Sixty GCS Schools Will Receive Title I Funds Next Year

Sixty Guilford County schools will be funded in part by Title I dollars next year under guidelines approved by the Guilford County Board of Education on Tuesday. The board determines which schools will receive the federal funding based on the number of students at the school who qualify for free and reduced-price lunches.

For 2012-13, elementary schools must meet a threshold of 58 percent Free and Reduced Lunch to receive the funding. Middle school Title I funding will be based on a threshold of 66 percent Free and Reduced Lunch, and high schools will follow a 75 percent threshold.

Under the guidelines, 10 new schools will be designated as Title I for the 2012-13 year. Those schools are:

  • Dean B. Pruette SCALE Academy
  • SCALE-Greensboro
  • Guilford Middle
  • Northeast Middle
  • Peeler Open Elementary
  • Ronald E. McNair Elementary (based on projected enrollment figures)
  • Southern Elementary
  • Triangle Lake Montessori
  • Jefferson Elementary
  • Jones Elementary

Of the 60 designated schools, 42 are elementary schools, 10 are middle schools, four are high schools and four are alternative schools.

As of February 2012, the total number of GCS students receiving free or reduced-price lunch rose to 56.29 percent. Last year, 53.59 percent of students received the federal benefit.

"A 56.3 percent Free and Reduced Lunch county-wide number is breathtaking," said Board Chairman Alan Duncan during the meeting. "In response to one of the speakers tonight, this is not an average county. This is an exceptional county dealing with exceptional circumstances, and one where we would not be making the kind of progress we are making if it were not for the dedicated educators who make such a difference in the lives of our children."

Title I was established by the United States Department of Education to distribute funding to schools and school districts with a high percentage of students from low-income families. GCS' Title I schools are identified as school-wide programs. A Title I school-wide program uses Title I funds to upgrade the entire education program of the school in order to raise academic achievement for all students at the school.