Reply to 2/22/24 BOE meeting

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I found it shocking how confused the BOE was about how Title I schools are designated and why some schools this year saw big shifts in their status (some losing Title I classification after having it for years). It was embarrassing how little they knew and how poorly staff explained it to them. It almost seems like MCPS staff was trying to hide something but the BOE was so ill equipped on the issue that they all just stammered around the issue and asked for follow up briefings. For an issue as big as this one, you’d think they’d have those briefings first and then be ready at the meeting.

I don’t even have a dog in the fight but it was honestly shocking how such an important issue just flies right over their heads [/quote]

I thought the feds changed the demographics but I could be wrong.  Or, with housing prices climbing and those schools are the only affordable housing left, maybe the demographics are changing in those areas.[/quote]

The feds changed how certain extremely high-poverty schools qualify for free and reduced meals. Essentially, rather than having families fill out individual eligibility forms, it makes more sense to look at the school community as a whole and just offer free meals to every student in schools where a certain percentage of kids receive SNAP.

That's good. No complaints about that - it reduces paperwork, saves resources, and ensures that kids whose families are reluctant to engage with paperwork are able to eat two meals a day at school.

The problem is MCPS. Since those highest needs schools were no longer collecting individual FARMS forms, MCPS decided to *also* use the SNAP data to determine how they allocate Title I funds. Literally anyone who regularly engages with poor/working class communities could have told you why that was a bad idea. Not only is the process of applying for SNAP complicated, and not only does it require interaction with state authorities, but undocumented immigrants are not eligible.

So, in schools with a lot of mixed-status families (like Oak View), you are going to have many fewer families that receive SNAP than who would have received FARMS.

I don't want to get into a whole thing about undocumented immigrants and benefits, but this was absolutely predictable. A school like Oak View has large number of families with US citizen kids and undocumented parents. We want those kids to have access to services, because it helps them become more integrated members of our shared community. Stripping the school of those supports does nobody any good. [/quote]

Not wanting to get into a conversation about undocumented immigrants and benefits is part of why this is occurring.  People (Not necessarily MCPS) are trying to call attention to the fact that undocumented immigration is increasing the cost of an array of benefits while also making it difficult to put effective systems in place for communities.  Using SNAP benefit enrollment has a myriad of advantages including reducing burden on families and school districts.   However knowing that folks won’t get this, the new policy still allows you to account for at needs students in different ways, but none is as easy and most effective as using SNAP.

As much as people don’t like the outcome, it actually produces the data and metrics that folks want to see on a state and federal level. And validates points some people have been making.
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