West Virginia Department of Education
Title III Program
Effective Date: Revised February 2011
Procedures for Allocation, Carryover and Reallocation of Funds
Title III Allocations
Funding amounts for Title III subgrants are based on a per student allocation. This allocation is determined by dividing the total number of LEP students statewide by the total amount of Title III subgrantee funding available to all local education agencies (LEA). Each LEA is then eligible to apply for a Title III subgrant based on the number of LEP students as reported by the LEA in the WVEIS 2nd month report. This report includes all students who:
· Have active Bilingual Records AND
· Placement codes of “E” or “M”
· No exit date
Individual Grant Applications -According to Title III regulations, in order to qualify for an Individual Grant, the minimum funding amount is $10,000.
Consortium Grant Applications- According to Title III regulations, consortia applications must also meet the minimum funding amount of $10,000 (e.g. calculating at $370 per student, consortia membership must total at least 28 LEP students). In consortia applications, one county or RESA may act as the lead fiscal agent. However, all consortium members must complete the necessary portions of the Strategic Plan
Time Limits for the Availability of Federal Funds
Congress makes federal funds available for a limited amount of time. Legislators appropriate funds for a particular purpose with the expectation that the money be used and not left idling in the U.S. Treasury. Therefore, there is a limit on the time period for which federal education funds are available for use by state education agencies (SEA’s) and LEA’s. Funds become available beginning July 1 of each year, which marks the beginning of the SEA and LEA fiscal year. The funds remain available for a total of 15 months, until September 30 of the succeeding year.
Tydings Period According to the General Education Provisions Act
A LEA that fails to spend the entire year’s allocation may carryover the amount of their grants for an additional year. Thus, the total availability of the grant is 27 months. The additional 12 months is called the tydings period.
Carryover Funds
The LEA may carry over Title III funds for one year beyond the original year of funding. For example, in the case of a grant allocated for 2010-2011 school year (July 1,2010 to June 30, 2011), the LEA may carry over funds from this particular allocation until September 30, 2012. The amount of carryover funds shall not be restricted.
The LEAs should encumber and liquidate the funds in a timely manner.
Reallocation of Funds
There are several ways in which a SEA may find that funds are available for reallocation:
1. Money that becomes available because a district failed to maintain “maintenance of effort”;
2. Money that becomes available because of audit findings (e.g. a district has misspent Title III funds and is required to repay the amount).
Funds that have been returned to the State will be reallocated to districts in corrective action based on academic need as determined by the SEA.
West Virginia Department of Education reserves the right to determine the criteria for “need” and the right to have the flexibility to change the criteria annually if necessary. No district returning funds for reallocation shall be eligible to receive a reallocation grant.