2012-2013 Title I Participating Schools
For additional assistance, contact the Title I Office
Frequently Asked Questions
Click the Questions in the categories below for Answers:
Title I Schools
Q:
What is a Title I school?
A:
Harford County Public Schools (HCPS) has 33 Elementary schools. Of this number,
5 are designated as Title I for 2012-2013.
The identification of a school for Title I status is based upon one thing and one
thing only—the poverty level of the families and students who reside in the attendance
area of the school. The designation as a Title I school has nothing to do with the
academic level of the students in the school. It is strictly and solely based on
the economics of the surrounding area.
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Q:
How are schools in Harford County selected to be Title I?
A:
The law requires each school system to use a standardized measure to determine
the poverty level of each school’s attendance zone. One of those options is the
free-lunch count. In HCPS Schools, the percentage of free-lunch students determines
whether or not a school is eligible to receive the added resources of Title I funding.
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Q:
How does that happen?
A:
Each year there are two critical dates that determine the school’s poverty
level. The first date is September 30th. That is the date on which the school’s
official enrollment is recorded. The second critical date is October 31st. That
is the date on which the free-lunch eligibility of all students in the school is
determined. Those two numbers, enrollment and free-lunch, are then used to calculate
a ratio or percentage known as the school’s Poverty Index. The two dates of September
30th and October 31st are established by regulations. The dates cannot be changed
and the same dates must be used for all of the schools in the school system.
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Q:
Can you provide an example of how a Poverty Index ratio is calculated?
A:
On September 30th a school’s enrollment has officially been recorded at 400
students. On the following October 31st (one month later), after all of the lunch
applications have been collected and recorded, that school has 300 students eligible
for free-lunch, 50 students eligible for reduced-lunch, and the remaining 50 students
ineligible for any lunch subsidy. The Poverty Index is then calculated by dividing
the free-lunch number (300) by the enrollment number (400). When you divide 300
by 400 the result is 75%. Therefore, this school’s Poverty Index is 75% (300 divided
by 400 equals 75%).
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For additional assistance, contact the Title I Office
Historical Data
2011-2012 Supplemental Educational Services (SES) information.