MCPS Title I funding serves 85% of allocation to schools; projection tools and direct‑certification drive allocations

Michelle Owens, Director for the Division of Early Childhood, Title I and Recovery Funds, presented an overview of the Title I program, how federal formulas allocate funding and how MCPS distributes funds to schools.

Owens said Title I funds are supplemental ("icing on the cake") and are governed by federal formulas that rely on counts of children ages 5–17 in poverty; those census numbers drive district allocations and can cause year‑to‑year variation. She noted the FY25 Title I allocation to MCPS was $47,108,271. Owens explained two central compliance tests: supplement‑not‑supplant (districts cannot replace local/state funding with Title I) and comparability (a fairness test that ensures a Title I school's state and local funding remains comparable to other schools). Owens also explained required set‑asides for equitable services to nonpublic schools, parent engagement, neglected and delinquent students, and McKinney‑Vento services for students experiencing homelessness.

Owens described district priorities that are funded before school allocations: early childhood (including ten Title I pre‑K classes), extended learning opportunities (ELO) and summer programs, primary talent development coaches (0.5 FTE per Title I elementary), and a small allocation for early career educators. Owens said about 85% of Title I funds go directly to schools (including early childhood), roughly 6% supports summer programming and about 9% funds compliance and central administration.

On school allocations, Owens said MCPS uses direct certification for free meals as the primary measure to compute per‑pupil allocations and distributes projected school allocations in February. She told the committee that fiscal-year projections sometimes force the Title I office to absorb shortfalls internally rather than reduce school allocations. Owens warned the committee that the district's Census poverty count dipped between 2022 and 2023 — which will lower projected Title I revenue — and said that while Congress had passed a continuing resolution, final federal and state allocations normally arrive between April and September; the district received a level funding continuing resolution for FY26 but local projections still reflect the census dip.

Committee members asked about oversight of school spending, class‑size guidelines, and transitions for schools losing Title I status; Owens said central instructional specialists work with principals on compliance and program implementation, Title I staffing and monitoring is centrally supported, and principals typically use allocations for staff (the largest line item) and then materials or professional learning as budgets allow.

Less critical details: Owens said the district prioritizes full‑day Title I pre‑K classes at selected Title I schools, funds 10 pre‑K classes, and that Title I historically funded summer ELO programs in many schools. She said the federal Title I program requires no local match but that local funds are often used to supplement services.