Qualifying Process

The federal government says district administrators must choose one day during the school year to count all of the students who qualify for free or reduced lunches. This number is compared to the school's enrollment on that same day. The comparison results in a percentage of free/reduced eligibility.

The district must use Title I funds to serve, in rank order, its schools with 75 percent free/reduced lunch or more. Then administrators have the option to continue with the districtwide ranking or rank the remaining schools by grade-span grouping (elementary, middle, high). In Fayette County, we choose to rank the remaining schools by grade-span grouping.