From the Superintendent's Desk

August 29, 2023

Welcome one and all to the start of the 2023-24 school year. I am happy that our students are back on their respective campuses, and we all look forward to a healthy and productive school year.

School year packets are going home to you with your children this week. Somewhere in that pile of papers is a form titled "2023-2024 Vermont Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals.” I am writing to you today to ask you to please, please, PLEASE fill out and return this form.

“Why,” you might be asking, “do we have to submit this form when I know my children are receiving free breakfast and lunch at school?” Strangely, this has nothing to do with Free and Reduced Price School Meals. Please allow me to explain.

The family income data that you submit on this form is used for two other important purposes. First, the number of students who would be eligible for free or reduced meals based on the completion of this form is compared to the total number of students enrolled at your school to determine an eligibility percentage. That percentage is then used to determine whether your child’s school is eligible to receive Title I funding. The school has to have a total eligible percentage of at least 35% to qualify for Title I funding. Title I eligible schools get a share of federal money received by CCSU each year, and the majority of that funding is used to pay for intervention teachers to help students meet rigorous academic standards.

Starting next year, that same community eligibility percentage is being used by the State as a measure of community poverty to determine, in part, each school’s share of the Education Fund. This poverty measure is important because under the new funding formula, the higher the poverty rate in a community, the more Education Fund money that will be directed to your school. This means more money for the same education tax rate, something that all of the schools in CCSU should benefit from under the new formula, but only if we get this important poverty information.

The information on the form that you fill out is kept confidential. The relevant information is the total household income and the number of school aged children living in your home. The staff who process this form only look at this data, not the family names.

Our goal again this year is to achieve a high return rate for these forms. In a perfect world, we would get 100% back from families, but the higher the return rate the more accurate the data. It is just as important to hear from families with high income levels as it is to hear from those with low income levels – our goal is accurate reporting.

Here is the form that was sent home, in case you missed it in the school packet. School staff will again be following up with families who have not returned the form, and if you do get a follow-up call, please understand that we are pestering you because it is in the best interest of your students to get us this information.

Thank you for your help with this data collection, and please feel free to reach out to your School Secretary or Principal if you have questions or concerns.

Thank you,

Mark Tucker, Superintendent