The School District Review Progrram

OMB No. 0607-0987 Approval Expires xx/xx/xxxx

MONTH DATE, YEAR

Dear Chief,

I am writing to request your assistance on a task that will affect your state’s allocation under Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended (Public Law 114-95). In the ESEA, Congress mandated that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) allocate Title I funds using school district poverty and population estimates that have been updated every year. Consequently, the U.S. Census Bureau updates the poverty and population estimates annually using the most recent income data available. The ED allocates more than $14 billion of Title I funds to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) based primarily on the number of children ages five through seventeen in low-income families identified from the most recent estimates produced by the Census Bureau.

The Census Bureau is requesting that you please designate a mapping coordinator to review the Census Bureau's current LEA information through the School District Review Program (SDRP) within one week of receiving this letter. Through the SDRP, the designated mapping coordinator will provide updates and corrections to the LEA names, LEA identification number, boundaries, grade ranges for which each LEA is financially responsible, and geographic relationships in your state. When making your selection for the mapping coordinator, consider the primary responsibilities detailed in the addendum of this letter. It is the responsibility of the Title I Coordinator to oversee the SDRP, review all materials, and return updates to the Census Bureau. Participation in the LEA review is voluntary, but it is strongly encouraged.

The Census Bureau requires the mapping coordinator’s name, business address, phone number, and e-mail address. In addition, please provide the name and e-mail address of the Title 1 Coordinator for the state. The Census Bureau requires permission from you or the mapping coordinator to post this contact information on the SDRP website. Please provide this information to the Census Bureau by e-mail at geo.school@census.gov within one week of receiving this letter.

The Census Bureau will send SDRP materials to the mapping coordinator in August 2018 and request information to update the LEA data, as it will exist on January 1, 2019 (for School Year (SY) 2018 - 2019). The Census Bureau poverty and population estimates will be produced for LEAs according to their SY 2018-2019 boundaries and grade ranges, which are critical to the poverty and population estimates produced, and the allocations of Title I funds. For more information on the 2019 SDRP refer to the website at:

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sdrp.html.

If you have any questions about the SDRP, please contact Mr. Ian Millett, Mr. Matthew Nordhagen, or Ms. Lauren Kirsch at the Census Bureau by telephone at 301-763-1099.

Sincerely,

James Woodworth

Commissioner

National Center for Education Statistics

Addendum: Responsibilities of Mapping Coordinator

cc: 2017-2018 Mapping Coordinator

2017-2018 Title I Coordinator

Common Core of Data Coordinator

NSGIC Representative

We estimate that participating in the School District Review Program will take 40 hours on average. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Paperwork Reduction Project 0607-0987, U.S. Census Bureau, 4H154F, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Washington, DC 20233. You may email comments to < geo.school@census.gov >, use “Paperwork Reduction Project 0607-0987” as the subject. This collection has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The eight-digit OMB approval number that appears at the upper right of this document confirms this approval. If this number were not displayed, we could not conduct this program. The Census Bureau’s legal authority for conducting activities in this document comes from Title 13 United States Code, Sections 16, 141, and 193. The NCES’ legal authority for conducting activities in this document comes from Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, Public Law (P.L.) 114-95.

Addendum:

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 (GEO) of the Census Bureau.

• Review submissions from state or local 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.