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PGCPS projects modest drop in Title I funding, details ranking method and notification timeline
Summary
District Title I staff told the committee that identification of Title I schools uses September 30 enrollment and October 31 direct-certification counts, that PGCPS received about $52.8M this year and projects roughly $50.2M next year, and that schools are notified of Title I status in January–February before budget season.
PGCPS Title I officials presented the district's methodology for identifying Title I schools and walked board members through current allocations and a projection for the coming year during the April 22 committee meeting.
"Title I exists to ensure that all children have access to a fair, equitable, and high quality education," said Natasha Flood, director of ESSA and Title I, who described how federal funds flow to states and then to local education agencies (LEAs) under the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Leslie Ingram Johnson, the fiscal supervisor in the Title I office, explained PGCPS identifies and ranks Title I schools using two fixed data points: September 30 student enrollment (validated by pupil accounting and boundaries) and October 31 direct-certification counts (used to identify students certified for free meals). Schools with a poverty percentage of 75% or higher must be served under ESSA; the district groups schools by grade span (elementary/academies, middle, high) and ranks within those spans to set cutoffs.
Johnson outlined required top-line reservations from the LEA allocation, including districtwide instructional programs (summer or STEM programs), mandated McKinney-Vento services for students experiencing homelessness, equitable services for private-school students in Title I attendance areas, indirect costs, and a 1% set-aside for parent and family engagement (at least 90% of that to be distributed to schools).
Flood and Johnson said PGCPS received about $52.8 million in Title I pass-through funds this year and projected roughly $50.2 million for FY2026–27 given national budget uncertainty; they projected the number of Title I schools would decline from 107 to 104 next year. Staff stressed that final allocations are determined by the state's pass-through of federal funds (typically arriving between May and September) and that identification is an annual application process that must be submitted to the Maryland State Department of Education for approval.
Board members asked how soon schools are notified about a change in Title I identification and whether midyear changes in student composition could alter funding eligibility. Johnson said schools are notified in the January–February time frame about being identified for the following school year; the September/October data points are fixed for that identification, and midyear demographic shifts do not change the identification used for that school year. Staff also said they provide projections during budget season so schools can plan staffing and discretionary uses.
Next steps: the Title I office will finalize its application to the state and share final allocations after the federal pass-through is confirmed; staff offered to follow up on questions about how pending federal legislation might affect meal and eligibility rules.
