Each March, FCPS leadership reviews school poverty rankings based on federal rules and decides which schools will receive Title I, Part A grant funds for the upcoming school year.According to federal policy, poverty rates are calculated for students aged 5 through 17 residing in each school’s boundary area who are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals. In FCPS, end-of-February certified membership data is used for all Title I school identification and allocation decisions. FCPS currently serves schools at the elementary and middle levels; however, all levels must be monitored, and any school that reaches a 75% poverty rate must be served regardless of level. Additionally, because Fairfax City Schools receives a separate Title I, Part A award from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), Fairfax City elementary schools are ranked and served in a separate calculation alongside that for Fairfax County.

FCPS leadership is required to identify schools for Title I service in rank order from highest poverty to lowest poverty without skipping schools. The FCPS Leadership Team (LT) takes on this task annually, considering the unique needs in each impacted community along with potential benefits and challenges that may accompany the addition or removal of these grant resources. Projected school funding allocations are considered as part of this decision-making process. Once LT decides which schools will receive Title I services, schools are contacted individually with projected budget information for the coming year. Actual school grant allocations are calculated using federal formulas once the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) publishes official division-level awards in the early fall.