Finance committee hears Title I briefing: $6.2M allocation, 72% to schools

Staff presented a detailed Title I overview to the Finance Committee on May 16, explaining how federal Title I allocations are determined, what the law requires for set‑asides and private‑school services, and how Beaufort County distributes its roughly $6.2 million allocation.

The presenter described Title I as the largest federal assistance program for schools and said allocations are based on census‑derived poverty indicators (TANF, SNAP and Medicaid data) that the state compiles to determine eligible pupil counts. "The federal government provides the funding to the states, and it's based on census and poverty," the presenter stated.

Staff explained required set‑asides such as parent and family engagement (1%), private school services, a reservation for homeless students and indirect costs; the district currently takes a lower indirect rate than approved. The presenter said district leadership chooses a grade‑span rank to extend services beyond mandatory 75% poverty thresholds and that pre‑K expansion and parent engagement programs are part of district‑level uses of the set‑aside funds.

The presenter told the committee the district’s planned Title I allocation was approximately $6.2 million, with about 72% allocated directly to school‑level programs; one large element of the set‑asides is funding for pre‑K classrooms sited in school buildings, which the presenter said accounts for roughly $5.6 million of the amount that reaches schools through set‑asides.

Board members asked how the district measures outcomes and return on investment for Title I spending. Staff said schools link Title I activities to their school renewal plans and that program evaluations and spring planning meetings review whether activities (for example, tutoring) produce measurable improvements; staff acknowledged a formal, cross‑district ROI analysis specific to Title I allocations had not been completed and said data services and instructional leadership could be engaged to analyze trends.

Committee members recommended presenting the Title I briefing to the full board as an introduction and scheduling a deeper work session for detailed questions. Staff will present the briefing in the operations committee report and plan a future work session for more in‑depth review.