FUHSD revises school wide action plan for Title I eligibility

At their April 28 board meeting, the Fallbrook Union High School District (FUHSD) board of trustees approved a revision of the 2009-2010 single school wide action plan. With this change, Fallbrook Union High School will be able to receive Title I funds for having a large presence of students from low-income families.

According to FUHSD assistant superintendent James Yahr the changes were from a plan that had been originally created in 2003.

“The Local Education Agency (LEA) had primarily given the district the ability to merely add addenda and revisions, but this year the district was prompted to create a complete revision,” said Yahr. “The new LEA plan essentially reflects the way the district looks to offer support, programs and activities to support the students’ academic achievement.”

According to Yahr, Ivy and Fallbrook High Schools will be receiving Title I funds, which are given to LEAs with high numbers or high percentages of poor children to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards.

Fallbrook Union High School has already begun implementing several strategies to help its students meet challenging state academic standards, including addressing specific needs of English Language Learners by creating new sections and classes for them; integrating California High School Exit Examination preparation into all core curricular areas throughout the school year; and creating goals that are focused on student learning, not tests.

According to the Educational Department’s Web site, “federal funds are currently allocated through four statutory formulas that are based primarily on census poverty estimates and the cost of education in each state.”

Targeted grants flow to LEAs where the number of schoolchildren counted in the formula (without application of the formula weights) is at least 10 and at least 5 percent of the LEA’s school-age population. Fallbrook has approximately 40 percent of its students that are from low income families, said Yahr.

“The new school wide action plan simply recognizes the Title I status of the school,” said Yahr.

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