PTAA Texas School District
STEAM-Focused Charter School District
Title I is a federal program that provides funds to school districts and schools with high numbers or high percentages of disadvantaged children to support a variety of services. The overall purpose of Title I funding is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and assessments.
The ESSA grant contains provisions for ensuring that children who are disadvantaged and enrolled in private schools also benefit from the academic enrichment services funded with Title I, Part A funds.
No. Title I funding is determined at the federal and state level based on census data and overall free and reduced percentages in the Charter District. This means PTAA gets the same amount of funding regardless of the number of campuses designated as Title I; and if more schools are designated as Title I, the district entitlement is split up into smaller portions among the campuses.
PTAA currently has 4 campuses designated as Title I school-wide.
The fixed allotment for Title I that PTAA received from the U.S. Department of Education through the Texas Education Agency is allotted on a per-pupil basis to the 4 designated Title I Schoolwide campuses in PTAA. On average, 80% of the charter district Title I funds are distributed directly to the campuses, and PTAA reserves 20% of Title I funding to assist all Title I campuses. As required, we set aside at least 1% to fund parent engagement activities. The district is also required to set aside funds to service individual students identified as homeless or in foster care, regardless of the campus of enrollment. These funds are utilized to provide transportation to the school of origin or school nearest the student’s temporary living arrangements and to provide school supplies and instructional materials, hygiene kits, assist with credit recovery, or other identified instructional needs.
PTAA makes the decision regarding which schools are designated as Title I Schoolwide based upon research and best practices for meeting the needs of students. The charter district is not required to designate campuses as Title I Schoolwide. However, if a campus consistently reaches the threshold of 75% Economically Disadvantaged, the district must ensure the campus receives equivalent funding/resources to what the campus would receive if it was designated as a Title I Schoolwide campus.
Yes, the Texas Education Agency and the U.S. Department of Education provide quite a bit of guidance on the appropriate use of Title I funds.
Monitoring includes the following actions:
Title I district and campus funds may be utilized to improve instructional services so that students receive a well-rounded education and demonstrate growth and success in the state’s challenging student academic performance standards (TEKS).
Expenditures from Title I must be based upon a Comprehensive Needs Assessment for the campus/district and the Campus/District Improvement Plan.
For more information on the use of funds, refer to the Principal's Action Plan for ESSA.
-Financial Compliance
-Compliance and Reporting
-Comparability of Services Requirement