Economically Disadvantaged Status Collection and Reporting

2003-04 and Beyond

An "economically disadvantaged" student is a student who is a member of a household that meets the income eligibility guidelines for free or reduced-price meals (less than or equal to 185% of Federal Poverty Guidelines) under the National School Lunch Program(NSLP). Districts are permitted to use their best local source of information about the economic status of individual students consistent with the DPI definition above. In the absence of reliable student-level NSLP meals eligibility data, districts might want to consider using available county data, scholarship information, post-secondary options information, etc. Status codes must be reported whether or not the district participates in the National School Lunch Program.

CHANGES: 'Y' will not longer be a valid code beginning with 2005-06 ISES Year End records and 2006-07 ISES Count Date records.

Econ Disadv Status	Code	Description/Comments
Eligible for free lunch	F	Student is eligible for free lunch based on an approved application or direct certification under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or documented status as a homeless, migrant, or runaway student who is enrolled in a school participating in the NSLP. See income eligibility guidelines for free lunch.
Eligible for reduced-price lunch	R	Student is eligible for reduced-price lunch based on approved application under the NSLP. See income eligibility guidelines for reduced-price lunch.
Economically disadvantaged - alternative mechanism	A	Student is not covered by the descriptions of 'F' or 'R' above, but other evidence indicates that the student's household income is at or below the income eligibility guidelines for reduced-price meals under NSLP. Participation in need-based programs is acceptable evidence of economically disadvantaged status if need is based on a household income standard at or below the income eligiblity guidelines for reduced-price lunch under NSLP. See also possible alternative measures of poverty and relationship to the annual NSLP application cycle.
Economically disadvantaged - NSLP or alternative mechanism	Y - no longer valid	IMPORTANT: This code is not valid beginning with 2005-06 Year End records or 2006-07 Count Date records and is described here for historical reference purposes only. Student meets the criteria for 'F', 'R' or 'A' . This code was not used after fall 2005.
Not economically disadvantaged	N	Student's household income is above the income eligiblity guidelines for reduced-price lunch under NSLP or no evidence of economically disadvantaged status is available.
Data Not Required	X	Valid only for Parentally Placed Private students.

USES: Economically Disadvantaged Status codes are used for disaggregated reporting and accountability purposes, the Education Data Exchange Network (EDEN), E-rate, and certain child nutrition program purposes. Beginning in 2004-05, this data element is used to disaggregate attendance, retention, and dropout data by economic status. Beginning in 2005-06 economically disadvantaged status indicators were included in Pre-ID files for statewide testing and used for disaggregated reporting of test results and participation. Disaggregated dropout rates for 2004-05 and later years will be used to calculate disaggregated 4-year cohort dropout rates, which will in turn be used in disaggregating high school completion rates beginning in 2007-08. Also beginning in 2007-08, Economically Disadvantaged Status codes will be used for E-rate and child nutrition program purposes.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED STATUS

Purpose. The primary purpose of the Economically Disadvantaged Status code is to describe a student's household income level. This code also indicates whether or not the household income level is based on student/household-level evidence required by the NSLP.
Changes in Status. Economically Disadvantaged Status is determined as of a specific date. Codes provided should be based on the most accurate information available during the ISES submission period about the student's economically disadvantaged status on that date.
- For ISES Count Date records, that date is the 3rd Friday of September.
- For ISES Year End records, that date is the exit date from the school or the end of the school term whichever occurs first.
For example, a student may have an "N" code for Count Date purposes and a "F" or "R" code in Year End record(s) for the same school term. This may happen if
- the student's household submits a NSLP application later in the school term due to changes in economic need after the count date and grace period, or
- a student is documented to be homeless/migrant/runaway after the count date and grace period.
Timing of NSLP Application Processing. The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) requires all schools to carryover free and reduced eligibility for school meals from the previous school year for 30 operating days beginning with the first day of school. Schools do not have the option to establish a shorter carryover period. USDA requires the free and reduced price status to be changed prior to the 30 operating day carryover only if a new application has been received and processed; the child's eligibility is verified by a direct certification list; the child is verified as homeless, migrant or runaway; or it is the 31st operating day and none of the previous have been received at which time the student's status would revert to paid. Economically Disadvantaged Status codes "F" and "R" in ISES Count Date records should reflect NSLP applications processed during the carryover period even if that period extends beyond the count date because these fall applications will generally provide more current evidence of a student's economic status on the count date than applications processed during the preceding school year. The bottom line is: DPI wants the most accurate free/reduced eligibility information by the time the ISES collection closes (see http://dpi.wi.gov/lbstat/isesdates.html for current collection dates). Thus, the exact date to provide the most accurate information within the current collection window will vary by district.
Homeless, Migrant, and Runaway Status. The USDE (U.S. Department of Education) and the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) both assume that homeless, migrant, and runaway students are economically disadvantaged. Once a student is documented to be a homeless, migrant, or runaway student, free lunch eligibility is generally effective for the remainder of the school term. However, if a student moves from one district to another during the school term, the receiving district must have appropriate documentation to support the eligibility. If the sending district does not share documentation with the receiving district, the receiving district needs to document the student's status. In any given school term, without homeless/migrant/runaway documentation for that school term, free lunch eligibility code (F) would need to be based on an approved application or direct certification. See also Education for Homeless Children and Youth.
NSLP-Verified Data. Approved NSLP applications or direct certification for individual students must be current to be used as the basis for F or R codes. Most schools collect the NSLP applications or verify direct certification annually. See also information about grace periods below. Schools that use F and R codes for some students may or may not also use code A for other students.
Alternative Provisions to NSLP-Verified Data. Schools participating in the NSLP under Provision 2 are not subject to the annual application or direct certification requirements so student/household level income data may not be available from these sources. In these cases, schools are expected to use codes A and N for their students, as appropriate, with A codes based on alternative evidence of individual student/household income level. Provision 2 schools may use F or R codes for students if the relevant evidence is available at the student level (e.g. through the automated direct certification process ). Student level data about economically disadvantaged status is required to meet a wide range of disaggregated reporting mandates which are in turn used to ensure that all students especially economically disadvantaged students are making progress. All schools, including schools participating in the NSLP under Provision 2, are covered by this requirement.
E-rate. The E-rate is a federal program funded from "universal service" assessments made on consumers' telephone bills. The program is under the oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and is managed by the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD). WI schools and libraries get about $25 million annually from this program in the form of 20% to 90% in discounts for
- telecommunication services,
- Internet access, and
- internal network connections.
Discounts are based on number of students in poverty as a percent of students enrolled. The higher the percent the higher the discount. DPI calculates percents based on counts of students with Economically Disadvantaged Status codes F and R, and ISES count date enrollment. While schools can also use other available data to determine their E-rate discount, DPI does not verify to the SLD data using any other alternative mechanisms (code A).
Uses by the School and Community Nutrition Team. The DPI School and Community Nutrition Team uses the numbers of students with Economically Disadvantaged Status codes F and R and ISES count date enrollment
- to qualify eligible school buildings for participation in the after school snack component of the National School Lunch Program,
- to qualify eligible family day care home providers for higher rates of meal reimbursement under the Child and Adult Care Food Program,
- to qualify eligible centers/sites for participation in the after school snack component of the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and
- to qualify eligible sites for participation in the Summer Food Service Program.
All the above are USDA child nutrition programs administered in WI by DPI.

Economically Disadvantaged Status Data Collection and Reporting

Economically Disadvantaged Status
Data Collection and Reporting