34 CFR § 222.39 - How does a State educational agency identify generally comparable local educational agencies for local contribution rate purposes?
(a) To identify generally comparable LEAs within its State for LCR purposes, the State educational agency (SEA) for that State, after appropriate consultation with the applicant LEAs in the State, shall use data from the third fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the LCR is being computed to group all of its LEAs, including all applicant LEAs, as follows:
(1) Grouping by grade span/legal classification alone. Divide all LEAs into groups that serve the same grade span and then subdivide the grade span groups by legal classification, if the Secretary considers this classification relevant and sufficiently different from grade span within the State. As an alternative grade-span division, divide all LEAs into elementary, secondary, or unified grade-span groups, as appropriate, within the State.
(2) Grouping by grade span/legal classification and size.
(i) Divide all LEAs into groups by grade span (or the alternative grade-span groups described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section) and legal classification, if relevant and sufficiently different from grade span and size.
(ii) List all LEAs within each group in descending order by size as measured by ADA, placing the LEA with the largest ADA at the top of the list. A State that does not tabulate actual annual ADA shall use the same formula for establishing ADA for the purpose of ranking LEAs by size as the Department has approved for the purpose of calculating payments under section 8003 for applicant LEAs in the State.
(iii) Divide each group into either two subgroups or three subgroups.
(iv) To determine the subgroups, divide each list at the point(s) that will result in as nearly equal numbers of LEAs in each subgroup as possible, so that no group is more than one LEA larger than any other group.
(3) Grouping by grade span/legal classification and location. Divide all LEAs into groups by grade span (or the alternative grade-span groups described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section) and, if relevant and sufficiently different from grade span and location, legal classification; then subdivide these groups by location, as determined by placement inside or outside a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) as defined by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The Department will supply SEAs with lists of MSA classifications for their LEAs, and only the classifications on those lists will be recognized by the Department for the purposes of these regulations.
(4) Grouping by grade span/legal classification, size, and location.
(i) Divide all LEAs into groups by grade span (or the alternative grade-span groups described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section) and, if relevant and sufficiently different from grade span, size, and location, legal classification; then subdivide these groups by size (into two or three subgroups for each grade span, as described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section); and further subdivide these groups by location (inside or outside an MSA).
(ii) In using both the size and location factors, the SEA shall subdivide according to the size factor before the location factor.
(b) After applying the following restrictions, the SEA shall compute an LCR according to the provisions of § 222.41 for each group of generally comparable LEAs identified under paragraph (a) of this section, as follows:
(1) The SEA shall not, when computing an LCR, include the following “significantly impacted” LEAs in any group of generally comparable LEAs:
(i) Any LEA having—in the third fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the LCR is being computed—20 percent or more of its ADA composed of children identified under section 8003(a)(1)(A)–(C).
(ii) Any LEA having—in the third fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the LCR is being computed—50 percent or more of its ADA composed of children identified under section 8003(a)(1)(A)–(G) who were eligible under § 222.36 to be counted as the basis for payment under section 8003.
(2) The SEA may not compute an LCR for any group that contains fewer than 10 LEAs.
(c) The LCR for a “significantly impacted” LEA described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section is the LCR of any group in which that LEA would be included based on grade span/legal classification, size, location, or a combination of these factors, if the LEA were not excluded as significantly impacted.
(d) This section does not apply to applicant LEAs located in—
(1) Puerto Rico;
(2) Wake Island;
(3) Guam;
(4) American Samoa;
(5) Any outlying area; and
(6) Any State in which there is only one LEA.
1. Characteristics of Applicant LEA. The grade span of an applicant LEA is kindergarten through grade 8 (K–8). In the applicant's State, legal classification of LEAs is based on grade span, and thus does not act to further subdivide groups of LEAs.
The ADA of the applicant LEA is above the median ADA of LEAs serving only K–8 in the State.
The applicant LEA is located outside an MSA.
2. Characteristics of Other LEAs Serving Same Grade Span. The SEA of the applicant's State groups all LEAs in its State according to the factors in § 222.39.
a. The SEA identifies the following groups:
(i) One hundred and one LEAs serve only K–8. The SEA has identified a group of 50 LEAs having an ADA above the median ADA for the group of 101, one LEA having an ADA at the median, and a group of 50 LEAs having an ADA below the median ADA; and according to § 222.39(a)(2), the SEA considers 51 LEAs to have an ADA below the median ADA.
(ii) Of the 101 LEAs in the group, the SEA has identified a group of 64 LEAs as being inside an MSA and a group of 37 LEAs as being outside an MSA.
(iii) Among the group of 50 LEAs having an ADA above the median, the SEA has identified a group of 35 LEAs as being inside an MSA and a group of 15 LEAs as being outside an MSA.
(iv) Among the group of 51 LEAs having an ADA at or below the median, the SEA has identified a group of 29 LEAs as being inside an MSA and 22 LEAs as being outside an MSA.
(v) One LEA has 20 percent of its ADA composed of children identified under section 8003(a)(1)(A)–(C) and, therefore, must be excluded from any group it falls within before the SEA computes an LCR for the group. The LEA has an ADA below the median ADA and is located outside an MSA.
b. On the basis of § 222.41, the SEA computes the LCR for each group of generally comparable LEAs that the SEA has identified.