Title I, Part A LEA Allocation

LEA allocations intended to help elementary and secondary schools establish and maintain programs that will improve the educational opportunities of low-income and disadvantaged students.

Title I, Part A Application Process

1. Complete the Consolidated Application Reporting System (CARS) Spring Release Application:

   • Complete and certify the four required CARS forms below:
     • Complete and certify the four required CARS forms below. (Information to log into CARS)
       • Certification of Assurances Form.
       • Protected Prayer Certification Form.
       • The Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) Federal Addendum Certification Form
         The local educational agency is required to input the date of its most recently approved LCAP. Questions about the LCAP may be directed to the Local Agency Systems Support Office by email at LCFF@cde.ca.gov or by phone at 916-319-0809.
       • Application for Funding Form
         The local governing board’s approval date and, if applicable, the District English Learner Advisory Committee review date must be equal to or before completing the application for funding form. The District English Learner Advisory Committee review date must be on or before the local governing board approval date.
   • The CARS web page.
   • The CARS Spring Release Data Entry Instructions
   • Contact email for the CARS technical assistance is conappsupport@cde.ca.gov.
     

2. Submit the local educational agency (LEA) local governing board approved Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) Federal Addendum to the California Department of Education (CDE):

   • The LCAP Federal Addendum Submission System.
   • The LCAP Federal Addendum is a separate application than the LCAP. LEAs are responsible for working with the applicable Title program office(s) to receive final approval once the LCAP Federal Addendum is submitted in the CDE submission system.
   • The LCAP web page.
   • Contact email for questions regarding the LCAP is lcapaddendum@cde.ca.gov.

3. Complete the Consolidated Application Reporting System (CARS) Winter Release forms:

   • Once you complete the CARS forms and your Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) Federal Addendum, your submission will be reviewed and your allocation will be loaded into the CARS, which will trigger the related Winter Release forms to display. The required Winter Release forms collect the local educational agency (LEA) level reservations and school level allocations.
   • The CARS Winter Release instructions.
   • The CARS Winter Release forms must be certified by the LEA.

LEA Allocation Eligibility

To qualify for Title I, Part A funds, LEAs must meet a minimum eligibility count and must have a minimum percentage of its 5- to 17-year old population to be eligible for Title I, Part A funding (Every Student Succeeds Act [ESSA] Section 1124[b]). An LEA is eligible for a basic grant for any fiscal year only if the number of children counted for that agency is both:

1. 10 or more; and
2. more than two percent of the total school-age population in the LEAs jurisdiction.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is responsible for the allocation of Title I funds to LEAs. Once the LEA allocation has been determined by the ED, LEAs enter the low-income student counts during the Winter Release on the School Student Counts form for the purposes of school allocations in the Consolidated Application Reporting System (CARS).

Low-income student counts, although informative about the economic status of an LEA, will not match the official federal poverty measure. The federal poverty measure varies annually.

Poverty Measurement for LEA Allocation

The Secretary shall determine the number of children aged five to 17, inclusive, from families below the poverty level based on the most recent satisfactory data, available from the Department of Commerce. In determining the families that are below the poverty level, the Secretary shall use the criteria of poverty used by the Bureau of the Census in compiling the most recent decennial census, as the criteria have been updated by increases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (ESSA Section 1124[c][3][C], and 34 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 200.70-78).

For the purposes of counting children for the basic grants to LEAs, the Secretary shall determine the number of children aged five to 17, inclusive, from families below the poverty level based on the most recent satisfactory data, available from the Department of Commerce (ESSA Section 1124[c][2], and 34 CFR 200.70-78).

Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE)
Program estimates are specifically designed for use in annual Title I allocations to school districts. The SAIPE program poverty estimates are based on the official measure of poverty as defined by the federal government. The details of the methodology differ slightly from year to year. Additional information can be located at the U.S. Census Bureau .

ED provides the California Department of Education (CDE) with Census Bureau estimated poverty counts and enrollment counts for school districts. They do not provide these counts for county offices of education (COEs) and charter schools. In order to calculate the equivalent of Census Bureau estimated poverty counts and enrollment for COEs and charter schools, the CDE uses previous year Free or Reduced-Price Meal data.

Private School Low-Income Student Count

An LEA shall have the final authority to calculate the number of children, ages five through 17, who are from low-income families and attend private schools by either one of the following methods:

1. using the same measure of low-income used to count public school children;
2. using the results of a survey that, to the extent possible, protects the identity of families of private school students, and allowing such survey results to be extrapolated if complete actual data are unavailable;
3. applying the low-income percentage of each participating public school attendance area, determined pursuant to this section, to the number of private school children who reside in that school attendance area;
4. or using an equated measure of low-income correlated with the measure of low-income used to count public school children (ESSA Section 1117[c][1]).
   

Funds Allocated for Equitable Services for Participating Private School Students

The proportional share of funds shall be determined based on the total amount of funds received (Allocation) by the LEA prior to any allowable expenditures or transfers by the LEA (ESSA Section 1117[a][4][A][ii]).

Funds allocated to an LEA for educational services and other benefits to eligible private school children shall be obligated in the fiscal year for which the funds are received by the LEA (ESSA Section 1117[a][4][B]).

Title I, Part A LEA Allocations

Title I, Part A LEA Allocations
A federal program to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach proficiency on State academic achievement standards and academic assessments.

Resources

Title I Services for Students in Private Schools
Title I, Part A requires that an LEA provides eligible private school children with Title I educational services that are equitable to those provided to eligible public school children.

Equitable Services Ombudsman
Title I, Part A and Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorized as the ESSA.

ESSA
Information regarding California's plan to implement the federal ESSA.

Text of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as amended by the ESSA (PDF; Updated 28-Jan-2020)
ED's updated non-regulatory guidance for the ESSA.

Fiscal Changes and Equitable Services Requirements Guidance (PDF)
ED's PDF for Fiscal Changes and Equitable Services Requirements Guidance.

Federal Cash Management
A web-based data collection application for local educational agencies to report federal cash management data for federal programs under the ESSA.

Title I Funding Profiles and Results
A federal program to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach proficiency on State academic achievement standards and academic assessments.