and Districts
• How Districts Allocate Funds to Schools
• Maintenance of Effort, Comparability of Services and Supplement, Not Supplant
• Time and Effort Reporting
• Transferability, Flexibility, and Program Coordination
• Ed-Flex Waivers
• Reservations / Set-Asides
• Carryover Funds
• Show All

How Districts Allocate Funds to Schools

Once the money has been allocated to districts by the State, districts must allocate Title I funds to participating school attendance areas or schools, in rank order, based on the percentage of children from low-income families in each area or school. A district 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.

If a district serves any areas or schools below 35 percent poverty, it must allocate to all 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 district's allocation per low-income child.

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

• A district calculates 125 percent of its allocation per low-income child before it reserves any funds.

• A District must allocate at least this amount for each low-income child in every school it serves, not 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 district 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.

A district 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 its allocation per low-income child. However, in determining what per-child amount to allocate, the district 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.

A district is not required to allocate the same per-child amount to each area or school. However, it 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.

A district 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 district allocates higher per-child amounts to areas or schools with higher poverty rates than it allocates to areas or schools with lower poverty rates.

Federal Non-Regulatory Guidance on Districts' Selection of School Attendance Areas and Schools and Allocation of Title I Funds to Those Areas and Schools