2013-2014 School District Review Program

July 19, 2013

Dear Chief:

I am writing to request your immediate assistance on a task that will have important consequences for your state’s allocation under Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended (Public Law (P.L.) 107-110). I request that within one week of receiving this letter you designate a mapping coordinator for reviewing the U.S. Census Bureau's current local educational agency (LEA) information and providing updates and corrections to the LEA names, Federal LEA IDs, boundaries, grade ranges, and geographic relationships in your state. In choosing a mapping coordinator, you should consider the position’s primary responsibilities listed at the end of this letter. It is the responsibility of the Title I Coordinator to oversee the program and assure all materials are reviewed and any updates returned to the Census Bureau by the specified deadlines. Participation in the LEA review is voluntary, but you should strive to have all LEA officials participate.

The Census Bureau staff will require the following contact information for your designee: name, business address, phone number, and e-mail address. Permission from you or your designee to post said information on the School District Review Program website, which will be accessible to all stakeholders and the public, is also required. Please send this information within the one week timeframe to: [email protected].

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) allocates more than $14 billion Title I funds to LEAs based primarily on the number of children ages 5 through 17 in low-income families identified from the most recent estimates produced by the Census Bureau. In the ESEA, Congress mandated that ED allocate Title I funds using school district poverty and population estimates that have been updated every year. Consequently, the Census Bureau updates the poverty and population estimates annually using the most recent income data available.

As part of the Census Bureau’s effort to update these estimates, the geographic framework for the data must be reviewed and updated. (Information pertaining to the 2013-2014 SDRP can be found at: http://www.census.gov/geo/partnerships/sdrp.html). Census Bureau geographers will send materials to the mapping coordinator and request information to update the Census Bureau’s LEA data, as it will exist on January 1, 2014 (for school year (SY) 2013 - 2014). In addition to boundary information, the Census Bureau will be asking for information regarding the grade ranges for which each LEA is financially responsible. Because the Census Bureau poverty and population estimates will be produced for LEAs according to their SY 2013-2014 boundaries and grade ranges, their accuracy is critical to the production of the estimates, and thus the allocations of Title I funds. Your immediate assistance is essential in order for the Census Bureau to maintain the tight time schedule necessary to complete this boundary and data update.

If you or your designee have any questions about the program or the public posting of contact information for your designee, please phone one of the Census Bureau’s geographers working on this School District Review Program: Mr. Ian Millett, Mr. Nathan Jones, Mr. Nicholas Moebius or Mr. Ryan Short at 301-763-1099. A courtesy copy of this letter is being sent to the person who served as the mapping coordinator for this effort in SY 2011-2012, the Title I coordinator, the Common Core of Data coordinator, and the state National/State Geographic Information Council representative. I thank you for your assistance, and look forward to working with you on this important task.

Sincerely,

Jack Buckley

Commissioner

cc: 2011-2012 Mapping Coordinator

2012-2013 Title I Coordinator

Common Core of Data Coordinator

NSGIC Representative

Responsibilities of Mapping Coordinator:

• Determine the best source for school district boundary and data updates.

• Initiate and maintain contact with all local school district officials to ensure the timely review and submission of any school district updates/corrections to boundaries, names, codes, grade ranges, levels or relationship to other geographic entities.

• Act as liaison between local superintendents, the state Department of Education, and the Geography Division of the Census Bureau.

• Review submissions from local or state education officials for accuracy, validity and completeness before delivery to Census Bureau.

• Adjudicate boundary discrepancies between school districts.

• Provide detailed boundary update submissions via digital map files.

• Provide updates to school district inventory, county coverage, and relationship files as necessary.